• KABIMBA

By CHUSA SICHONE –

PRESIDENT Michael Sata has dropped Wynter Kabimba from the position of Justice Minister and also relieved him of his duties as Secretary General of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF).
The Head of State has since appointed Defence Minister Edgar Lungu as the new PF Secretary General as well as Justice Minister.
“Hon Edgar Lungu becomes the new party Secretary General and Minister of Justice in addition to his portfolio as Minister of Defence,” Mr Sata said in a statement released by his Special Assistant for Press
and Public Relations George Chellah.
The President thanked Mr Kabimba for the services he rendered to the Government during his tenure of office.
He was appointed Secretary General in April 2009 in addition to his responsibilities as chairperson of the Local Government Committee of the party’s Central Committee.
He was appointed Justice Minister in September 2012 and nominated as Member of Parliament, replacing Mr Sebastian Zulu.
Efforts to get a comment from Mr Kabimba failed as his mobile phone went unanswered and was later switched off.
Mr Lungu said his appointment as secretary general and Justice Minister had come as a surprise.
According to ZNBC news monitored last night, Mr Lungu said he had a meeting with President Sata in the morning and that the President had not mentioned anything on the appointment.
He said he would inform the nation on the plans he had for the party but that he would wait until he met the President before meeting the media.
Meanwhile, a group of PF cadres thronged the ruling party’s Lusaka District office in the town centre where they celebrated Mr Kabimba’s sacking.
The jubilation was characterised by dancing, singing and honking along Freedom Way.
Recently, Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda warned that people wishing to take shortcuts to ascend to the presidency would end up bruising themselves because the position was not vacant.
Mr Chikwanda said at no time had the electorate said they misplaced their trust and confidence in President Sata when they elected him in 2011 and that those wishing to succeed him must start by enlisting the trust of the grassroots.
“Let them earn it the way Mr Sata persisted until the grassroots people gave him the mandate in 2011. He persisted to be where he is,” he said.
The finance minister also said the media must be wary of people with selfish political interests.
“The media is free to embrace crusades and promote the political interest of persons whose ideologies they subscribe to. The media’s actions, however, should not be shrouded in malice,” he said.