Musenge lost for words

I CANNOT find the right words to describe my gratitude to Green Party president Peter Sinkamba for offering to pay back the salaries and allowances I gained when Parliament dissolved in 2016, former Copperbelt Province Minister Mwenya Musenge has said.

Mr Sinkamba made payment of K30,000 for Mr Musenge and K25,000 for Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo.

Mr Musenge owed the state K56, 058.30 while Mr Kampyongo’s debt stood at K 60, 434.68 before the Green Party President came in.

Mr Sinkamba has confirmed with proof of deposit slips in the sum of K30,000 towards Mr Musenge’s debt and K25,000 towards Mr Kampyongo’s debt with a promise to clear both balances before January 5, 2021.

Serving and former ministers have been ordered by the Constitutional Court to pay back salaries and allowances they gained when they stayed in office illegally after parliament was dissolved in 2016.

Mr Sinkamba said yesterday when he featured on Millennium Radio that he and the duo were very good friends and that he was only being a brother’s keeper.

Mr Musenge described Mr Sinkamba as a reliable friend who has been there for him through both the good and bad times. He told the Daily Nation in Kitwe yesterday that the gesture came as a surprise to him as Mr Sinkamba never mentioned anything to him.

"I am hearing it from you now. I do not know anything because he has not mentioned anything to me. I am speechless and at the same time emotional. He has clearly shown that ukwangala kwachila ulupwa a Bemba adage which means ‘friendship is stronger than blood relationship’," he said.