DITCH CORRUPT MPS OR LOSE
… Chief Chipepo exposes CDF looting by sitting MPs and urges Hichilema to heed grassroots voice on candidate adoptions
By Adrian Mwanza
CHIEF Chipepo of Southern Province has issued a stark warning to President Hakainde Hichilema and the ruling United Party for National Development, saying the party risks losing seats in the August 13 general elections if it ignores the grassroots and imposes corrupt candidates on the people.
Speaking in an interview with The Mast, the traditional leader said most sitting Members of Parliament had proved to be corrupt and had acquired sudden and unexplained wealth since taking office, a situation he said had deeply eroded the trust of the people who voted for them.
“I just want to warn the Head of State that he may lose a number of MPs should he not listen to what the grassroots are telling him, because most of his MPs have proved to be corrupt,” Chief Chipepo said.
He said the corruption was visible in the administration of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), where MPs had allegedly steered contracts to their own personal or family-owned companies, effectively using public resources meant for service delivery as a private income stream.
Chief Chipepo said, therefore, it was the responsibility of traditional leaders to step in and help identify candidates with genuine leadership qualities and a sincere commitment to the welfare of the people they sought to represent.
“It is very disheartening that most of these MPs, be it in the opposition and the ruling party, are very corrupt and do not care about the people that voted for them,” he said.
The traditional leader also called for more women’s participation in governance because women made better leaders than their male counterparts.
He urged women to come forward and compete directly with men for elective positions, arguing that they were more trustworthy, more compassionate and less driven by the desire for dominance that he said characterised many male politicians.
“Most men want to be dominant, but what I can tell you is that women are actually better leaders and are more compassionate,” Chief Chipepo said.
