By Respite Kaoma
United Party for National Development (UPND) 2026 Mufulira Central Constituency aspiring parliamentary candidate and former lawmaker, Dr. Evans Chibanda, has dismissed allegations that he mobilized and paid people to vote for him in a recent party opinion poll.
The opinion poll, which closed yesterday, was conducted to identify popular party candidates in various districts ahead of the adoption process. Voting was done through mobile phones using the *2026# platform.
Speaking in an interview with Mafken News, Dr. Chibanda said he only became aware of the exercise around 13:00 hours, making it impossible for him to mobilize supporters within such a short period of time. He maintained that participants used their own mobile phones to vote from different locations, including homes, bars, and markets.
Dr. Chibanda challenged those behind the allegations to provide evidence or report the matter to the police, stating that no complaints had been made regarding confiscated phones or any form of coercion. He further defended the poll process, describing it as a new and transparent approach to measuring public opinion within Zambia’s political landscape.
The former lawmaker said he would not respond further to what he termed baseless accusations, while referring to some of his competitors for the same seat as “cry babies.”
-MAFKEN TV