Africa-Press – Zambia. Bwalya says UPND are stingy and they have taken their selfishness in government. And Bwalya predicated more job losses following the approval of the US $1.3 billion IMF bailout package saying the UPND has agreed to privatise more companies as part of the programme conditions.
Featuring on Radio Pheonix’s Let the People Talk Programme yesterday, Bwalya explained how he campaigned for the UPND Alliance in 2021 and some Copperbelt businessmen
contributed K800,000 for the Alliance. He recalls how the UPND Alliance summoned him like a schoolboy to account for the K800,000. Bwalya said if he was careless, he would have held onto the whole K800,000 because it was not the UPND’s money but from well-wishers.
“I had five or six radio interviews on the Copperbelt. Which motor vehicles did I use…? Mine. I had five of my vehicles on the road with my security. Wherever I went my security and I were accommodated at my expense,” he said. “To the first meeting I went at the UPND, I found honourable [Elisha]
Matambo (Copperbelt Province minister) , provincial chairman for the Copperbelt. There was no money there. I gave them money from where? From my pocket. How genuine do you want me to be?”
He said having become an alliance partner he thought of helping the UPND with his finances so that the burden does not fall on party president Hakainde Hichilema.
“Whatever I did on the Copperbelt, all the money I spent came from me. The number of days we spent on the Copperbelt I paid for my security:their accommodation, their feeding and also looking after their families. All the travels,” Bwalya said. “I had several meetings with businessmen on the Copperbelt and because of what they heard and saw in me, they promised they were going to raise some money. I left the Copperbelt and came back to Lusaka at my expense. We were preparing to go on the Northern circuit; this is Muchinga, Nothern, Luapula and part of Central [province] – in the Northern side at my expense. The Copperbelt businessmen phoned me and they told me ‘ba (Mr) Bwalya because of the meeting we had and everything, a group of us’, I won’t name the businessmen. They said ‘a group of us has come together. Natubika impiya pamo (We have put our money together). We want to help this cause. Where do we take this money?’. I called the alliance ‘do we have an account?’ They said ‘no’. I said ‘there are these people that want to help’. They said ‘tell them you can collect the money in your personal account’. I said okay fine. I gave them the account and said go and collect this money, the figure was a mere K800,000. They put it in my account.”
Bwalya claimed that he declared the money received from the businessmen and continued distributing money to adopted candidates around the Northern circuit.
“I went to Muchinga. I arrived in Muchinga. I am not embarrassing anybody. When I went to the UPND Alliance offices, I found candidates. They didn’t have any campaign material. They didn’t have financials. They didn’t even have pots or food at their campsite. I had to dish out money, my personal money. I had the radio interviews in Muchinga. I left, went to Northern Province in Kasama. I found the same scenario. Their member of parliament or at least the candidates then can attest to this. Chewe who was standing in Kasama Central, big Mule who was standing in Lukashya had no money. I was giving these people money from my pocket; my personal money,” he said. “No money came from HH. I am daring him now let him say. The scenario when I went into Luapula, the candidates didn’t have money. By the way,before I left Northern Province, I also distributed money to the candidates starting from councillors to MPs. If big Mule and Chewe are honest, they will tell you.”
Bwalya added that the “candidates were broke; their camps in disarray”. “No food. They were not being funded. I lifted the morale. I went on the radio programmes that I went to. I put my life at risk, travelling sometimes in the night. Someone can come and say my help to HH was not genuine. Muletasha (you should appreciate).
And I was very hurt by that statement by [UPND spokesperson] Cornelius Mweetwa,” he said. Bwalya said to his shock he was summoned over K800,000 after he returned from another assignment to attend three radio programmes in Southern Province.
“On my way to Southern Province I met the President coming back. We met at Mazabuka General Hospital. We cordoned off the road. If HH is truthful he will tell you we met. There are pictures to that effect,” he said.
“Not one vehicle came from HH. Not one vehicle came from UPND. They were my motor vehicles. It meant when I came back, I had to repair them. When I got into Livingtone, that mayor lady (Constance Muleabai) and the MP (Rodney Sikumba) and the other councillors around did not have money. I gave them money. They were running on their last pennies.” Bwalya said he felt he was entitled to K250,000 from the K800,000 to recover money spent on adopted candidates he came across in his campaign trails.
“This K800,000 I realised was meant for the kind of campaigns I am doing. I did not charge the alliance for the petrol, for the hiring of motor vehicles, for looking after my security and all the teams I was moving with. But I said I am going to remove the money that I gave the candidates from Muchinga, Northern Province, Luapula, part of Central and Southern Province. Those that I gave money it came to K250,000. I was giving K5,000, K10,000 depending on the size of the constituencies.
When I came back, I was summoned like a schoolboy. ‘You got money from the Copperbelt K800,000 blah blah’. I said ‘gentlemen, my help in this alliance is worth K800,000’? I said ‘I am removing this money K550,000, this other money went into your candidates,” he said. “They said ‘you must handover the money. Kwati ninjiba (As though I stole). For me I realised there are trust issues here. I asked ba [Alliance chairman Charles] Milupi, the Minister of Infrastructure, ‘where do you want this money to go?’ he said ‘go and speak to the deputy chairman ba Ernest Mwansa’. I called and said ‘ba kalamba ishi impiya shalandetelela nshilefwaya umusebanya
where should I take this K550,000?’ He gave me the account I wired it. I have got a receipt. That is the money the alliance is talking about.” Bwalya said UPND should desist from suggesting that he stole money from the party.
“Mwilabepa ubufi, muletasha ( don’t lie, appreciate). Nga mwalikwata akaso mwilaleta akaso kuli ine. E problem na sanga muli party iyi beta ati UPND mwaliba akaso (If you are selfish don’t bring it to me. This is the problem I have found in this party called UPND. They are stingy). Akaso (stinginess) and they have taken it into government. Akaso, they don’t want to give anything,” Bwalya said.
He said throughout his campaign trail for the UPND on the Copperbelt, he had depended on his own resources. And Bwalya said there would be more job losses because UPND have agreed to sell off companies as a condition for the IMF package.
“There is also an element of privatisation which he [finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane] is glossing-over. Hon Musokotwane, I felt sorry for the man because I know ifi ifyakweba ati tatukwete incito mu Zambia fyatampile 31, 32 years ago when privatisation came. These are the same players today who are in leadership. They killed most of the industries,” he said.
“And today they are saying there are still more companies to be privatised. What are we doing? When Grevazio Zulu pressed (during Sunday Interview on ZNBC) to name the companies which are going to be privatised, he glossed and dodged and dodged. But I know that certain companies will have to go. It is a condition. So people must start preparing for losses of jobs. So how are you going to tell me you are going to grow the economy when you are killing the industries, when you are killing the jobs?” wondered Bwalya.
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