Bishops Council argues suspension of PF’s presidential candidate, Sampa, rushed

Bishops Council of Zambia (BCZ) have said the suspension of Patriotic Front (PF) presidential candidate Miles Sampa from the central committee of the party was rushed.

BCZ general secretary, Abel Kaila warned that the decision had potential to bring division before the party’s convention in March this year.

Kaila said the party should instead have just reprimanded Mr Sampa verbally so that they could keep the peace in the party ahead of the general conference.

The PF party suspended Sampa from the central committee of the party for six weeks for issuing disparaging remarks against his fellow candidates.

“People are looking up to PF because a lot of things were not going well in the nation and they have realised that without a strong opposition the people of Zambia would be doomed,” he said in an interview in Lusaka on Friday.

Kaila said they should have not suspended Sampa at this critical time considering that the PF was a party with a big following and he also had people who sympathised with him.

He said looking at the people in government, most of them were new in the ministries they were appointed to, that was why a lot of things were going wrong in almost all the sectors meaning there were things they had to learn.

“Thing were going wrong, if you look at the hospitals, fertilizer up to this time some farmers have not received, the energy sector and many other things that are speaking for themselves that there is something wrong,” Kaila said.

He said the PF were supposed to learn from what transpired in 2015 when people rose against the candidature of former president Edgar Lungu and Sampa was among the people that were against but no one was kicked out of the party.

Kaila said they keep everyone because when God had appointed someone to lead, he would do it regardless of the opposition they faced.

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