I’ll embarrass UPND in Kabushi – Bowman
By Kombe Mataka
FORMER Kabushi PF member of parliament Bowman Lusambo says he will embarrass the system that will be employed by UPND to scoop the seat.
He says “for me, Kabushi Constituency is a family matter. Me, I will not be fighting UPND or that nonentity guy”.
But UPND spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa says the party will ensure it wins the Kabushi parliamentary by-election so that plunderers are not allowed back on the seat.
Lusambo had his election as Kabushi member of parliament nullified by the Constitutional Court last Thursday on grounds of political violence
and other malpractices.
Lusambo has since declared interest to
recontest the seat on the PF ticket.
He said he had information that the UPND would employ government machinery to win the seat.
“Kabushi is not a constituency where just go and say ‘I am going to win Kabushi’. It is not possible. It is a very different constituency because we have invested in the people by creating a relationship with the people. The relationship is too strong and there is no one who can destroy it. If you go with the history of Kabushi, there is no one who has
retained Kabushi Constituency for a second time. I was the first one since independence. And it was not by accident. It was because I have created a relationship with the people which is very strong. I have heard people saying that they will get the government machinery in Kabushi. People in Kabushi Constituency don’t care about the system,” Lusambo said. “We had a very strong government system in this country, not the current system which is non-existent. We had a very strong system like the [Levy] Mwanawasa [administration], it was very strong. Kabushi Constituency then still voted for an independent in the name of (Nedson) Nzowa. Again
Msichili was there under opposition. There, we will embarrass the system. Us we embarrass the system. People don’t bribe us. We do what
our hearts are telling us. That is the biggest problem that is there is in Kabushi.”
He said he would focus his campaign on the minors in the area.
“If you go there, the support base for any strong politician in the world, the support base starts with kids. If you don’t have support from kids, forget. There is nothing that you will do in politics.
Those kids represent families, which means the things those kids say is the thing which they say in their homes where they are coming from,” said Lusambo. “For me, Kabushi Constituency is a family matter. Me, I will not be fighting UPND or that ka (the) nonentity guy (petitioner). You cannot
compare that guy to me. You cannot.”
But speaking at a briefing on Tuesday, Mweetwa said the UPND would win Kabushi because the people were appreciative of the party’s governance.
“We are ready to move into Kabushi. We are ready to win the by-election. I also would like to indicate that we have already unleashed our
investigative machinery on the ground to ensure that the people of Kabushi are given the best candidate. We think that this particular by-election will be competitive but easier,” said Mweetwa. “We are putting in everything for Kabushi. There should be no secret. The reason is we do not want to give an opportunity for people who plundered this country by some miracle then come up and say people still love him. Yes people love them but they don’t want them in government period.”
Lusambo was until the nullification of the election serving his second term.
Lusambo won by slightly over 5,000 votes ahead of UPND’s Bernard Kanengo.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) is expected to conduct fresh election in the constituency within 90 days from the day of
nullification.