By UPPZ President Charles Chanda
·
WHEN PEOPLE DECIDE WHAT THEY WANT SUBMIT TO THEIR WILL.
Samuel 8:4-20
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5and said to him, ‘You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.’ 6But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to govern us.’ Samuel prayed to the Lord, 7and the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8Just as they have done to me,* from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. 9Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.’
10 So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11He said, ‘These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; 12and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plough his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. 15He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. 16He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle* and donkeys, and put them to his work. 17He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.’
Israel’s Request for a King Granted
19 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, ‘No! but we are determined to have a king over us, 20so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.’
It was very painful for Samuel to be told in his face that people did not want him and naturally it is like that. Open rejection is very painful and if not handled carefully can lead to endangering innocent lives. Leaders must understand that they cannot rule forever and this is the reason why why must leave the stage whilst people are still clapping. Its arrogance, stubbornness and surrounding oneself with wicked advisors that blind many leaders.
Samuel had taken leader very personal and cried. To prove that he took his leadership role personal he was preparing his children to succeed him and little did he know that this was a pain to the nation. Sensitivity in leadership is very important. Never take things for granted. It took God to calm Samuel to leave the palace and handover the instrument of power to the next person. Leadership is from God and when your set time is over leave the seat. God has several ways of removing leaders and sometimes he uses the elimination method and none can ask him what does thou. Some leaders could not live to finish their terms whilst others outlived all those that took over from them. The key is obey the voice to live and never engage in any manipulative exercises as this leads to shame, embarrassment and destruction.
Samuel had reservations with the person that was to take over from him. Sometimes we may not like the next person but this must not make us take the law into our hands. Leave leadership matters into God’s hands and he will sort things out himself.
Always remember that no one can ascend to any national leadership position without the direct approval of God. God gives nations based on the disposition, behaviour and attitude of the hearts of the people. God gave Isreal Moses because the people cried as a result of the bondage of the Egyptians and the story is known. God gave Isreal Saul as King because of resentment, bitterness and corruption in the house of Samuel and the result is known. God gave Isreal David because there was a giant that needed to be dealt with and the story is known. Hitler, Pharaoh and Nebchardnezer were all leaders from God and they served their generation. The lesson is never take leadership personal, a party or family to holder affair.
I trust that God has spoken to a heart as he has done mine. Wait for your time, don’t abuse your time and when time is up, give the next person. God is in control. Let love rule
THE statement issued by State House on behalf of President Edgar Lungu clearly shows that he knows that he has lost, says National Democratic Congress leader Josephs Akafumba.
In a statement on Saturday, President Lungu claimed that the general elections in Southern, North-Western and Western provinces where characterised by violence, rendering the whole exercise a nullity.
In the statement issued by his Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations Isaac Chipampe, President Lungu indicated that the PF was consulting on the next course of action concerning the general elections held on August 12.
President Lungu further claimed that PF poling agents were brutalized and chased from polling stations, a situation that left the ruling party’s votes unprotected in the three provinces.
He also cited the killing of PF North-Western chairman Jackson Kungu during voting, and Simon Chihili shortly before voting, as criminal acts that rendered the general elections not free and fair.
“Right now, some of our agents and supporters are in hiding because of these criminal acts. How can the elections be fair when people have been murdered and many others are hiding after being brutalized. In that democracy, we have written to the Electoral Commission of Zambia but they have continued announcing the results. So we are consulting on the next decision we have to make,” read President Lungu’s statement.
But Akafumba, whose party is a member of the UPND Alliance, said President Lungu might eventually miss out on a chance to bow out as a statesman if he continues to insist on something that is not attainable at law.
“The noble thing for President Lungu is to let ECZ do its job, announce the winner and after the winner is announced then if he so desires, he can now petition giving those reasons he has put in his statement. It’s utter shocking that State House can issue such a notice on which they are alleging violence and that their polling agents where chased from polling stations in Southern, North-Western and Western [provinces] and that their provincial chairman was killed and it is on that basis that they had asked ECZ to stop announcing the results and that he surprised that they have gone ahead to announce the results,” Akafumba said.
Akafumba, a former justice permanent secretary said President Lungu is a lawyer who knows very well that what he is trying to force the ECZ to do is legally unattainable.
He noted that President Lungu was just a candidate like any other of the 16 who took part in the general elections conducted by ECZ.
“The ECZ have done their part, they have conducted the elections and the Zambian people across the divide have voted and now we are in the process of announcing the results and 31 constituencies have so far been announced and now he then blows the whistle that they must stop announcing … they cannot and there is no provisions of the law that can support what he is trying to do because him being a candidate he cannot stop ECZ from announcing the results and no other candidate has those powers to stop ECZ from announcing the results,” Akafumba said.
He advised President Lungu and any other candidate to allow the ECZ announce all results, declare the winners and if not satisfied petition the Constitutional Court citing his reasons and proving that indeed the violence was so widespread that it affected the outcome of the elections.
“How does he know that at the end of it all, it’s him who is going to be declared winner? Is he indirectly telling us that he has had sight of results and that he has lost and now wants to stop the will of the people from being pronounced by ECZ? The ECZ must continue doing their work but for us in the UPND Alliance we are aware of the results that President Lungu has fared extremely very bad,” he said.
Akafumba wondered what explanation President Lungu has for the Chililabombwe and Kalulushi results.
He wondered whether even in other constituencies where the President has lost, the PF agents were chased as well.
“How about in Northern Province, Luapula and Muchinga where he fared badly and Chingola – where their agents chased from the polling stations as well? Sometimes it’s only fair when your time is up you leave the stage when a few people are still clapping. For now what we know and what President Lungu knows very well is that he has lost these elections and it’s only fair for him to just call it a day and let ECZ complete its job to declare president HH as a winner and then we move forward as a country,” he said.
Akafumba said analysing the statement from State House, President Lungu knows very well that he has lost and has conceded.
He wondered how a winning candidate would stop announcing results at 31 constituencies, leaving 156 more in limbo.
Akafumba said what President Lungu wants done is unheard of in any democracy in the world.
“As in the Alliance we are comfortable that our candidate is comfortable in the lead and you can see that from the 31 constituencies announced so far, he is at 62 per cent and Lungu is somewhere around 31% or so. So inshita nga yafika, ninshi yafika; just leave peacefully. Nabalusa, it happens. He is not the first one in this country to lose an election. President Kaunda lost, Ba Rupiah [Banda] lost the elections so it’s also his time. He has had seven years with the Zambian people so he must leave peacefully than cause all these unnecessary problems,” Akafumba said.
He warned that it was such maneouvres that can annoy people to go on the streets.
“There is no way one candidate out of the 16 who says stop the election when others have even conceded and congratulated the winner president Hakainde Hichilema; how can ECZ do that unless they want to cause a problem. He cannot stop the people’s train; naiya kale,” said Akafumba.
THE ALLEGED CHASING OF PF AGENTS FROM POLLING STATIONS IN SOUTHERN, NORTH-WESTERN AND WESTERN PROVINCES BY ALLEGED UPND CADRES A HOAX AND MALICIOUS
The allegations by President EDGAR CHAGWA Lungu that His PF polling agents in southern, western and North-western provinces were brutalized and chased from following the proceedings at the polling stations by their opponents the UPND is but a black lie coated with malice.
This is a lie and can’t be true in any slightest form or manner as personally as McDonald Chipenzi visited a number of polling stations in Chikankata, Siavonga and Chirundu and never witnessed anything like that.
In addition, as GEARS Initiative, we had monitors in all these polling stations in the 3 provinces being mentioned and both PF and UPND agents were there following the polling station proceedings without being chase, harassed or intimidated as is being alleged here by the President.
President Lungu must have received wrong Intelligence from some of his agents who want to justify their payment.
In any case if the informatin was true, ECZ would, by law demands, suspend elections in those alleged unconducive environments to holding of free and fair elections.
The fact that ECZ didn’t suspend any election at any polling Station on account of violence or unconducive environment but successful held the elections in all the 12152 polling stations is signal enough that the Electoral environment around and in all polling stations was generally conducive for the holding of free and fair elections.
As an organisation with monitors deployment in almost all polling stations in these provinces, we don’t subscribe to these allegations and ready to testify our findings over the allegations in any competent court.
Yes, isolated incidences of violence, disruptions and confrontation not against agents but among political party cadres and those ruling party officials delivering satellite phones at polling stations were witnessed in some polling stations across the country.
