WE DON’T KNOW HIM

WE DON’T KNOW HIM

…Kitwe residents reject, boo Kwacha MP Mulenga as HH watches

By Mast Reporter

RESIDENTS of Kwacha Township in Kitwe yesterday rejected and booed their member of Parliament Charles Mulenga in the presence of President Hakainde Hichilema and his entourage.

Congregants at the United Church of Zambia (UCZ) Kwacha East congregation denied knowing Mulenga when Copperbelt Minister Elisha Matambo introduced him during a worship service attended by Hichilema.

In an embarrassing moment captured by Sun TV in a 49-second video, Matambo was forced to save Mulenga from further booing by telling him to sit down before he could finish introducing him to the congregation.

“It’s important to know these people, not to just hear that they came with the MP,”  Matambo said in Bemba language addressing the congregants.

“Aba e ba MP benu ba Mulenga [this is your MP Mr Mulenga]. Here he is.”

At this point Mulenga, stands up next to United Party for National Development (UPND) secretary general Batuke Imenda and Minister of Communication and Transport Frank Tayali in the front phew while Hichilema is seated next to a clergyman in a white robe on  the far right.

Mulenga turns and waves sheepishly at the congregation, but his greeting attracts only murmurs.

Matambo asks the worshipers, “You don’t know him?”

They respond in unison, “Aweee [nooo]!”

Matambo, trying to manage the situation, says, “Okay, that’s the one. Lolesheni uku bamimone bwino [face the congregation so that they can see you clearly].”

Mulenga stands again, turns to face the congregation and timidly waves at the worshipers again with a half smile on his face.

There is an uproar as congregants shout, “Awe tatwabeshiba, awe tatwabeshiba [No, we don’t know him, we don’t him].”

Meanwhile, a smiling Hichilema can be seen whispering something to the man of God seated next to him on his left as Tayali and Imenda smile at Mulenga, not sure how to react to the worshipers’ resounding rejection of their MP.

Then Matambo intervenes and says, “Okay, Hon. Mulenga.”

Mulenga sits down as Matambo proceeds to introduce other members of the presidential entourage.

He was elected MP for Kwacha Constituency on October 21, 2022 on a UPND ticket replacing the opposition Patriotic Front party’s Joe Malanji after the seat had been declared vacant.

In August 2022, the Constitutional Court upheld the nullification of the election of  Malanji as Kwacha MP.

Justice Margaret Munalula, who read the majority judgment on behalf of the bench, said High Court trial judge Kazimbe Chenda’s decision to annul the seat on the basis of lack of a Grade 12 certificate could not be faulted because of sufficient evidence.

Justice Munalula said then the Constitutional Court was of the view that there had been enough evidence that Malanji had not had a Grade 12 certificate.

She said the trial judge had been on firm ground to shift the burden of proof to Malanji to prove that he had the right credentials.

However, in the minority judgment, Justice Mugeni Mulenga  said the trial judge had erred in law to shift the burden of proof to Malanji because the petitioner, UPND candidate Charles Mulenga, should have provided proof that the appellant did not have a Grade 12 certificate.