By MILDRED KATONGO
and RABECCA CHIPANTA –
FORUM for Democracy and Development (FDD) Copperbelt coordinator N’shingebuka Shyamenda has said he will challenge party president Edith Nawakwi at the convention slated for March, this year.
Mr Shyamenda said his decision to declare his candidature for the party presidency was in line with FDD’s constitution which gave members the right to contest any position at the national convention.
He said in a statement in Ndola yesterday that while other people in the party were quiet on the need to have the convention, he came out in the open about the constitutional need for the party to hold elections.
“As a bona fide founder member of FDD and in accordance with the party constitution, I wish to declare my candidature for the office of party president at the forthcoming party convention scheduled for March,” Mr Shyamenda said.
He said when others opted to leave the party, he stayed with the hope of changing things for the better, especially knowing that those holding on to positions had already exhausted their constitutional tenure of office.
Mr Shyamenda thanked the outgoing national policy committee and outgoing party president Edith Nawakwi for finally calling for a convention which the party had never held in the last 10 years.
He urged his fellow FDD members, especially the youth, to take up the challenge and aspire to hold leadership positions in the party.
Mr Shyamenda said the move would help the party emerge with a youthful leadership that would ensure the party remained relevant and effective.
FDD Copperbelt chairperson Yotam Mtayachalo said the party had welcomed Mr Shyamenda’s decision to challenge Ms Nawakwi.
“We welcome Mr Shyamenda’s decision to stand at the convention because FDD is a democratic party which was formed based on strong democratic principles.
“We allow members to contest any position they want provided they meet the criteria and provisions of the constitution,” he said.
Mr Mtayachalo said Mr Shyamenda had the right to contest the position of president, adding that at the moment, only the party president Ms Nawakwi had declared interest to run for the highest office in the party.
“I believe that it is better we support her because we do not have time to field a new person.
“Where is time going to come from to start looking for a new person and marketing them? My advice to people that want to contest these positions is to be mindful and mean well for the party,” Mr Mtayachalo said.
He appealed to party members to consider the time which the party had to sell itself to the people of Zambia before embarking on their political ambitions.
Mr Mtayachalo said he had no intention of vying for any position at the convention because he believed that he still had a lot to do to help the party form a strong membership base.