In any case if the President and his party are aggrieved with the results or the conduct of the August 12 General Election, there is a 14-day window for a presidential petition provided for him and his party to petition the results being declared and the unfree and unfair conduct of the election.
In this regard, ECZ must be allowed to announce and declare all results and the aggrieved parties can go to the constitutional court for redress and justice.
Therefore, I find the allegations as mere malicious opinions against the three provinces.
LUSAKA Province PF chairman Kennedy Kamba has charged that the privatisation issue will not rest until Hakainde Hichilema is “six feet under”.
And Kamba says the party wants Hichilema to contest the presidential elections even in 2026 because he is a weaker opponent.
Meanwhile, Kamba says civil servants are no longer searching for greener pastures in neighbouring countries because of the attractive packages given to them under President Edgar Lungu’s leadership.
In an interview, Monday, Kamba said Hichilema was the easiest candidate to beat, adding that it might have been difficult for the PF to win the polls if UPND had a different candidate.
“The agenda that our colleagues have is to come and give back the mines to their fellow whites. Just a few days ago, the President revealed that Hakainde Hichilema apart from the US$100,000 he was given by the same people he wants to give the mines, he has even gone further to say that the money is not enough. That they should add another US$300,000 so that it gets to US$400,000. ‘When we win, I will give you back KCM, I will give you back Mopani’.
What kind of a leader is that. There is nothing that Hakainde Hichilema can offer to the Zambian people and this is why he is so bitter after losing five times, and he is going to lose for the sixth time. The Zambian people know who Hakainde Hichilema is, he is a kaponya (call boy),” he said.
“We are going to be very happy if Hakainde Hichilema does not retire because he is the easiest candidate to beat. Maybe when UPND gives us another candidate, it might be difficult for us to win. When it comes to Hakainde Hichilema, even if he loses on Thursday in the elections, we want to see him back in 2026 because he is a weaker opponent. He has got a lot of negativity than positivity in terms of popularity to the Zambian people.
That issue of the mine will not rest until he goes down six feet in the grave because he has made a lot of families on the Copperbelt suffer. People have got no jobs, children are no longer going to school. We don’t want to say it will be the last nail in the coffin, no! We want to see him on the ballot even in 2026 because he is a weaker opponent.”
And Kamba said civil servants were no longer searching for greener pastures in neighbouring countries because of the attractive packages given to them under President Lungu’s leadership.
“Today the forex we are generating from the mines has not been deposited in the offshore account. The forex is now deposited in our local banks in Zambia which is then strengthening the Kwacha. The President has paid all the miners who were working for KCM their terminal benefits. This is so because of the good policies which President Lungu has implemented, and this can only be attainable under his leadership,” he said.
“We have even gone further as the party in government to help our colleagues in the civil service. When it comes to debt, the President has lessened the burden on civil servants through a debt swap. Today our colleagues in the civil service are enjoying themselves. Civil servants have now stopped trekking to our neighboring countries to search for greener pastures because of the good services and conditions we have given them under President Edgar Lungu. Today our friends; the teachers, nurses are building houses, buying cars because they are getting paid well. We have given them a good package that can not be attracted to neighbouring countries.”
Kamba said PF, being a pro-poor party, remained committed to ensuring that it improved the lives of poor Zambians.
“The PF party is a pro-poor party. It is a party for the poor people of Zambia who are the majority. I am happy that in the past 10 years in which we have been in government, we have delivered development to our poor people of Zambia in compounds like Bauleni, Misisi, George Compound, among others.
Those are areas where development was not reaching. Previous governments were concentrating in elite areas like Kabulonga, Woodlands and New Kasama. Today the poor people of Lusaka are proud of the party because it has given them good roads, running water, street lights and we have even gone further to give them title deeds so that they legally own their properties,” said Kamba.
“The other thing I can talk about is that the PF government has delivered in all economic sectors especially the agriculture sector. Our colleagues in 2016 when we just implemented the FISP programme towards elections, they were calling us ‘paya farmer’. Today they have run out of what terms they can use to discredit this government because of the delivery, the good policies of the President in the agriculture sector. In the agriculture sector, we have started exporting cash crops like Maize and Soya beans to our neighbouring countries. The energy sector has been a success too, as you can see there is no load shedding. Today we don’t have a power shortage in the mining sector.”
Official Consolidated results for 155 constituencies as announced by ECZ
UPND HH – 2,810,757
PF ECL – 1,814,201
His Excellency Hakainde Hichilema has been declared Zambia’s 7th Republican President..
Zambia Votes 2021 Election Update | 15/08/2021
Ndola Central Constituency
Lungu – 18,486
Hichilema – 23,414
Mpongwe Constituency
Lungu – 8,724
Hichilema – 20,509
Results from 84 constituencies
UPND HH – 1,444,295
PF ECL – 871,254
With a different of 573, 041
HH is still taking the lead
Consolidated results from 62 constituencies have seen UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema amassing 1,024,212 votes with against President Edgar Lungu’s 562,523.
Official Consolidated results for 62 constituencies as announced by ECZ
UPND HH – 1,242,012
PF ECL – 562,523
94 more constituencies to go
HH is still taking the lead.
Official Consolidated results for 31 constituencies as announced by ECZ
UPND HH – 449,699
PF ECL – 266,202
HH takes early lead by 183, 497 votes
31 constituencies so far HH still leading at 449,699 votes against Lungu’s 266,202
Kaputa
HH – 13,207
ECL – 13,181
Kabushi
HH – 16,961
ECL – 19,176
Mapatizya
HH – 29,859
ECL – 620
Pemba
HH – 29,470
ECL – 320
Chembe
HH – 3,994
ECL – 6,014
Luangeni
HH – 10,817
ECL – 15,482
Sinda
HH – 10,856
ECL – 9,811
Pambashe
HH – 5,816
ECL – 10,139
Magoye
HH – 24,992
ECL – 830
Kalulushi
HH – 29,139
ECL – 18, 857
Chingola
HH – 30,451
ECL – 18,219
Isoka
HH – 12,000
ECL – 12,748
Nangoma
HH – 18,775
ECL – 1,424
Dundumwezi
HH – 27,883
ECL – 262
Kapoche
HH – 7,141
ECL – 17,607
Mporokoso
HH – 6,734
ECL – 11,334
Consolidated Results for 31 Constituencies
Kasonde Mwenda – 188
Stephen Nyirenda – 258
Sean Tembo – 296
Dr Silumbe – 313
Mwamba Trevor – 458
Enock Tonga – 485
Nevers Mumba – 540
Chisela – 826
Charles Chanda – 1,054
Kateka Chishala – 1067
Hievie Hamududu – 1,647
Fred M’membe – 1944
Andyford Banda – 3,244
Harry Kalaba – 3,715
HH – 449,699
ECL – 266,202
Difference – 183,497
ECZ UPDATE SATURDAY MORNING
Feira Constituency
ECL 6,537
HH 4,450
Mwansabombwe constituency
ECL. 13,274
HH 4,493
Moomba constituency
HH 14,320
ECL 194
Malambo Constituency
ECL 13,347
HH 16,169
Lufubu Constituency
ECL 2,475
HH 3,675
Zambezi West Constituency
HH 7,088
ECL 1,740
Kabompo Constituency
HH 17,411
ECL 1,490
Nchanga Constituency
HH 19,045
ECL 14,764
Lupososhi Constituency
ECL. 16,229
HH 6, 092
Ikelengi Constituency
HH. 13,958
ECL 1,301
Manyinga Constituency
HH 17,566
ECL 1,588
Chirundu Constituency
HH 20 543
ECL 2992
Mkushi North
ECL 16,546
HH. 14,509
Kaumbwe Constituency
ECL 10,728
HH. 3,773
Rufunsa constituency
HH 8,512
ECL 6,973
Consolidated from 15 constituencies out of 156
UPND HH – 171,604
PF ECL – 110,178
UPND is leading with 61,426 votes
141 constituencies to go
Opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) parliamentary Lloyd Lubozha for Chifubu constituency in Ndola has won the seat after polling 19,295 votes.
Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) Returning Officer for Chifubu constituency Bupe Mutanya declared Mr. Lubozha as duly elected after beating Patriotic Front (PF) candidate Kondwani Winga who got 17,542 votes.
In the third position is United National Independence Party (UNIP) who polled 706 votes from the 74 polling stations in the constituency.
