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Indications are that the Patriotic Front (PF) may have split into two factions following the general conference held in Lusaka on Tuesday, barely three years after losing power.
In a dramatic turn of events, the Conference elected Matero Member of Parliament, Miles Sampa, as PF president. However, this has been declared illegal by the Given Lubinda-led faction.
Sampa and the Lubinda-led faction had been engaged in legal battles on the legality of those appointed to various positions such as Secretary General, Information and Publicity, among others.
Addressing delegates after being elected, Sampa immediately announced the appointment of Morgan Ng’ona as the new party Secretary General.
He said this was in accordance with the general conference resolutions which empowered the elected President to make such an appointment.
“The PF Constitution was out rightly being raped by the hijackers, I love people who stand for the truth and want to do the right thing unlike those who are championing the slogan,” Sampa said.
He declared other office bearers as illegal and revealed that a new list had been submitted to the Registrar of Societies who was still scrutinizing the people who had submitted finger prints.
Sampa pledged to follow the party and the national constitution which is the supreme law of the land.
“Politics of tribalism is long gone and am making a manifesto about this. People who voted for President Hakainde Hichilema never voted on tribal lines and this resulted in us losing with 1 million votes,” Sampa said.
On Wednesday, the Lubinda led faction announced the expulsion of Sampa for gross misconduct and declared him as an illegal president of the party.
PF Chairperson for Information and Publicity, Emmanuel Mwamba, told Zambia Monitor of the development in Lusaka on Wednesday.
Mwamba said Sampa had been facing serious charges after he stormed the party secretariat on September 15, 2023.
Read More: Sampa not PF leader, as court grants Lubinda-led faction restraining order
He alleged that Sampa destroyed party property and remained suspended from the party for gross misconduct.
Dismissing the Sampa-led conference, Mwamba said, “The general conference is called by the Central Committee and it requires a minimum of 30 days notices, it is held and called by the National Chairperson of the Party.”
He added that the general conference required a process which had delegates, namely Councillors, members of the Central Committee and Members of Parliament in attendance. He, however, noted Sampa’s conference failed to meet all the requirements.
“It requires that delegates who form the electoral college are elected from, our party structures, and also consists of Members of Parliament, Members of the Central Committee and Councillors,” Mwamba said.
Meanwhile, High Court Judge, Situmbeko Chocho, has granted the Given Lubinda-led faction an interim ex-parte order stopping Miles Sampa from acting as PF president or member of the party.
This followed a lawsuit filed by party General Secretary, Raphael Nakacinda, last Friday in the Lusaka High Court,seeking an injunction restraining Sampa from masquerading as a party member.
Sampa, who is a Matero Member of Parliament, organised a convention at which he was elected the new PF party president.
“It is hereby ordered that the defendant be and is hereby restrained from holding himself out as a member of the Patriotic Front Party, a party functionary of the Patriotic Front Party or a leader of the Patriotic Front Party,” read the order.
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