29 October 2009
THE United Party for National Development (UPND) has expelled Namwala Member of Parliament (MP) Robbie Chizyuka for gross indiscipline but the MP said the matter was still in court.
In another development, the UPND-Patriotic Front (PF) pact has adopted Watson Lumba as its candidate for the Solwezi Central parliamentary by-election.
UPND spokesperson, Charles Kakoma said since the charging and suspension of Major Chizyuka on October 2, 2009, the MP had not responded to the charges levelled against him and declined to appear before the disciplinary committee.
Maj Chizyuka was facing charges of insulting the party leadership in Namwala, insulting the leadership of the pact, particularly Michael Sata and bringing the name of the party into disrepute by going to the media to issue disparaging remarks against the pact.
"The party will not tolerate indiscipline and any indisciplined member will be done away with. Major Chizyuka should go and look for a party where they will tolerate indiscipline," Mr Kakoma said.
He said after the suspension on October 2, Maj Chizyuka was given seven days in which to exculpate himself but ignored the ultimatum.
Further, he said, Maj Chizyuka was called to appear before the disciplinary committee on October 21 but still could not avail himself for unexplained reasons.
Even in the absence of Maj Chizyuka, he said the disciplinary committee went ahead to determine the charges levelled against the Namwala MP.
"The committee went ahead to determine the matter and found Maj Chizyuka guilty of all the misconduct charges against him. The committee recommended that he be expelled," Mr Kakoma said.
He said the disciplinary committee reported to the national management committee (NMC) that it found Maj Chizyuka guilty and recommended that he be expelled from the party.
The NMC met on Tuesday and endorsed the decision to expel Maj Chizyuka.
Mr Kakoma said the party had since written to the Speaker of the National Assembly Amusaa Mwanamwambwa asking him to declare the seat vacant. Maj Chizyuka's lawyers have also been informed about the development.
"The constituency officials in Namwala have written to us supporting the decision and we are ready to meet Maj Chizyuka in Namwala," Mr Kakoma said.
But Maj Chizyuka said he was shocked that the party could go ahead and expel him when the matter was in the courts of law.
He said the mater would only be heard in court on November 20 and therefore wondered how the party could go ahead and expel him.
"These matters are in court, from the time that there was an injunction there is nothing that they can do until 20 November. I am right now having consultations with my legal counsel and this is a matter which has been put to a High Court," Maj Chizyuka said.
Speaking at a joint Press briefing in Lusaka yesterday, PF spokesperson Given Lubinda said the pact was confident of emerging victorious in the Solwezi Central by-election scheduled for November 19.
The by-election is as a result of the death of Local Government and Housing minister Benny Tetamashimba who died on September 5.
Mr Lumba is a qualified chartered accountant and a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) as well as a fellow of the Zambia Institute of Certified Accountants (FZICA)
He is a graduate of the University of Zambia (UNZA) with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics and Computer Programming currently a businessperson and has worked as a consultant for many organisations, including the World Bank.
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