And Mr. Lubozha pledged to work hard and delivers what the people of Chifubu constituency require in the next five years.
He has thanked the people of Chifubu constituency for electing him as their Member of Parliament and trusting that he will deliver social and economic development to them.
“I want to thank all the people who voted for me. I will make sure that I deliver all campaign promises,” he said.
Meanwhile, UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has garnered more votes than any other presidential candidate in Chifubu constituency in this election.
Mr. Hichilema polled 19,932 votes followed by PF candidate and incumbent President Edgar Lungu who got 17,253 votes while Harry Kalaba of the Democratic Party (DP) emerged fourth with 127 votes.
People’s Alliance for Change (PAC) leader Andyford Banda got 35, Nevers Mumba of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) polled 49 votes and Charles Chanda representing the United Party for Prosperous and Peaceful Zambia (UPPZ) had 18 votes.
And Bupe Mutanya, the Returning Officer, also declared UPND’s Evaristo Banda as duly elected ward councillor for Chifubu after he polled 2,509.
Others who won ward elections under UPND ticket are Francis Kabwe (Kawama) with 2,944 votes, Bester Chibwe (Pamodzi) after garnering 4,534 votes and Akapelwa Simata (Kaniki) with 1,381 votes.
And Opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) parliamentary Lloyd Lubozha for Chifubu constituency in Ndola has won the seat after polling 19,295 votes.
Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) Returning Officer for Chifubu constituency Bupe Mutanya declared Mr. Lubozha as duly elected after beating Patriotic Front (PF) candidate Kondwani Winga who got 17,542 votes.
In the third position is United National Independence Party (UNIP) who polled 706 votes from the 74 polling stations in the constituency.
And Mr. Lubozha pledged to work hard and delivers what the people of Chifubu constituency require in the next five years.
He has thanked the people of Chifubu constituency for electing him as their Member of Parliament and trusting that he will deliver social and economic development to them.
“I want to thank all the people who voted for me. I will make sure that I deliver all campaign promises,” he said.
Meanwhile, UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has garnered more votes than any other presidential candidate in Chifubu constituency in this election.
Mr. Hichilema polled 19,932 votes followed by PF candidate and incumbent President Edgar Lungu who got 17,253 votes while Harry Kalaba of the Democratic Party (DP) emerged fourth with 127 votes.
People’s Alliance for Change (PAC) leader Andyford Banda got 35, Nevers Mumba of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) polled 49 votes and Charles Chanda representing the United Party for Prosperous and Peaceful Zambia (UPPZ) had 18 votes.
And Bupe Mutanya, the Returning Officer, also declared UPND’s Evaristo Banda as duly elected ward councillor for Chifubu after he polled 2,509.
Others who won ward elections under UPND ticket are Francis Kabwe (Kawama) with 2,944 votes, Bester Chibwe (Pamodzi) after garnering 4,534 votes and Akapelwa Simata (Kaniki) with 1,381 votes.
WE WILL POST ANNOUNCED RESULTS FROM POLLING STATIONS.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE RESULTS ARE PROVISIONAL AS ANNOUNCED AT POLLING STATIONS AND SENT BY OUR AGENTS AT THE CENTRES.
PLEASE NOTE THAT OFFICIAL RESULTS REMAIN A PRESEVE OF ECZ.
PLEASE KEEP ON REFRESHING THE PAGE TO VIEW NEW UPDATE:
ECZ VERIFIED OFFICIAL 2021 ELECTIONS RESULTS UPDATES
Official Consolidated results for 155 constituencies as announced by ECZ
UPND HH – 2,810,757
PF ECL – 1,814,201
His Excellency Hakainde Hichilema has been declared Zambia’s 7th Republican President..
Ndola Central Constituency
Lungu – 18,486
Hichilema – 23,414
We are now at 107 constituencies, 49 more to go!!!
UPND HH – 1,871,228
PF ECL – 1,101,422
DIFFERENCE – 769,806 Zambia Votes 2021 Election Update- SECOND UPDATE | 15/08/2021
Consolidated results from 62 constituencies have seen UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema amassing 1,024,212 votes with against President Edgar Lungu’s 562,523.
Official Consolidated results for 62 constituencies as announced by ECZ
UPND HH – 1,242,012
PF ECL – 562,523
94 more constituencies to go
HH is still taking the lead.
31 constituencies so far HH still leading at 449,699 votes against Lungu’s 266,202
Kaputa
HH – 13,207
ECL – 13,181
Kabushi
HH – 16,961
ECL – 19,176
Mapatizya
HH – 29,859
ECL – 620
Pemba
HH – 29,470
ECL – 320
Chembe
HH – 3,994
ECL – 6,014
Luangeni
HH – 10,817
ECL – 15,482
Sinda
HH – 10,856
ECL – 9,811
Pambashe
HH – 5,816
ECL – 10,139
Magoye
HH – 24,992
ECL – 830
Kalulushi
HH – 29,139
ECL – 18, 857
Chingola
HH – 30,451
ECL – 18,219
Isoka
HH – 12,000
ECL – 12,748
Nangoma
HH – 18,775
ECL – 1,424
Dundumwezi
HH – 27,883
ECL – 262
Kapoche
HH – 7,141
ECL – 17,607
Mporokoso
HH – 6,734
ECL – 11,334
Consolidated Results for 31 Constituencies
Kasonde Mwenda – 188
Stephen Nyirenda – 258
Sean Tembo – 296
Dr Silumbe – 313
Mwamba Trevor – 458
Enock Tonga – 485
Nevers Mumba – 540
Chisela – 826
Charles Chanda – 1,054
Kateka Chishala – 1067
Hievie Hamududu – 1,647
Fred M’membe – 1944
Andyford Banda – 3,244
Harry Kalaba – 3,715
HH – 449,699
ECL – 266,202
Difference – 183,497
31 constituencies counted out of 156.
Hakainde Hichilema – 449,699
Edgar Chagwa Lungu – 266, 202.
ECZ UPDATE SATURDAY MORNING
Feira Constituency
ECL 6,537
HH 4,450
Mwansabombwe constituency
ECL. 13,274
HH 4,493
Moomba constituency
HH 14,320
ECL 194
Malambo Constituency
ECL 13,347
HH 16,169
Lufubu Constituency
ECL 2,475
HH 3,675
Zambezi West Constituency
HH 7,088
ECL 1,740
Kabompo Constituency
HH 17,411
ECL 1,490
Nchanga Constituency
HH 19,045
ECL 14,764
Lupososhi Constituency
ECL. 16,229
HH 6, 092
Ikelengi Constituency
HH. 13,958
ECL 1,301
Manyinga Constituency
HH 17,566
ECL 1,588
Chirundu Constituency
HH 20 543
ECL 2992
Mkushi North
ECL 16,546
HH. 14,509
Kaumbwe Constituency
ECL 10,728
HH. 3,773
Rufunsa constituency
HH 8,512
ECL 6,973
Consolidated from 15 constituencies out of 156
UPND HH – 171,604
PF ECL – 110,178
UPND is leading with 61,426 votes
141 constituencies to go
Kabwe trust School
Kabwe, Central province..
Presidential
UPND 340
PF 127
Mayoral
UPND 325
PF 147
Parliamentary
UPND 339
PF140
Local government
UPND 329
PF 115…
Lubobo poling station in Katuba ward of Katuba Constituency in Chibombo District of Central Province. Presidential. HH 438 ECL 178Tubalange polling station in Chilanga 04.
Chelstone Police- Nkoloma stadium
HH 1009
ECL 759
THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA
POLLING STATION 1
UPND: 418
PF: 174
POLLING STATION 2
UPND: 519
Pf: 86
MMD: 3
Socialist: 1
POLLING STATION 3
UPND: 535
PF: 106
Dp: 01
NHP: 01
Socialist :01
POLLING STATION 4
UPND: 521
PF: 94
POLLING STATION 5
UPND: 520
PF: 86
POLLING STATION 6
UPND: 483
PF: 115
POLLING STATION 7
UPND: 478
PF: 122
Dp: 4
Socialist: 2
POLLING STATION 8
UPND: 465
PF: 122
UPPZ: 1
MMD: 4
DP: 2
POLLING STATION 9
UPND: 492
PF:126
*Total: UPND = 4,431*
*: PF = 1,031*
*Difference = 3,400*
UPND SCOOPS THE FOLLOWING SEATS FROM PF IN LUSAKA.
