 We are dealing with today. The Zambian people have been speaking from 2021 to signs of dictatorship. Dictatorial tendencies exhibited by the UP and the government, particularly President Akaende Hrema. We have been a number of things that have occurred, clearly demonstrating a determined effort to rape brutally our democracy. Acting president and vice president, what happened to your two members of parliament? Honourable Joe Malanji for Kwacha. Honourable Boma Nusambo for Kabushi. The injustice occasioned where some of the senior legal minds in this country have clearly stated that those seats were stolen, robbed from us, the patriotic front and the people of Kwacha and Kabushi. And the people of Zambia in a very brutal manner using law fair. Misaka in the Hrema has not just ended there. He promised the Zambian people that he will now undertake what he was calling imingalato. An imingalato in this case he was basically saying we will not follow the rules. We will not adhere to the law. What has happened? I want to believe he is not only shocking to members of patriotic front, but is shocking to the Zambian people. We have one among us who decided to hold a gathering by himself with a few street characters that he gathered together supported by UP and Decadals. He has been trotting between South Africa and Zambia to meet mainly those who sponsored the UPND. He has been meeting the Americans, meeting the British and we know their stance when it comes to the UPND government. And orchestrated a scheme to destroy patriotic front because the Zambian people have already been speaking to the fact that they miss our party, they miss our policies, they miss our developmental agenda that was very clear. Speaking to their needs and not what is happening now that basically is a regime that is captured by foreign interest. We have a president that is a puppet. In escuting this scheme the first steps were to paralyze and compromise institutions of government. The judicial was never spared. The executive we know what has been happening as it were on a vice president. What we are experiencing now is something that was orchestrated from community house and some of the names are being alleged to be the advisers and schemers of what is happening to patriotic front. We have one of the clergy persons who has even made commentaries trying to celebrate that according to him PF will be given the test of their own medicine advising on how the law should be manipulated to achieve a particular agenda. It is very unfortunate that we went before the court the initial stage time at a time that this old criminal enterprise was being undertaken on the 24th of October in Nipendeste. We attempted to go before the court to seek redress to stop this damage that is being occasioned to the party. Unfortunately the courts were not available both in Rusaka jurisdiction and central province. When we then had an opportunity to be heard an injunction was granted to the shock of everybody. An injunction that was heard and given a date for inter-party hearing has miraculously been discharged today. Even when we had applications to do with contempt and other applications that have been made by other colleagues who felt of an interest. We are still studying and obviously the lawyers are looking at all that. I thought that the Zambian people should appreciate that this is not a PF battle. This is a battle for the Zambian people. This is a battle in defense of democracy. The destruction of the main opposition in the Republic of Zambia is the destruction of democracy. Without preempting you on a vice president may I respectfully call upon you. You speak not only to the people of Zambia but also give comfort to your members that are seeking for answers across the country. I call upon you and thank you very much. My fellow countrymen and women, a dark cloud has been cast on the Republic of Zambia. However, this is not surprising for us in the patriotic front. It has not come as a surprise for me. Those who have been following my press briefings will recall that have been very consistent in calling out Haga Indi Hijilema as a dictator in the making. I have said many times that all the activities of Haga Indi Hijilema point to the fact that he is working towards creating a one-party state. I have also stated before that just the mention of the name patriotic front makes Haga Indi Hijilema have goose pimples. It will be recalled how the UPND new doom government started by questioning the office bearers of the patriotic front. Instead of having only 10 names, we ended up submitting 15 names. Or to try and ensure that their plan to deregister this party does not succeed. We also reported to you countrymen and women that this is the only organization in Zambia that was compelled by the police that in clearing the names of office bearers they must present their curriculum vitae. There is no organization, not even the UPND was compelled to provide CVs for office bearers. Only this party was subjected to that kind of treatment. It will also be recalled that as Secretary General said when they stopped our MPs from contesting seats in Kavushi and Kwacha we ran to the courts of law because we are a SIVU political party. We know how Haga Indi Hijilema did not respect the ruling of the court. He compelled the ECZ to proceed with the elections even if there was an injunction that was existing. That matter is still in court as we speak today so allow me not to delve into it too much. But this is an indication of the fact that we are being governed by a man who in the afternoon says he is going to rule by the law. He is going to govern by the rule of law and yet what he actually does in practice is the abrogation of the law. At every turn Haga Indi Hijilema is willing to breach the law with impurity. It is very clear to us that they have been looking for this opportunity and they found it when they found a weak soul in Wanmaio's Wadi Asamba. Yes, we applied and were granted an injunction and the return debt of that injunction meaning the debt on which the judge wanted to come and assess the merits of our argument in the presence of the defense meaning Maio Sampa and his team was set for 21 November. We were preparing ourselves, our lawyers were preparing our arguments to go and argue the case on the 21 November. Surprisingly today even before our lawyers were heard the court has decided to discharge that injunction. And one layperson like myself who asks a question what is it that they are going to talk about on the 21 November. Now that the court has decided to