By Cathy Maulidi:
Some of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members who have been expelled from the party have said they are failing to make a decision on their next move as they have not yet received letters indicating that they have been expelled.
Some of the expelled members who have spoken to The Daily Times said they do not even know how the Central Executive Committee arrived at the decision to expel, suspend and set others free when everyone who was called to the disciplinary hearing was answering the same charge.
They further state that they are yet to receive formal communication on their expulsion and that, at the moment, they are just hearing it on news bulletins and from party spokesperson Shadric Namalomba, who issued a statement on the same.
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Some of the officials also said they do not even know who signed their expulsion letters if, at all, the letters are there following Namalomba’s statement made on January 20 2024, in which the erstwhile governing party indicated that Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa and nine others had been expelled from the party.
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One of the expelled members, Mark Botomani, who until January 2024 was national director of research and training in the party, told The Daily Times yesterday that he is yet to receive his expulsion letter.
“I have not yet received my expulsion letter and, so, if you ask me about my next move, I’m afraid I have nothing to say to you since I’m yet to see the contents of my expulsion letter and the offence that led to the decision,” Botomani said.
DPP’s former National Governing Council (NGC) member Ken Msonda also said he has not received his expulsion letter and doubted if, at all, the statement Namalomba released received the blessing of the party’s disciplinary committee and Central Executive Committee.
“It has been days since the day we were expelled from the party but none of us has received letters indicating the same. It is strongly rumored that there is a misunderstanding among Central Executive Committee and the Disciplinary Committee members, who are arguing on the issue of who authorised the writing and releasing of the statement Namalomba issued,” Msonda said.
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Msonda claimed that some members of the Disciplinary Committee have told them that the committee recommended a strong warning to all members who attended the “illegal” NGC meeting and not suspension or expulsion.
“We are supposed to receive letters indicating that we have been expelled; the same way they wrote us when inviting us to the disciplinary hearing. At the moment, we do not even know who signed the expulsion letters. That’s why we are just quiet; we can’t make a decision on the next move based on a mere statement,” Msonda said.
Some suspended members including DPP member for the Central Region Uladi Mussa, who was suspended from the party for nine months, also said they have not received their expulsion letters.
However, DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba wondered why the expelled members want to get expulsion letters as if they received any letter when they were joining the party.
“Why can’t they act on the statement that I have signed on behalf of the party? I have confirmed that some have been suspended, expelled and stripped of their NGC positions. What else are they looking for?
“But, anyway, if they want the letters, they will get them. The letters have been dispatched and they will soon receive them through their district chairpersons. Let’s not waste time with technicalities; the party has made its decision,” Namalomba said.
He added that there is room for the expelled and suspended members and others to offer an apology to the party if they feel so.
“In any situation, when you have been expelled, you can go back and ask that your case be revisited. As such, the room is there for them to appeal the sentence. And, yes, there is an opportunity that they can come back if they want to. They can approach the party,” Namalomba said.
On January 20 this year, the party announced, through Namalomba, that it had expelled Nankhumwa, Grezelder Jeffrey, Mark Botomani, Ken Msonda and others.
The party also suspended for nine months some of its members including Uladi Mussa and Ralph Jooma.
None of the expelled and suspended members have come out clear on their next political move.