1. Lusaka Central Mulambo Haimbe.
2. Matero Tom Chocolate.
3. Mandevu Malope.
4. Kanyama Chinkuli.
5. Chawama Potipher Tembo (not yet verified)
6. Kabwata Mkandawire (not yet verified)
7. Munali not yet announced.
Easteern province: Nyimba Central. Nyimba Boarding stream one
HON. DAVIES MWILA TO ADDRESS MEDIA AT 09;30HRS
MEDIA NOTICE
Lusaka-13th August 2021
Please be informed that the Patriotic Front Secretary General Hon. Davies Mwila and the Deputy Campaign Manager, Hon. Given Lubinda will address the Press on 13th August 2021, at 10;30hrs.
Venue; Government Complex
Time;09;30hrs.
Please be seated by 09;00hrs.
Thank you.
Mr. Antonio Mwanza
Media Director
Patriotic Front
MPULUNGU
Nsakala community school 1,
Presidential results are as follows
PF – 98,
UPND – 158
with a total vote cast of 258 and 6 rejects.
Parliamentary
PF -103,
UPND – 158
with a total of 258 votes cast and 2 rejects
MPULUNGU
Chalatila Polling Station resuts are as follows, Presidential
PF – 150,
UPND – 111
with a total vote cast of 290 and 23 rejects.
Parliamentary on the other hand is as follows
PF – 155,
UPND – 113
with a total vote cast of 290 and 16 rejects.
MPULUNGU
Lupongwe Polling stream results are as follows,
Presidential
PF – 165,
UPND – 186
out of a total vote cast of 381 with 25 rejects.
MP is as follows,
PF – 157,
UPND – 204
with a total vote cast of 381 and 15 rejects.
Electoral Commission of Zambia(ECZ) to give an update at 10:00 hours today, 13th August, 2021.
Mpulungu School 1 is as follows,
Presidential
PF – 263,
UPND 319,
a total of 595 votes were cast with 8 rejects.
Parliamentary
PF – 197,
UPND – 372
with a total of 584 votes cast with a total of 5 rejects.
PF CADRE CHANDA JOHN CHIMBA WHO VOLUNTEERED TO HAVE HIS MANHOOD CUT IF HH WINS HAS CHANGED HIS MIND AFTER SENSING DEFEAT
PF CADRE CHANDA JOHN CHIMBA WHO VOLUNTEERED TO HAVE HIS MANHOOD CUT IF HH WINS HAS CHANGED HIS MIND SENSING DEFEAT
LONZE stream from mulobezi constituency of Western province
HH- 161
ECL-07.
MPULUNGU
Kaizya Polling Station is as follows Presidential
PF 68,
UPND 174
with a total of 20 rejects.
Parliamentary on the other hand is
PF -65,
UPND – 192
with a total of 5 rejects and 268 total votes cast
MPULUNGU CONSTITUENCY
Kapondwe ward is as follows
Parliamentary PF – 10, UPND – 110.
Presidential
PF – 16,
UPND 99.
A total of 122
votes were cast. with four rejects for Presidential and 1 reject for Parliamentary.
MPULUNGU CONSTITUENCY
Chitinta Ward on the other hand Parliamentary is as follows
PF – 63,
UPND 62.
Presidential
PF 67,
UPND 57
EVELYN HONE COLLEGE POLLING STATION PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS*
HAKAINDE HICHILEMA -782
EDGAR LUNGU- 296
HARRY KALABA- 2
FRED MMEMBE- 2
PNUP- 1
OTHERS= 0
REJECTED-11
TOTAL VOTE CAST= *1094*
Millions of Zambians are voting on today in general and presidential elections as voting gets underway in most parts of the country.
Long queues have been forming up in Lusaka as early as 4:00 am, with voters eager to cats their votes.
President Edgar Lungu is seeking a second term and faces a challenge from Hakainde Hichilema and a host of other candidates including former Vice President Nevers Mumba and Socialist party President Fred M’membe, who is contesting for the first time.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia has promised a transparent and credible process.
Last night, President Edgar Lungu urged Zambians to uphold peace as they turn up to cast their votes in today’s general election.
President Lungu said that Zambia is a peaceful nation adding that the status quo should remain the same as the electorate cast their votes.
Speaking during a national address on the eve of the 12 August general election on ZNBC , the head of state further urged Zambians against practicing any form of tribalism.
Mr Lungu said Zambians must not be swayed by acts of tribalism even as they cast their votes in the highly anticipated election.
“ I am determined for peace to be upheld hence my decision to deploy defense personnel in selected parts of the country to maintain law and order during and after the election, ‘’ he said.
He defended the move saying the peace that has been recorded in the recent past is as a result of the step taken.
The President said citizens should not be intimidated by the presence of soldiers in some parts of the country as the move is purely meant to main law and order.
Mr Lungu clarified that the defence force has only been deployed in selected parts of the country and not nationwide.
“I want to make it very clear that this measure to deploy soldiers is not national as you may have noticed. It is not in all areas but in selected troubled spots and people are going about their business normally contrary to what our opponents, some diplomats and some international media are reporting,” Mr Lungu said.
The President urged the electorate to turn in numbers to vote freely without any intimidation.
Mr Lungu called on the electorate to report to law enforcement officers anyone who will threaten them with violence as they turn up to vote.
The head of states urged citizens to also pray for peace to prevail during the general polls.
President Lungu further urged the Zambia Army to see to it that law and order is maintained.
“I therefore urge the defence forces led by the Army Commander to ensure total national security,” he said.
Kalusha Bwalya all the way from South Africa casts his vote
Only two people on the queue at Kapululu polling station in Chinsali.
A crowd at Mwaba Primary school polling station in Chinsali waiting to cast their votes. Picture By Kasonde Kasonde
UPND president Hakainde Hichilema says rigging will not work because the country is on the verge of making history.
And Hichilema says President Edgar Lungu’s continued threats to arrest him are a sign that there is no leadership in the PF government.
Speaking during a press briefing, Wednesday, Hichilema said the country was on the verge of making history by effecting a peaceful transition from one party to another.
“Let us all exercise good leadership, we need good leadership now more than ever before. Church leadership has been very good in this country, we hope to see that continuing, guiding our society. International community leadership, domestic regional community, SADC, Africa Union, UN, Commonwealth, we call for your leadership tomorrow and the day after to ensure that we have a peaceful Zambia and a peaceful transition. It is coming, transition is coming,” Hichilema said.
“The country is on the verge of making history as we did in 1991, as we did in 2011. In 2021 we can make history and we can have a third transition, a peaceful transition from one party to another. That requires a lot of effort from all of us so that we can address the food shortages we talked about, to make our people have decent meals, to send our children back to school. A prudent economic management is awaiting debt management because it is choking our economic efforts currently. After Monday, we expect that there will be strong economic management requirements focusing on revenue generation and less on consumption expenditure. That means reigning in on corruption so that we can create opportunities for all our people. In an environment like that, Zambians decided, rigging will not work tomorrow, it will not work! To maintain stability, rigging will not work. Rigging will and should not work tomorrow.”
Hichilema said he expected the result management system to remain open and transparent.
He insisted that Zambians were yearning for change.
“What is critical for me to say here is that we do not wish to see tomorrow’s elections as the ballot opens, the voting takes place, the polling station closes, the separation of votes starts, counting starts, [like] the situation in 2016. We expect credibility, openness throughout the process. There must be no hidden activity at all because these activities are for the people of Zambia. Elections are supposed to be an open book agenda. Ultimately, we want this election to be decided by the Zambian people, not those who count votes. So, in essence, we expect the result management system throughout the processes to remain open and transparent,” Hichilema said.
“Zambians are yearning for change, every Zambian knows that. So let the Zambians decide who leads them, to take them out of this collapsed economy and social fabric. We call upon our men and women in uniform who are given this rare task to ensure that they will support their fellow brothers and sisters to go and vote in a happy environment, in a non-threatening environment. In an environment where no voter should feel intimidated to go vote. Actually, voters should feel safer to go and vote. I have said before that no citizen should act outside the constitution, no citizen should act outside the law in order to aid a political party.”
And Hichilema said President Lungu’s continued threats of having him arrested was a sign that there was no leadership in the PF.