withdraw that injunction to discharge that injunction literally meaning that the court has allowed what happened on 24 October. What is even more surprising is that not too long ago an SI 529 was issued by minister of home affairs and internal security. And the registrar of society using that SI wrote to all political parties asking political parties to be in keeping with their constitutions so they can replace all people, all the vacancies. They feel filling all the vacancies in the leadership of their parties within 60 days. You may recall fellow citizens that the registrar of society has also compelled political parties to submit their constitutions with the registrar. What does that mean? Why did she want us to submit constitutions? Why is it that every political party submits constitutions to the registrar of societies? It is because the registrar of societies must ensure that political parties are conducting themselves in accordance with their constitutions. And the constitution of the patriotic front is explicit on how an extraordinary conference can be held. It is explicit on who should attend a general conference. It is also clear as to who shall address a general conference. The patriotic front constitution states that it is the central committee that will call a general conference. It is also clear in the constitution that before the general conference there should be a national council. A national council consisting of all members of parliament, all councilors consisting of all members of the central committee and selected people from provinces. That's what our constitution says. Now it is surprising that the registrar of societies who knew very well that what was done on the 24th of October at Mulungushi did not meet the minimum criteria that is set in our constitution. She still goes ahead and accepts the results, the product of an illegality. Out of a rotten bag of potatoes cannot come chips. It is impossible. You cannot make chips out of rotten potatoes. And if that meeting was illegal in accordance with our constitution, it therefore follows that the product is also illegal. You can't plant rotten seed and expect that it will germinate. How come in this particular case an abrogation of our constitution is stated to have produced a legal team? How? I want to sound this to all our members. The leadership of the party is not going to rest on this matter. For this party to be what it is today, people lost lives, people lost property, people lost jobs to create this party. And as we stand today, we are aware of the fact that every Zambian is concerned about the poor governance of the UPND. And we know very well that Hagainde is trying to achieve two purposes. One, to distract people from seeing what is happening. He doesn't want people to continue to complain about the high cost of living by distracting their attention for their attention to come to this unnecessary debate about the future of the patriotic front. I want to sound a clear message to Hagainde. You can get rid of this leadership in the patriotic front. But you cannot stop the patriotic front spirit. That you are not capable of stopping. Can the registrar of society explain to us, she doesn't live in space, she lives here in Lusaka. Is she aware of the fact that when we said those who are interested in being president of our party, come and register yourselves. And nine people registered their names. Did she even take interest to find out where those nine in that competition. How can one person just decide on his own, I'm going to organize an extraordinary conference and the registrar of society accepts that. Can we tomorrow ask members of the PF to go and organize a UPND extraordinary conference and replace Hagainde. Because that's what he's saying. So tomorrow another candidate of ours should be given an opportunity to also go to Murungushi and organize his own thugs and they declare themselves winners. What anaki is that? The people who are calling us in PF as being lacking good governance records. Where are they? Where? Rafa Onakachiinda in his capacity as secretary general of this party went to the inspector general of police with a letter of complaint over the conduct of Mayu Sampa here at our secretariat. Criminal trespass to date the IG has not taken any action. Why? He even goes ballistic and says we're not going to arrest him because there is no complaint. They are quick to arrest us just for making statements. Stadi Mwale simply for saying stop producing midimu to make sure that you don't waste your midimu because the price you are selling it at is too high compared to the price of ZNS midimu. Let the ZNS midimu sell he's arrested for sedition. A person who commits a criminal offense against an organization is let free. It is clear to us that the function that was held at Molongwishi was not a PF function that was a state function. That was a state function. State house function. That was a function sponsored by no other than Hada Indehidema himself. Mayu Sampa only obtained authority to hold that meeting at midnight of the 23rd of October. And yet all of us are being denied our rights to associate, our rights to assemble for Mayu Sampa Express. Why? Can they explain to us the reason why Molongwishi International Conference Center was packed with police? It was codoned and there were even armored vehicles. Why? There were police officers inside the room making sure that there is harmony, there is peace. Why? They feared, they thought that this party is a party like theirs, a party of hooligans and people are violent. We knew about that. We didn't want to go and cause maim because we value life, we value the blood of Zambians. We let them have the halabalu and we did that because we were under the impression that in this country there are some people who still respect the rule of law. We have not lost hope. Members of the patriotic front, peace-loving Zambians, lovers of democracy, take this word. We have not lost hope. Yes, they stole our two seats on the copper belt. And yes, today as we stand here, they have stolen the patriotic front. But I want to assure you this is only for a short moment. This is only for a short moment. For all my colleagues, leaders of other opposition political parties, read the times. I want to commend those who have already commented and condemned this action. If they can destroy the largest opposition political party in the country, where does it leave you? If you think that there is going to be any breadcrumbs from the patriotic front which you can salvage, I want to assure you, my