PF HEAVYWEIGHTS MUST PAY CONFERENCE BILL

PATRIOTICFront chairperson, Davies Chama has lamented the sluggish response to the funding drive to raise funds for the party’s forth coming general conference set for June 2022.

The estimated budget is K5 million. Mr Chama has ap pealed to the PF faithful and people of good will to finan cially support the party host the general conference (Daily Nation, May 22, 2022).

In dollar terms, the estimat ed budget is about US$300, 000. The PF is still fresh from running government and looking at the seizure of cer tain properties of the party heavyweights by the investi gative wings such as the Drug Enforcement Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission, US$300, 000 is a small amount.

I propose two methods that the PF central committee can use. Firstly, request the fol lowing six people including Mr Bowman Lusambo, Mr Given Lubinda, Mr Chishimba

Kambwili, Mr Emmanuel Mwamba and Mr Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba (GBM) con tribute US$50, 000 each. They have the ability to do so.

Secondly, all the active and potential members of the 80- seat central committee should pay a minimum of K10, 000 each. The politburo alone can meet the K5 million budget of the elective conference.

There should be differenti ated responsibility of meeting the conference costs. Most of the main beneficiaries of the rein of the PF are those still or keen to sit on the central committee.

This is because the closer one is to the centre of power; the more one accesses the priv ileges. These are politics of the belly.

That said, I am doubtful if the fund raising team is being truthful that the party is strug gling to raise the K5m confer ence budget.

This may be a smokescreen to create an impression that the party’s financial books are in red and fool the security agencies from pursuing the PF with more call-outs.

Has the party already lost the goodwill of the “user friendly” Chinese Socialist mil lionaires? If Chinese fail to aid the PF, they risk losing the eco nomic-political space which is being encroached by US and E.U.

It is important that this mo mentous event should come to pass so that real re-branding can begin. There is no mean ingful rebranding that can take place in the absence of a legiti mate leader.

PF is in the current mode and shape due the impact of the personality and ethos of the two former leaders including the late founding President, Michael Chilufya Sata and his successor, President Edgar Chagwa Lungu.

I also need to remind Mr Lubinda, the acting PF President to ensure that the Catholic Archbishop of Lusaka, Dr Alick Banda gives his blessing to the fund raising campaign.