Patriotic Front Livingstone Constituency Youth Chairman Harrison Simakumba has launched a blistering attack on Deputy Secretary-General for Politics Miles Sampa, accusing him of being a habitual opportunist who has repeatedly betrayed the party, begged for forgiveness, and is now illegally claiming the PF presidency.
Mr Simakumba, who described himself as the constituency’s youth chairman, said he was compelled to speak out after Sampa held a press briefing a few days ago in which he once again declared himself president of the PF.
“To me, I want to call him the president because he is currently our Deputy Secretary-General for Politics,” Mr Simakumba told journalists here.
“He presided over the conference we had. It was a conference of non-empathy. He was one of the organisers and took it to its conclusion.”
The chairman said it was “surprising” to hear Sampa later claim in Livingstone that the PF never held any conference.
Yet, Mr Simakumba insisted, structures that broke away from the main PF participated in that same conference and elected Makebi Zulu as president of the breakaway faction.
“All the PF structures in Zambia that left PF and joined that group voted, and Mr Makebi Zulu was elected president,” he said.
“Now, a few days ago, here is Miles Sampa declaring himself PF president again. Let’s not forget where we are coming from.”
Mr Simakumba then gave a detailed history of what he called Sampa’s pattern of disloyalty.
After the death of PF founder Michael Sata, Mr Simakumba said, Sampa wanted to become president but was overlooked.
He turned rebel, formed his own party — the Orange Party — then joined the UPND campaign team. When that failed, he returned to the PF, apologised, and was forgiven by then-president Edgar Lungu, who even appointed him mayor of Lusaka.
“ He came back as a lost son. We welcomed him,” Mr Simakumba said.
When Lungu retired and the party prepared for a general conference to choose a new leader, Sampa applied but again went rogue.
He organised what Simakumba described as an “illegal conference” guarded by police, attended by no official party structures.
“He just picked people up and gave them money. Some of these people confessed,” he claimed.
That conference, Mr Simakumba said, was later declared illegal even by Sampa himself.
The parties signed a consent judgment admitting the gathering was unlawful.
“Everything that followed after that conference was illegal,” Mr Simakumba argued.
Yet, to the shock of many, the courts set aside the consent judgment and effectively legitimised Sampa’s conference.
Mr Simakumba said the party expected Sampa to stand by his earlier admission and appeal the ruling.
“Instead, because he was excited to be called Mr President, he is now claiming he is the PF president,” he said.
“Some people never change, no matter how many times you forgive them.”
Mr Simakumba disclosed that before Sampa’s latest press briefing, all 20 wards in Livingstone held meetings and unanimously rejected him.
“The PF that he claims to have is just on paper,” he declared.
“The real PF is with the people. Our hearts are with Edgar Lungu. Our hearts are with Michael Sata.
The real PF in our hearts is the PF of Sata, Edgar Lungu, Given Lubinda and Makebi Zulu.”
He warned that no amount of court rulings or police protection would bring PF structures anywhere near Sampa.
“Miles Sampa just enjoys being called Mr President by name,” Mr Simakumba said.
“But the PF is with the structures. The PF is in the hearts of the people.”
End
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