dear brothers and sisters, it is the wrong way to go. Zambian needs a strong opposition for us to continue to enjoy our multi-party democracy. Members of this party, get my word, get the word of all of us in the leadership. Not a single member of parliament, except one, a renegade who was actually suspended, attended that nonsense, that fiasco. Not a single member of the central committee attended that fiasco. Not a single council attended that fiasco. Not a single chairman attended that fiasco. And yet the registrar of societies accepts their papers and says, Madam registrar, this take notice from me, take notice now. We are instructing our lawyers to call you out. So that you can explain to us why you have allowed to ignore our constitution and the provisions of our constitution. Because now what this means is that it is no longer any use to submit constitutions to you. It is useless. We submit constitutions to you so that you can check how our institutions are operating. And now if you know, we have no regard to our constitutions. It means that we must also amend the law so that no organization submits their constitutions. We are going to challenge you on this. We are instructing our lawyers to call you out personally. And also, for all of you public servants, you should know that there is no government that will go on in perpetuity. They have said that they are going to govern for 90 years because they think that they are going to decimate opposition in Zambia. Kenneth Kawunda tried. His project failed. The Zambian people rose. He was forced to amend the constitution at midnight. And Kenneth Kawunda was a real giant by the way. He was not a scared little man. He was a giant. But the will of the people forced him to sign the amendment of the constitution without even going to a referendum. This must show that the will of the people shall always prevail. And right is might. As far as we are concerned, we are still the legitimate leaders of this party. And anyone who is going around simply because of what happened today is just a mascareda. And we are ready. I am prepared to go into prison for this. We are not going to allow factory of this kind because allowing this is betraying the 20 million Zambians. It's betraying the future of this country. Allowing this is agreeing that Zambia must turn into a dictatorship. We shall not allow a dictatorship in this country. But now my fellow members and all Zambians, time has come for me to call you to action. Don't leave it on the shoulders of only these our leaders. No, we shall not achieve it on our own. We shall be in front. But please come and join us on our sides. All those who know that this is a betrayal of the cause of the people who died for the liberation of this country. Rise now, rise. Wherever you are, rise. In the market, rise. On bus stations, rise. In the buses, rise. And demand that democracy must be protected. We cannot allow the decimation of democracy in this country. No, no, no, no. We have your kind there. People lost lives. Blood was shed for the liberation of this country. And if you think that our four bears, their lives went for nothing. And that because they are dead, therefore that spirit is dead, you are making a mistake. The spirit to fight for democracy is alive in these people here. We are ready. Let us stand up and be counted. I would like every member of the patriotic front starting tonight. The message is save democracy. The second message is stand up and defend yourselves. Stand up and fight for democracy. They have done this on a very opportune day. The night before we go to memory and honour of the founding father of this party. Fearless man. And if people think that the spirit of Maiko Sata is gone, it is alive. We sucked from his wisdom. In the process we also sucked from his courage. Come whatever it will come, we are ready to defend the legacy of Maiko Chilufia Sata. We will not sell this party simply for the love of money. No, no, we are ready. Tomorrow we are gathering at the memorial park. Tomorrow we are gathering at the memorial park. And I want to call upon all of you citizens in Lusata. All of you, people from outside Lusata, those who can, let us converge tomorrow because tomorrow what we will be doing is honouring a person who fought for Zambia's liberation and also fought for democracy in this country. And let us go there in numbers. Let us all be in green. And the songs tomorrow are the songs that have sung here. Stand up and fight for democracy. Stand up and be counted. Starting now, that is the message for us for everywhere until justice is seen to be provided to every citizen. We have not yet completely lost hope in the judiciary. We haven't. Make no mistake, we haven't. And going to the judiciary is not a sign of weakness on our part. It is because we are a low respecting party. And we want to honour those judges. We are going back to them to explain to them that this is not acceptable. This is not right. Can you imagine the kind of anaki that we are going to create in this country? No one will be safe. We all live in this country. It is the duty of all of us to defend the constitution of the Republic and that constitution is all about multi-party democracy in this country. Therefore, whoever dares to destroy multi-party democracy is breaching the provisions of the constitution of the land. Those who are doing things with impunity, remember that when there is a change of government, you shall also be held to account. You are therefore better off being on the right side of history. I for one, and speaking on behalf of my colleagues, we want to be found to be on the right side of history. We want to be found to be on the right side in the fight for democracy. Without patriotic front, you can cut my finger if there will ever be free and fair elections in this country. So those of you who are aspiring to be cancelers, to be MPs, those of you who are aspiring to have your children rise in this country, this is the time for you. Invest now for the future. I want to thank all those people who are sending us messages of solidarity. So those who have been sending us mass calls and asking and lamenting, my message to you is look up to God, the God of justice. Whatever Eve woman does, cannot in any way overshadow the love and justice of God. And God is watching over us. So let us pray for each other. But in praying for each other, let us not be meek. Let us pray for strength. Let us pray that God gives us the blood, the spirit to stand up and fight for this country. Thank you very much and see you tomorrow.