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Former National Secretary for Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD), Major Richard Kachingwe, has described the decision by Dr. Nevers Mumba’s leadership to rebrand the party as the New Nation Party (NNP) as illegal, a betrayal of democracy, and an affront to the people who believe in the MMD.
Kachingwe said ordinary members who cherish the party would not allow Mumba to “obliterate the mother of democracy in Zambia” and would defend it through the courts of law if the Registrar of Societies proceeded to formalize the name change.
In an interview with Zambia Monitor, Kachingwe said the move reflected Mumba’s desperation to hold on to the party that brought liberalization through the late Second Republican President, Dr. Frederick Chiluba, and achieved major economic reforms such as debt cancellation under President Levy Mwanawasa.
He said that part of MMD’s legacy was the introduction of enduring national programmes including the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), the Farmers Input Support Programme (FISP), and the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC).
“It’s impossible to write off the MMD. Dr. Mumba cannot just wake up to obliterate the party which has done so much and which people still want back. The party will bounce back, even if only in opposition. Dr. Mumba should not think he is the Alpha and Omega of the party,” Kachingwe stated.
He urged members to defend the party and stop Mumba’s “maneuvers to kill a vibrant political movement” that still enjoyed grassroots support, much like the former ruling United National Independence Party (UNIP).
Similarly, former General Education Minister in the MMD administration, Gaston Sichilima, echoed Kachingwe’s sentiments, saying Mumba’s constitutional 10-year tenure as MMD president expired in 2022 and that he had since been holding the position illegally through the courts.
Sichilima said any continued claim to the presidency, including the recent “rebranding convention,” was unconstitutional.
“What took place at NASDEC was therefore not an MMD convention, but rather the launch of a new political party, which he has named the New Nation Party (NNP),” he said.
He added that the NASDEC gathering resembled “a coronation rather than a convention,” where Mumba was declared a life president, fulfilling what Sichilima called “a long-held ambition inconsistent with MMD’s democratic traditions and principles.”
Sichilima, who leads a parallel structure called Save the MMD, said Mumba was no longer a member of the party, adding that this was not the first time an individual had broken away from the MMD.
“We are aware of Dr. Mumba’s attempts to mislead the public into believing that his new formation is a rebranded MMD. These claims are false, deceptive, and deliberately misleading. You cannot ‘rebrand’ a great institution using the same individuals who hijacked and ran it down,” he said.
He called on all genuine MMD members across the country to remain calm and celebrate what he likened to the liberation of the Israelites.
“Today marks the first day of our journey to the promised land of renewal and restoration. In the coming days, Operation Save MMD will convene a national consultative meeting to outline the roadmap toward a genuine and inclusive MMD convention, where the voice of every member will be heard, and our great party will be restored to its former glory,” he said.
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