“Of late we have seen our opponents going out on an attack route, abusive route, threatening to arrest HH and others. That he will be arrested after elections, that we have committed a crime, I am not sure which crime. But this is not the environment to talk about arresting each other when you are going into an election tomorrow. This is an environment [to talk about] what we shall do to improve the lives of our people. For the colleague who keeps talking about arresting other people, that is not leadership. That is not what we go to do in public offices. We flip the views ourselves that we would like to arrest poverty as opposed to arresting citizens who have committed no crime,” he said.
“We want to focus on creating, rebuilding the economy so that we can look after the sick, the weak, the retired, and their benefits paid. So as the miners, where my colleagues were speaking from trying to excite miners that HH will not respect terminal benefits. Our message is very simple, we want to make sure that the miners’ terminal benefits are not paid in small quantities, they are paid in a lump sum, all of them at once to allow the miners to start a new life. That is what we are threatening to arrest.”
Hichilema further refuted President Lungu’s accusations that he was asking for US$300,000 from Vedanta and promising to give them back KCM once elected.
“To anybody, I challenge him where he got that information, that is falsehood. We don’t do business like that, we understand business. So, we never promised Vedanta the restoration of KCM, never ever before. What we want in the mines is recapitalisation, what we want in the mines is a stable environment, policies that are predictable. After Monday we would like to see Zambians involved in the mining sector,” he said.
“The situation in the mines is deplorable, because of frequent changes in the fiscal regime, the mining policies, taxes, VAT rule 18. It is not the UPND Alliance that came with VAT rule 18 where you collect money from mining houses and other businesses on the understanding that when they submit their returns to the tax authority, you will rebase them, what you had collected. To this day this government owes mining houses close to $1 billion of non-refunds under VAT rule 18. That will be a thing of the past, we will not take money away from businesses. KCM has been destroyed over time.”
Meanwhile, Hichilema called on President Lungu to dialogue with him.
He added that the UPND had the support base to effect change.
“So, making noise on the Copperbelt and claiming things that do not exist, is a confirmation that this leadership of the PF has failed to run this country. Zambians exercise your right to vote and bring in a leadership that will better your lives tomorrow. Nothing should stand in your way. I challenge my colleague, come to the table, let us chat. This is a time he and I should be chatting to each other to stabilize this country. Let us talk colleague for the greater good of this country. I clarify what was said on the Copperbelt that it was non-existent. It is a failure of leadership that led to the collapse of mines,” said Hichilema.
“Do not allow anyone to steal your votes tomorrow, protect it. You allow your vote to be stolen, you have sold your children, you have consigned yourself to more hunger. That is why earlier I talked about the institutions which should also assist in ensuring that the decisions are made by voters, not by those who count. That is why it is a team effort. I have confidence, the ingredients are there, the support base is there, it is visible, it was fearful for a while, in the last one month it has just exploded. We come in office; we leave office when the time comes. Now is the time for people to leave office and others to come in, it is time for change.”
…but as even as we go to vote, know there is one President who is me
Lusaka, Wednesday (August 11, 2021)
President Edgar Lungu has named and shamed Hakainde Hichilema for who he is, a man who is ready to tear and bring down Zambia for his grandiose appetite to be president of the country at all costs.
President Lungu has however declared that Zambia will remain a peaceful country during and after voting and that those who were plotting to set the country ablaze for the love of power should be ready to face the consequences.
President Lungu has reminded the opposition political parties that they should know that even when Zambia was going through the electoral process of choosing their leaders; there was only one President who is the Head of State with the constitutional mandate to secure the peace and unity of the country.
Addressing the nation through the Patriotic Front (PF) ninth (9) and final Virtual Rally at Mulungushi International Conference Centre, President Lungu stated it was important to name and shame Mr Hichilema, the UPND leader for his selfish desire to take over the governance of the country.
The Head of State said Zambia’s peace and unity has always been threatened by one character who has always want to be president of Zambia at the cost of the peace and lives of citizens and that it was only fair to name and shame Mr Hichilema for what he was.
The Head of State said the Patriotic Front (PF) while in opposition did not call the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) names after losing elections in as many times including the elections in 2008.
“I will spend a little more time on talking about peace. During the time the PF was in the opposition under President Michael Sata, we did not want to bring down the country because we lost the election. If it were not for Mr Sata, Zambia would have been in flames at the time. Now peace is being threatened because of one character and we have to name and shame him,” President Lungu said.
The Head of State said that Mr Hichilema was plotting anarchy but assured Zambians and the international community that there shall be peace and tranquility in the country during and after the elections.
President Lungu said the security wings of the country were ready to quell any form of lawlessness by those who would take the risk of attempting to cause disharmony in the country.
“Even as we vote, know that there is a President of the country and that President is me. People have spoken and let there be no vengeance against those who will lose and let there no enchantment on those who will lose,” President Lungu said.
The President said the PF had become more sweeter and beautiful and urged Zambians to forget how the Southern Province was going to vote but move ahead in making Zambia a better place for all Zambians without leaving no one behind
MUMBI Phiri says violence will stop when politicians start advising the police to do their job.
Featuring on Breeze FM political hour programme on Monday night, Phiri said all leaders should condemn violence.
“Violence will end when we leaders start condemning violence, start distancing ourselves from violence, we encourage the police to do their job – this violence will go,” she said.
Asked about the peace accord where political parties committed themselves to conducting peaceful campaigns, Phiri said the accord was like a show.
“When they went to sign that peace accord, I said it as Mumbi Phiri in my individual capacity that this peace accord will not work. They went
there and they thought President Lungu was going to go but he didn’t go and secretary general is the one who went there and you saw what was happening. You saw what was happening,” she said.
Phiri, who gave an example of the reconciliation between late Michael Sata and president Levy Mwanawasa when Sata was in the opposition, said it was not true that President Lungu is the one who should end the violence.
“Ba Sata, he was in the opposition for 10 years. I was amongst the people who escorted Mr Sata to State House where president Mwanawasa was. Mr Sata knew what they differed with president Mwanawasa,” she said. “…So we went, it came from the heart. There was no church which was called, there was no NGO which was called. There were two women and two other men from PF. They talked the two of them bene bake bachata reconcile not artificial reconciliation yakuti ma camera yawele. That was the end of their differing. Even when Mr Sata he saw something wrong with president Mwanawasa he could call him and talk. That’s why where Mr Sata has gone to rest, he was a genuine Christian.”
On corruption, Phiri said most of the corruption allegations are not true.
“By the way, me I was telling people when this tag of corruption that if you are mentioned that this person is corrupt, start taking these people to court because what they say in most cases is not true,” she said. “They fear me because in my individual capacity, I take people on. I am sure you have never heard anybody saying Mumbi is corrupt because they fear. They know that I could take them on! There is no country where there is no corruption. That’s why you saw our fellow woman, Hon Emerine Kabanshi she has been jailed over those allegations, these others have been acquitted.”
Phiri said some politicians just talk about corruption but they cannot report to the Anti-Corruption Commission because they have no evidence.
She also said when he left office, Dr Kenneth Kaunda was humiliated and had his immunity removed adding that Scotland Yard was called to search him but nothing was found.
Phiri said even Frederick Chiluba was followed and the Task Force on Corruption was instituted but “it came out with nothing”.
“As we are speaking his family is fighting to get his properties which were seized. Frederick Chiluba’s case was taken to the London court. We have heard of the opposition who doesn’t even believe in our institutions…Frederick Chiluba was acquitted. We even hired a white man as a lawyer. We saw Xavier Chungu being persecuted, he even went out of the country…” she said.
Phiri said it was a personal decision to step aside when they are accused of being corrupt.
She said people should vote for PF because it has performed and that it should be allowed to build on what it has done.
ZESCO public relations manager Hazel Zulu has assured the nation that the power utility does not anticipate any power outages during the election period, unless a fault occurs.
In an interview, Wednesday, Zulu advised citizens to immediately report any fault which occurred and avoid making assumptions.
“We are actually generating at full capacity and as you are aware we have enough water resources in our national reservoirs. We were given additional water by the Zambezi River Authority which basically translates into the fact that we are able to generate and supply power constantly. You are also aware that we are no longer load shedding so there is no reason for anyone to believe that we could have a power shortage or deficit during elections,” she said.
