Luapula United is a hoax, says Nickson Chilangwa

LUAPULA United is a hoax, individuals who came up with the lie wanted to make an impression that Patriotic Front (PF) Members of Parliament from Luapula Province are ambitious and ungrateful, says provincial minister, Nickson Chilangwa. Mr. Chilangwa stated that the aim of the people who coined the term Luapula United was to paint a bad picture of the MPs from the area and isolate them from the rest of the provinces that are in good standing with the party. Speaking when he featured on ZNBC Sunday Interview, Mr. Chilangwa stated that those who created the imaginary group wanted the people to believe that the agenda of the purported Luapula United was to Produce a running mate to the PF Presidential candidate for the 2021 general elections. “Luapula province is a hoax so that we are seen in a bad light as being ambitious so that Luapula can be isolated from the rest of well-standing provinces and to be seen as people who are ambitious, people who do not respect the Presidency of President Edgar Lungu,” Mr Chilangwa said. “As the provincial minister why is it that I have not been invited to a single meeting of Luapula United. I don’t think so, are MPs divided, no, we may argue amongst ourselves or we may debate amongst ourselves,” he said. Mr Chilangwa clarified that no single MP from Luapula province wanted to aspire to become a running mate to the Presidential candidate of the PF party for the 2021 general elections. He is of the view that the Presidential candidate should not be forced into thinking that he must pick a running mate from a particular province but should be free to make an informed decision based on parameters on the ground. “No single person has expressed that, but how do you aspire to become running mate? The Presidential candidate must not be pushed into thinking that he must pick abcd from this region, he must make an informed decision depending on the parameters on the ground, said the Luapula province minister.