Africa-Press – Zambia. The PF leadership in Eastern Province has asked President Edgar Lungu to drop former Housing and Infrastructure minister Vincent Mwale as his provincial campaign manager.
Well placed sources told Daily Revelation that the presidential trip to Eastern Province did not pan out as earlier anticipated due to poor organisation, and what they termed as Mwale’s unfamiliarity with PF politics in the wider Province.
“The leadership is pushing for the President to remove Mwale as campaign manager and replace him with former provincial chairman Lameck Mangani, who is already part of the mobilisation committee. They feel that the presidential trip has no been as successful as anticipated because of poor organisation.” the sources said. “Like for Lundazi the trip was about commissioning the bridge that was washed away. Remember Vincent Mwale made promises when he was minister, even the poor state of the Vubwi-Chadiza road, people have blamed it on Mwale as former minister. Therefore they feel he failed as a minister and should not be the one representing the President in the campaigns.”
The sources further said Mwale was not accustomed to PF politics in the region, particularly that he was coming from the MMD background. “To understand PF politics one actually needs to have been there and stayed in the party for a long time. You know human beings are very difficult beings, you can’t move away from simply castigating them and then try to appease them today,” said the sources.
Sources further accused Mwale of failing to use his position to foster party unity in the province, accusing him of for instance supporting the independent candidate Chibesa Phiri against the PF adopted candidate Andrew Lubusha, the same person who defeated him and ensured that he (Mwale) was not re-adopted in Chipangali constituency. Effort to speak to both Mwale and Mangani were unsuccessful as their phones were just ringing.