“We are also confident that should there be any outage for whatsoever reason, we will work on it. And people are advised to report such faults and avoid making assumptions. When we have an instance of a fault, we immediately respond to that and work on it. So we are assuring the nation that we do not anticipate any problems during elections. What we can say is that those customers who might experience a fault resulting in a power outage let them report to us immediately. A fault is not something that is planned, a fault is an unplanned occurrence.”
Zulu further urged people to report anyone seeing loitering around Zesco installation in their area, either to the police or Zesco security.
“In the recent past we have had a number of cases of vandalism but we want to assure our customers that we are very vigilant and working with the Zambia Police to ensure that installations are secured so that there is no disturbance or fault. Let our customers also take responsibility in their areas and when they see anyone loitering around Zesco installation, let them report that immediately either to Zesco security or the Zambia Police,” said Zulu.
“It is unfortunate that people can spread such falsehood because Zesco is a public institution and our mandate is to generate and supply electricity to our customers. We will continue to supply electricity to our customers just like we have been doing. Therefore let’s try to avoid spreading falsehoods. If you have a challenge with the power supply, let them just report. Otherwise, let us
The history of political parties since the formation of the African National Congress (ANC) in the late forties favours United Party for National Development (UPND) to win tomorrow’s general election.
This follows a simple analysis of what is in the name, a fact that many will disagree with and which others will find acceptable, depending on which side one is, enforced by past victories.
In many instances naming or selecting a name denotes future precedents or what that person or organisation stands for or will do. Names are randomly rarely given but done so after great consideration. Believe it or not the stars are firmly on UPND to carry the day. Granted that various opinion polls, for and against, solicited or otherwise, have given incumbent Patriotic Front (PF) and President Edgar Chagwa Lungu the victory, the win is for his rival Hakainde Hichilema.
The British settler government did not allow Africans to belong, let alone form a political party, but were only allowed social gatherings in the form of welfare associations. These were considered not harmful. Lacking thrust, certain of Northern Rhodesia’s nationalists dumped welfare associations and formed what is to be Zambia’s first political party the African National Congress (ANC). The purpose was to annex the Africans and to give them a voice, a privilege that was denied to them for many years. By inference a congress is the social act of assembling for some common purpose or a group of people with a common ideology trying together to achieve certain general goals.
The formation of the ANC achieved this goal, being the original intention. The result was soon to show. After almost a decade of lackadaisical leadership there was stirring in the party and an agitation for action. Those who thought the ANC as a Congress did not go far enough broke away and formed a much more militant Zambia African National Congress (ZANC) which attracted the former general secretary of ANC David Kaunda to become its leader.
ZANC’s militancy was short lived and soon the party was proscribed.
But they liked what they saw and a new party, much more ferocious came into being with the formation of the United National Independence Party (UNIP) by Paul Kalichini. They invited Mainza Chona, a lawyer, who had just failed to oust Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula in Choma as ANC leader, to be interim president waiting for Kaunda’s release from prison in Salisbury. Thus, with Mainza Chona’s faction, UNIP was born.
But their decision to reserve the presidency for Kaunda who was in prison in Salisbury did not go well with some. Unionist Dickson Konkola left the party as he could not accept a foreigner to be their president.
Whilst ANC was contented to maintain its status of a pressure group, UNIP had introduced a new
concept in its midst – independence. Its major thrust was to end the newly introduced Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland with its racial segregation.
UNIP sought to unite Africans and fight for independence, two aims which were entrenched in its name. Then came with it the slogan – independence now – which resonated well with the African population buoyed by colour bar and lack of prospect for the majority.
Hence UNIP was able to bring independence to Zambia. People desired independence and willingly
stood for their leaders and independence became a reality on 24 October 1964. UNIP had achieved its purpose and entrenching their rule became more paramount. This culminated in the introduction of a one-party State, and in 1972 swallowed up the ANC in the Choma Declaration which dispensed with plural politics. Limited civil liberties, economic hardships and other listings were unfathomable for Zambians.
This called for change. And they were not to wait for long. Certain of the nation’s luminaries met in Lusaka and the pressure group Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) was formed.
There were two key words prominent in MMD – movement and democracy. The movement was
necessary to bring the people together and to reintroduce democracy which had been lost and civil rights eroded by the UNIP dictatorship. As a movement it drove people’s expectations and achieved what it was formed for, and luckily for Zambia it saw multiple parties being formed.
But development was still lacking. It was in the second term of the MMD that one Anderson Kambela Mazoka decided to join politics. His entry to a humble position of treasurer in Lusaka’s Bauleni Ward raised many eyebrows and flustered many feathers.
Mazoka’s decision proved too much for MMD national secretary Michael Sata in particular who
seemingly had ambitions of his own. Sata saw the action as a door ajar for Mazoka to get to the presidency of MMD and Zambia, which obviously he was hankering for. It was totally not accepted. He could not stomach the idea. Hounded out, Mr Mazoka had no option and left to form his own party – the UPND. Well, as the saying goes, either dance well or quit the ballroom, and he chose to do just that.
In the meantime, Mr Sata worked hard to push President Frederick Chiluba to go for a third term, a plot he knew was bound to fail. But all along he knew that it gave him chance to lead MMD, being the national secretary. However, Mr Sata’s scheming came to a rude stop when the mantle fell on the former vice-president Levy Patrick Mwanawasa to run as MMD candidate. He tried to linger on in the MMD until he was ferreted out of the party and forced to admit he was the leader of the Patriotic Front.
Like all parties born out of frustration the Patriotic Front was a party without character. Until it won election, the PF existed without a manifesto of its own. It survived on sarcasm of its leader and very few imagined it could even win elections. What propelled it to 2011 victory was the ineptitude of the MMD and, above all, the slogan of ‘more money in the pocket, lower taxes’ and other sweet sounding promises which have disintegrated in its ten-year reign.
Today, Zambians are paying heavily for being overly trusting. The debts which MMD cleared have come back to haunt the nation again. The national reserves which MMD built up to $3.15 billion had all been decimated. PF has not even added a dime. Instead, is a crippling international debt while corruption has punctured the ceiling. Inflation, which was less than six percent when PF took over, has galloped to unimaginable 24 percent. Civil liberties which MMD reintroduced have all been curtailed. Today, no one is at liberty to criticise the
government without a threat of going to jail.
The courts have been compromised and nothing tangible is expected unless one was from the ruling
class. The police no longer serve Zambians but those in power.
Whereas PF has no indicator of why it was formed apart from patriotism, UPND has massive. The first is united. Thus, first it seeks to unite Zambia, bringing together fragmented people set apart by the PF’s divide and rule policy and tribalism talk.
The second one is a party that stands for national development. Since political parties started being formed UPND is a party that has made unity and development its goal.
It might have been the core attention of Mr Mazoka to create something different away from what the MMD were doing. As a former chief executive officer of Anglo-American Zambia and Zambia Railways, he had seen the impending doom coming through unregulated privatisation and wished to play a role in future to rectify it. Companies were being wholesomely sold and liquidated. Zambia would need a fresh start. And he would be around to offer a hand. He didn’t live long to see his dream come true.
The current leader of UPND Hakainde Hichilema, like president Mwanawasa, was totally unprepared for the leadership roles thrust on him. He was busy making money as senior partner at Grant Thornton
and many people have derided him for being a perpetual loser. They point to the number of times that he had stood and lost. Perhaps that’s his virtue. French sculptor Francois Auguste-Rene Rodin says patience is also a form of action. As a sculptor he knew better the art of patience to reach perfection.
No one ever imagined the kind of attention that HH has been receiving from every corner of Zambia.
PF and its candidate incumbent President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and their sympathisers have plotted endlessly how they can prevent him from standing but to no avail. They have tried, through Edith Nawakwi who seems to be their angel even though she made Zambia lose $6 million through the Carlington maize scandal, over privatisation and other perceived evils, has always emerged unscathed.
HH has faced a barrage of hurdles during this election, PF have restricted his movements and denied flying rights, but still wormed his way around. His resolve must be a warning that things are no longer the same. The persecution that has been witnessed has had no precedence in Zambia since independence. Mr Hichilema has not been given a chance to present himself. There is nothing that PF have not plotted against him just to ensure President Lungu does not leave State House. The Zambian airspace has become his personal to holder and that of his henchmen. They have thrown caution to the wind in their guest to win.
Once that former United States statesman Benjamin Franklin advised: sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor liberty to purchase power. The opposite is what Zambia is receiving.
