CHIPENZI EXPLODES
…Tells UK-based activist Ngoma HH won’t lose
By Mast Reporter
ELECTORAL Commission of Zambia (ECZ) commissioner MacDonald Chipenzi has exchanged bitter words with UK-based governance activist Thandiwe-Ketis Ngoma over his partiality and alignment to the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND).
Ngoma accused Chipenzi of being a hindrance to a free and fair electoral process ahead of the August 13 general elections.
But when contacted for a comment, Chipenzi refused to respond to the allegations, saying he did not have time for that and did not know Ngoma.
“You and me, we know these things very well, the legality, and how you amplify non-entities to be entities. Who is Ketis, by the way? I don’t even know her. …because this is why I’m saying, for you to be interested, you must know her better than I do. I know she has been calling me and ba [ECZ Chairperson] Mwangala [Zaloumis]. I don’t know that Ketis chap,” he said.
But Ngoma said the ECZ was compromised and could not hold free and fair elections in its current form, with Chipenzi as one of its commissioners.
In an interview with The Mast, Ngoma said Chipenzi had communicated with her through a WhatsApp conversation where he bragged that Hichilema would not lose the August elections.
She said the conversation started from a post State House chief communications specialist Clayson Hamasaka shared, indicating that Hichilema had committed the country to free and fair elections.
“What happened was there was something that was shared in a blog called ZAMAC, where Clayson Hamasaka said Zambia will have free and fair elections. So, on that comment, on that shared post in ZAMAC, I commented saying Hamasaka thinks we are all from Bweengwa. You don’t expect to have free and fair elections when you have UPND cadres in the ECZ like MacDonald Chipenzi,” Ngoma said.
She said Chipenzi reacted by warning her that if she thought Hichilema would lose the August elections, she should forget because he would retain power.
“He started calling me a PF person. He was calling me a PF person. I’m bitter, for five years, how I’ve been, how we’ve been bitter and I called him out as a UPND cadre appointed on tribal lines and inclined to the UPND,” she said.
Ngoma wondered why Chipenzi, a commissioner, would issue such a statement in their conversation.
“So, my argument was that we’ve had commissioners before who’ve been neutral. We’ve had commissioners of quality, not you. And he went on to say ‘you wait and see, kaya. Just put your party in order’. And at some point I explained to him to say, you see, you are partisan. You are partisan. I didn’t expect this from you,” she said.
Ngoma said Chipenzi followed her into her inbox on WhatsApp where a much more tense exchange and threats took place.
“And the fact that you’ve just come to my inbox proves what type of a commissioner you are, because you can’t come to my inbox and start defending yourself if there’s nothing wrong,” she said.
Chipenzi casually dismissed her allegations and threatened The Mast with cyber laws when asked to comment on their altercation accusing the publication of overrating Ngoma.
