MASEBO, PRINCESS NKOMESHYA’S COMPETITION CREATES ‘HEADACHE’ FOR UPND LEADERS…Masebo likens her previous loses to arguments that HH “nikaluza, when he in fact did not lose”
Daily Revelation Reporters
UPND officials are in a dilemma over the adoption process in Chongwe involving Sylvia Masebo and senior chieftainess Nkomeshya’s daughter, Princess Cholwe, which they feel will pose potential ‘headache’ for opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema and the party leadership.
But Masebo when contacted for comment, said she is confident in the adoption primaries because of her “credible track record.”
Well placed sources in the UPND in Chongwe and the national management committee are hoping that Masebo and Princess Cholwe could sit down and decide on which one should actually contest the position, saying complicating the matter was the fact that Masebo was a senior member of the party, but also feel adopting the chieftainess’ daughter would place them in an advantageous position in an area they need to recapture from the PF column.
“That’s why as a leadership we are of the view that they should sit down and discuss so that the issue doesn’t become a headache for HH and the party leadership and they end up losing the constituency altogether,” the sources said. “Failure to resolve this they are going to cause headache for the authorities and even the chieftainess herself, because as you maybe aware she has been supportive of Masebo in the past, but this time it’s her own daughter having a go at the seat.”
But Masebo said she felt comfortable because the people of Chongwe know her good side and bad side, “and so I can fairly rate myself that I have a track record and that the track record is what will speak for me.”
“And if my track record is right then even the vote will be right. I am standing on that belief that I have a credible track record in the district and in the constituency. And if people are voting based on track record that gives me the confidence that I shouldn’t have a problem. I should be able to sail through,” said Masebo, further addressing the decision by her competitor to stand. “I feel that it’s her constitutional right right…and I think that she’s in order and at the end of the day it will really be up to the people to make a decision. So I have no issues with that because I feel that constitutionally she has that right, yah. It’s within her right to aspire. And I think there are no issues there.”
Asked who chieftainess Nkomeshya was supporting between the two, Masebo refused to address the matter, saying she did not want to draw the chieftainess into the matter.
Masebo instead said she wanted to address only aspects on why she felt confident of standing, saying if she were adopted it would be like a return match with the PF’s Japhen Mwakalombe as the people now have a history of the two.
“So it will be easy for them to say ah between these two people this is a better devil,” she said.
Put across to her that she had lost twice, consecutively to the same person in 2011 and 2016, Masebo said the people of Chongwe know what happened about the “so-called beaten twice.”
“You know it’s like this argument about HH that this guy nikaluza chabe, nikaluza, you know he’s going to lose blah blah blah, why do you think the party has unanimously still adopted him? Because we truly believe that HH did not lose the last election. We just did not protect the election ourselves,” said Masebo. “We allowed the PF to basically steal that election. And so because we truly believe that he won this is why we refused to change. But if we changed we may now lose. I can tell you that for me it’s the same feeling by the people.” – Daily Revelation