NDP boots out three members over Lukato criticism

The National Democratic Party (NDP) has expelled three senior members who publicly questioned the party's handling of finances and who accused NDP leader Martin Lukato of running the party like a "dictator".

The expelled members are secretary general Alex Linyando, Zambezi regional coordinator Allen Mwilima and presidential affairs official Obrien Lisulo.

Deputy president for operations David Mwilima announced their expulsion at a press conference in Katima Mulilo this week, where he accused the trio of attempting to undermine Lukato and seize control of the party.

Mwilima did not provide details of which party structure decided to expel the three, whether it constituted the disciplinary committee or whether the affected members appeared before it.

He said the party could not allow members to attack its leadership, arguing that those who targeted Lukato were also attacking the wider party.

“The one who touched the president, he touched me,” Mwilima said, adding that the party had therefore decided to remove the three members.

He said Linyando would be “fired forever in the party”.

Mwilima also accused the trio of pursuing an agenda to remove Lukato, saying the goal was to “take over this president”.

Process challenged

Linyando has rejected the expulsion and is challenging the process used to remove him, saying the affected members were never allowed to defend themselves.

“We just learned about our expulsion in the media,” Linyando said, adding that they had not been summoned to a disciplinary hearing or allowed to present their side of the story.

He also rejected the leadership’s description of the concerns raised against Lukato as mere allegations.

“They are not allegations – that’s why they are scared to discuss those matters,” he claimed.

Linyando argued that only congress could remove him or that an extraordinary congress should be convened to determine his fate.

“The president never appointed me. The congress elected me,” he said.

“For them doing what they did is an abuse of power. It’s unconstitutional, unprocedural,” Linyando stressed.

He said the NDP constitution provides for a disciplinary hearing committee to first consider complaints before making recommendations to the national executive committee (NEC).

“The disciplinary hearing committee is the one who is supposed to recommend to the NEC,” Linyando said.

He said neither he nor the other members appeared before the disciplinary committee or NEC.

‘Correct and true’

Allen Mwilima, meanwhile, questioned why the party would expel them if the concerns they raised were mere allegations.

“That’s why they are expelling us from the party. Because they are real things,” he said, insisting that the issues raised against the leadership were “correct and true”.

He called for an independent investigation of Lukato, his deputy and other officials involved in the dispute.

He further alleged that individuals employed by the party president, including drivers and personal assistants, were involved in the disciplinary process, describing them as “personal people”.

The publication could not independently establish the membership of the disciplinary committee or whether the people Allen Mwilima identified participated in the decision to expel the three.

Lukato declined to respond when asked to clarify whether the party followed its internal rules in removing the elected members, which structure authorised the expulsions, and who constituted the disciplinary committee.

The party has also not provided, in the information available to the publication, its response to the expelled members' claims that they were not formally charged, summoned or heard before their removal.