There are 15 men and one woman vying to become president of the Republic of Zambia after August 12, but historical fact favours one whose party stands to unite the people of Zambia and ensure national
development.
Perhaps it’s him that will fix it. It shall be known when every vote is counted and announced.
The author is a former deputy minister in the Mwanawasa government, a former diplomat and former Times of Zambia deputy editor in chief. Cell: +260 966 783383.
The writing on the wall seems very clear for Zambia’s ruling party, the Patriotic Front (PF) in tomorrow’s 12th August 2021 general elections – Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin! There is more evidence in that direction than there is to the contrary. Only few hours are remaining to prove my hypothesis. I have a lot of conviction in this hypothesis. Even using statistical and mathematical models, I am sure the PF will not escape the pending fate, the Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin. The holy Bible in Daniel 5: 25-28 accurately records: [25] This is the inscription that was written; mene, mene, tekel, parsin. Here is what these words mean: [26] Mene – God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. [27] Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. [28] Peres[g]: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Before this interpretation by the Prophet Daniel, the Bible in verses 5 and 6 gives the background that during the great banquet thrown by King Belshazzar for a thousand of his nobles, his wives and his concubines, something strange happened: “Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking”.
Behold, the above scenario did not occur without a purpose. King Belshazzar’s tenure of office or regime was not condemned by God out of malice or hate—there was a list of societal and developmental sins his regime had committed upon the people they were privileged to lead for many years. In my consideration, God wouldn’t have punished King Belshazzar and his regime if he did not commit the many atrocities against his people, the poor masses. This is the evidence which has convinced me that if God gets unhappy with socio-economic mistreatments of the poor by those in public leadership positions, then the PF regime will never survive the ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin’ fate in tomorrow’s grand general election. [7] The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” [8] Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. [9] So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.
[10] The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. “May the king live forever!” she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! [11] There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. [12] He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”
[13] So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? [14] I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. [15] The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. [16] Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
[17] Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means. [18] “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. [19] Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. [20] But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. [21] He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.
[22] “But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. [23] Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. [24] Therefore, he sent the hand that wrote the inscription. [30] That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, [31] and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.
In tomorrow’s elections, I hold a strong belief that God has a purpose for Zambia. It will take God to change His laws to give a victory back to PF. But I spiritually doubt if He will. Gifts will be promised to the police, soldiers, ECZ officials, opposition leaders, etc, but just like Daniel denounced such gifts, the PF will face the same rejection and the will of the people will prevail and PF will still face the mene-mene-tekel-parsin fate! For the past 10 years, the PF regime mistreated the Zambians. Particularly, the Edgar Lungu-led PF destroyed this country to catastrophic levels—socioeconomically. Similarly to King Belshazzar, the PF probably hosted countless great banquets for a thousand or millions of their nobles, wives and concubines and drank wine with them.
I seem to be convinced that God will look into the performance of the Edgar Lungu-led PF regime and find it extremely wanting on the following—unaccounted for Euro Bonds ($750m, $1billion & $1.25billion); retired civil servants on nepotistic and tribal grounds; $42million fraudulent fire trucks; Mukula tree saga; 48 miracle houses; forest 27; non-existent $1.3billion Lusaka-Ndola Dual carriage-way; illogical numerous judicial judgements; police brutal killings; massive re-distribution of land to Chinese nationals; corrupt smeared civil service staff recruitments, questionable Christian agenda; criminal dealings at Kasenseli Gold mine in Mwinilunga; cheated retirees; shameless thefts of Social Cash Transfer funds; and the $17 million HoneyBee scandal; misapplied pandemic funds including expired drugs, leaking condoms and malfunctional medical equipment. I also doubt if God will bypass the PF on drowning the economy—Inflation at 24 per cent, perpetually unstable exchange rates, high youth and women unemployment, high disease burden, deteriorating education system (both general & higher), tribal and regional Cabinet appointments, failed agricultural policy, expensive energy products, university student hatred and punishment, partial judiciary system, and increasing vengeance on political opponents. For these and many other ills inflicted on the people of Zambia by the PF regime, I will not take offense if the ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin’ fate collapses on the PF in tomorrow’s Polls. Aluta continua for seriousness in governance issues by successive regimes in Zambia. Best wishes to all the voters and election managers country-wide, be peaceful.
Dr. Vincent Kanyamuna holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Monitoring and Evaluation and is lecturer and researcher at the University of Zambia, Department of Development Studies. For comments and views, email: vkanyamuna@unza.zm
You can’t bend the will of God, Prophet Iginla tells PF
By Ernest Chanda
NIGERIAN preacher Joshua Iginla says no one can bend the will of God in Zambia’s August 12 general election.
In his latest message, Prophet Iginla reminded the PF that no matter what they will do against the will of the people, it will not work.
“Let the will of the people reflect in the election. If you try to bend the will of people, you can’t bend the will of God, either for A or for B. It’s very important, there’s no need for bitterness,” he said last Sunday. “You can attack the prophet but you can’t attack the message. If it goes to A, praise God! If it goes to B, praise God! If I were any of you, if my chair falls down and God says ‘Judases are going to make the chair fall down’, you should deal with the chair and not the prophet who has talked. Deal with the people who are breaking the legs of my chairs and correct things, that’s all.”
He said no matter how much those in PF would insult him it would not work to change the status quo.
Prophet Ignila reminded the ruling party about the prophesies he had earlier uttered in their favour and they came to pass.
“And like I said last week, and I remain on my point, that it is in the destiny of HH to be President of Zambia – Hakainde Hichilema; it is in his destiny,” he added. “The prophesy is so clear, there should be no confusion. Is it his destiny – of the opposition to rule? I stand again, I said this five years ago, and I’m saying it again; it is his destiny! There’s nothing anybody can do about it. Is it the time? I think so. Hallelujah!”
Prophet Ignila said it was the desire of everyone to see peace in Zambia during and after this Thursday’s elections.
“As a prophet of God, God has given us a mandate. And our mandate is to intercede for nations. We’ve been doing it for years and we’ll continue to do that. And like I said last week, Zambia is a great nation. And by August 12 this week, they will be having their election. And one of the things we want to see is peace,” he said. “The election is very important and crucial to the citizens of Zambia. Zambians, Zambia is your motherland; and the labours of your heroes shall never be in vain. To all the participants in this election, one of the most important things is the peace of Zambia. If there’s peace, then the economy will boom; we’ll be able to eradicate starvation, we’ll be able to correct the errors. When there is restlessness and there’s no peace, then we have problem.”
He warned those that would lose the election against being bitter and putting the country on fire.
“There is no need for hate speech at this time. The most important part of this election is for peace after the election. Why [do] we think of bitterness? There’s no need to witch-hunt anybody. The most important thing is, let’s arrest poverty, let’s arrest inequality,” said Prophet Ignila. “Let’s deal with corruption that befalls most African countries; and even developed nations. So, I want to plead with the leaders and the game players in this election to know that whatever we do after this election will either make Zambia or break Zambia. If you have done well as a president there’s no need to fear. You’ll be re-elected. If you have not done well you must listen to the voice of God. If you have corrected the errors, there’s no need to be afraid. But if you have not done that you expect the results by yourself.”
The ruling Patriotic Front is making a final push for votes ahead of the 12 August general election although many of the party’s loyalists fear a surge in support for the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) – especially in the mainly urban areas of Lusaka and the Copperbelt.
Some PF cadres have expressed doubts in private that their party could win a free and fair election; some concede that even with the ruling party’s advantages of incumbency along with the possibility of manipulation of the vote count and results transmission, the opposition could win.
We hear that some senior PF members have been critical of the party’s campaign and the party has been haemorrhaging support. Former finance minister Alexander Chikwanda has been particularly concerned, our sources say.
UPND presidential candidate Hakainde Hichilema has been pulling large crowds, especially in the swing provinces of Lusaka and Copperbelt, according to witnesses. However, he is being prevented from flying in his campaign aircraft to many destinations on the campaign trail because aviation authorities frequently refuse to clear the flight plans he files, his supporters say. Independent polls such as Afrobarometer and analysts put Hichilema significantly ahead of the PF’s President Edgar Lungu.
There is a consensus among observers that UPND is in the lead in Southern, Western, Central and North Western Provinces while the PF is set to take Eastern, Northern, Luapula and Muchinga provinces.
