BOWMAN LUSAMBO, PF ARE VERY STRONG IN KABUSHI-NDOLA UPND
President Hakainde Hichilema was not allowed to campaign here on the Copperbelt prior to the August 12, 2021 General Elections yet he managed to win in three out of the four seats here in Ndola.
The only constituency where President Hichilema lost was here in Kabushi. Even in Bwana Mkubwa where the UPND came third, President Hichilema emerged victorious.
Kabushi is the only constituency in Ndola where the UPND performed terribly. We lost the presidency, MP and all the eight wards. Eight wards.
It would be naive for the UPND to think the only reasons they lost in Kabushi were violence and electoral malpractices.
There are other serious factors that led the UPND to lose the Kabushi Seat. The main reason is that Kabushi is a PF stronghold. Anyone who claims otherwise is a liar and has never been on the ground.
The other factor that led to this loss is that the UPND fielded in unpopular candidates. There can be no other reason why we lost all the 8 wards other than having unpopular candidates. Some of the Councillors the UPND fielded in were total strangers who to this day have got into oblivion. The UPND Parliamentary candidate is still unknown to this day in certain areas of our constituency.
Adding to this, the UPND here in Kabushi went into the August 2021 elections as a divided house. We had other candidates decampaining the UPND Candidate who they felt had been imposed by the constituency. There were also strong rumours that those in the party structures were wining and dining with the PF and had been bought off. Other candidates who were not happy about what was obtaining in the UPND here in Kabushi chose to defect to other political parties and reduced the UPND numbers even more.
If the UPND has not made a serious postmortem to why they lost the Kabushi Seat they are likely to suffer the same fate in the coming by election.
The UPND should not underestimate the popularity of the PF in Kabushi. PF is still a strong party in Kabushi and to unseat them they will need someone who is equal to the task. They will need someone who is intelligent, articulate and above all, popular on the ground.
The UPND should not look beyond Mellbin Muyoba Simangolwa. Hon Simangolwa has for the past 20 years helped youths and women in Kabushi to acquire skills, something none among other candidates from all political parties in Kabushi can claim. Hon Simangolwa knows and understands the challenges the people of Kabushi face on a daily basis.
Kabushi has a chance to redeem itself and have an MP who will not go to Parliament just to drink water or make noise in the August House but will be able to articulate issues and present their case effectively and efficiently.
Ba Kabushi, twasebana pafula.
JOSEPH NTEMBULA
UPND MEMBER