20100405
ALLAFRICA

OPPOSITION Patriotic Front (PF) members of Parliament from Luapula Province have declared that they will decampaign party leader Michael Sata for allegedly trying to secretly concession land in the province.

The MPs have also told Mr Sata to forget about getting votes from the people of Luapula Province in the 2011 elections.

Speaking on behalf of the other MPs, Luapula Member of Parliament Peter Machungwa said yesterday that Mr Sata's secret deals were likely to put the country at risk.

Reacting to revelations by former PF general secretary Edward Mumbi that Mr Sata's US$27,000 was meant for land which he allegedly promised to give to a team of foreign business people had he won the 2006 elections, Dr Machungwa said Mr Sata should not be entrusted with the running of the nation because his actions were likely to put Zambia at risk.

He said it was now evident that Mr Sata was not the right person for the country's highest office saying the opposition leader would concession the entire country if given the instruments of power to rule Zambia.

Dr Machungwa also said the PF leader had also told his donors that apart from the nine known Zambian provinces, there was also a 10th province called Muchinga Province in Northern Province.

He said the people of Northern Province should also be careful with Mr Sata because they may one day just wake up and find that part of their land had been concessioned.

"In fact there is already a PF chairperson for Mr Sata's Muchinga Province. According to Mr Sata, Northern Province is divided into two areas. This should be of great concern for the people in the province because something fishy may secretly have happened for the PF to come up with such a province," he said.

Dr Machungwa, who is also spokesperson for the PF MPs attending the National Constitution Conference (NCC) declared that the MPs from Luapula Province would now gang up and explain Mr Sata's secret dealings to the electorate in the province.

He said the revelation that Mr Sata promised to give land to a group of foreign business people was sad and urged Zambians to be careful with some leaders they entrust with power to run the nation.

"Let us be careful as Zambians and not elect leaders that are fond of making secret deals to only benefit themselves. As MPs from Luapula Province we will now tell our electorate why they should not vote for Mr Sata. We will explain the secret deals Mr Sata has been making on Luapula land," he said.

He said Mr Sata's failure to explain the source of US$27,000 was a sign that the money was not genuinely obtained.

Dr Machungwa said Mr Sata's exposed secret deals should be an eye-opener for Zambians and should not be taken lightly, especially that the person who disclosed the issue was a former PF general secretary who once worked closely with the PF leader.

On Friday, Mr Mumbi disclosed that the controversial US$27,000 grabbed from Mr Sata in South Africa was given to him for a deal to concession a mineral-rich piece of land in Luapula Province to a team of foreign business people had he won the 2006 elections.