Hichilema is also expected to make inroads into PF strongholds, including in Eastern province. Political analysts say it is likelier that Hichilema will make inroads into PF areas than the other way around. Former President Rupiah Banda, who is from Eastern province and retains significant influence there, has remained neutral in this election, which is interpreted as a snub to Lungu because he supported him in the last two elections.
From independent polling, interviews with voters and the turnout at rival party rallies, the UPND seems to have greatly boosted its support since the disputed 2016 elections when Hichilema lost to Lungu by less than 100,000 votes.
But it will take more than popular support to win. PF activists are determined to hang on to power. Some fear prosecution for corruption should Hichilema win, say some top PF sources.
The critical factors on Thursday 12 August are the turnout and possible fraud: not just the physical presence of voters at the polling booths but whether the late change of rules, such as the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s (ECZ) selective introduction of biometric voter verification in key urban constituencies, will deter voters.
These new rules could slow down voting in urban areas where the opposition has been building support and create confusion in cases where electoral officials haven’t had enough training.
The outcome will hinge on how successfully the PF can use these tactics, along with constraints on voter registration imposed on younger and urban voters, along with violence and intimidation.
Some in the PF are privately confident that the polls are so well rigged that their victory is inevitable. UPND activists worry that tactics such as ballot stuffing, and cuts in power and internet services, could facilitate a large enough PF fraud, and block proper monitoring (such as Parallel Vote Tabulation), to hand the PF a win. A nationwide power cut on 8 August rang alarm bells.
The PF will also be helped by its main campaign boasts – new airports, scrapping fuel taxes, cash payments to the poor, and farm subsidies. Many commentators and economists say that such policies have, along with corrupt procurement, helped bankrupt the treasury and that social projects have only survived budget cuts because donors funded them.
For UPND to get enough of a lead to overcome the fraud remains tough, they say.
However, some of Lungu’s business allies have been making last-minute overtures to Hichilema as a UPND win begins to looks less far-fetched. The decision in May by an alliance of four leaders of splinter parties to join with UPND, including Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) heavyweight Felix Mutati, who served as Lungu’s Finance Minister, was an important endorsement for Hichilema (AC Vol 59 No 7, Into the valley of debt).
UPND has also benefitted from the inside knowledge of lawyer Kelvin Fube Bwalya, who was the first PF President Michael Sata’s campaign manager and joined the UPND along with Mutati. Bwalya said they joined Hichilema because under the PF, the rule of law had broken down and the President was now a ‘legal dictator’.
One possible outcome that analysts say is being given insufficient consideration is a second round of the presidential election, which will occur if no candidate polls more than 50% of the votes. Although Lungu polled 100,000 more votes than Hichilema in 2016, he only averted a second-round re-run by 13,000 votes.
A second round is a particularly unappealing prospect for the PF because it will have sunk most of its spending into getting out on the vote on 12 August and may have little left in the kitty. If Hichilema is still in the contest in a second round that could make his potential victory seem more realistic prospect to voters who may then back him.
On the other hand, others believe that a run-off could favour the PF, with undecided voters opting for the status quo and independents directing their voters to support Lungu.
The PF’s efforts to spend much of President Lungu’s last term in campaign mode, spending massively on subsidies and borrowing on an epic scale for prestige public works to help boost its vote, has pushed the economy to the edge of the precipice and mired the government in sleaze, the opposition argues. This is at the core of PF’s loss of support in two key areas: the Copperbelt and Lusaka.
Urban swings
Much employment and business in large swathes of the Copperbelt depend on Konkola Copper Mines, one of the biggest copper concerns in the country. The decline of KCM is felt keenly by the local electorate, say analysts. Constituencies in this area, including Chingola and Chillilabombwe, have shown strong support for UPND at rallies.
UPND sources say voters here are experiencing heavy economic hardship. The government’s decision to buy Glencore’s Mopani mine, taking on another $1.5bn of debt to do so, has failed to enthuse voters, they add (See Box, Trouble brews in Lungu’s heartlands). The UPND believes it will win in Mufulira, where one of the Mopani mine sites is located, and where President Lungu grew up. Industry sources are pessimistic about the future if the PF wins. ‘There are no mines about to open, but plenty closing,’ one said.
While the UPND is expected to do better than ever before in the Copperbelt the opposition does not expect to make such strong inroads in Kitwe. Some ascribe this to the ruling party’s deal with the ‘Jerabos’, a crime syndicate which controls the artisanal exploitation of the area’s mine tailings (AC Vol 61 No 11, Gangs of the Copperbelt). Under the arrangement, the PF secretly smiles at the illegal mining in return for the Jerabos turning out the PF vote at election time. Some analysts believe the influence of this deal is not as great as is often claimed.
The PF will also do well, the pundits say, in Kabushi, in Ndola, where outgoing Provincial Minister Bowman Lusambo spends lavishly on his constituents. The opposition accuses him of doing this with illegally acquired funds, which he denies. Another MP likely to hold his seat is Foreign Minister Joseph Malanji, a multi-millionaire defending his seat in Kwacha, Kitwe. He attracted headlines this year after buying a $1.4m helicopter.
The UPND is also expected to make a lot of ground in Lusaka, where Lungu’s daughter Tasila is standing in his former constituency of Chawama. Hichilema’s anti-corruption narrative resonates with voters in the capital, UPND sources say, and they expect to translate disaffection with PF corruption and economic mismanagement into votes for the UPND.
Africa Confidential
Trouble brews in Lungu’s heartlands
President Edgar Lungu hoped the resource-nationalist gesture of placing Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in liquidation because of the supposed mismanagement by Vedanta Resources, the mine’s owner, would win votes for the ruling Patriotic Front, political analysts said. Vedanta has been deeply unpopular for many years and clashed with the PF’s Michael Sata before and after he became president in 2011 (AC Vol 54 No 23, Vedanta cools row). Mired in controversy over pollution and other scandals, its managers have offended local opinion and had to make amends (AC Vol 55 No 12, Fury over Vedanta).
But President Lungu has overplayed his hand, political sources say. Since the liquidator took charge of KCM, its fortunes have plunged further and the public is blaming the government, they say (AAC Vol 7 No 1, KCM on the back foot).
Lungu expected to be able to make quick cash from selling off the mine’s smelter, believing he would be inundated with offers from dozens of foreign investors, we hear. But the dispute between Vedanta and the state-owned Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines-Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH), which owns 20% of KCM, is in the midst of a long arbitration case, and no investor will touch KCM or its assets while that is going on.
One of its KCM’s largest creditors is the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC), a private company which bought the power division of the state-owned ZCCM when it was broken up and privatised in the early 1990s. KCM owes it nearly $150 million and CEC has demanded arbitration to obtain payment of the arrears. The government has been desperately trying to keep power supplies going to the mines and prevent CEC from cutting them off for non-payment. Other legal disputes centre on the government’s attempt to keep KCM operating while minimising its outgoings.
KCM has incurred at least $400m in debt since the start of the liquidation, according to senior sources at ZCCM-IH. The opposition hopes that the perception that the copper mines are being mishandled by government policy, and that it is the PF that threatens their future employment rather than ‘Big Mining’, will be strong enough to translate into votes for the UPND.
UPND LIKELY TO GRAB LUSAKA, WHILE PF WILL GET COPPERBELT
The Candidates’ Comment morning
There is no doubt that this election is to a large extent, a two-horse race. It is an election whose top two contenders are the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) and the United Party for National Development (UPND).
We have stated before that, the results of this year’s election will reflect the voting pattern of 2016. UPND will dominate in Southern, North-western, Western and a large part of Central provinces while the PF will dominate in Eastern, Muchinga, Northern and Luapula provinces.
While it appears that the UPND will eventually win the Presidential vote in Lusaka, the possibility is high that PF will win in Copperbelt with a reduced margin.
The dominance of UPND in Lusaka province spawns from the fact that in 2016, they got 242,172 while PF obtained 375,760 presidential votes – a difference of only 133,588. At the moment, PF is very unpopular in Lusaka. The little support you see them have on their rallies is comprised of ferried cadres from one constituency to the other. If President Lungu is going to Matero today, cadres and party officials of all constituencies will flock to where their leader is hence the huge numbers of people you see at their rallies. If you want to know whether or not PF is still popular in Lusaka, go to markets and ask people. In home bound buses and private places, many voters have no kind words for the PF regime. The thugs they have allowed to brutalize people and get illegal monies from markets and bus stations have to a very large extent contributed to their unpopularity in Lusaka.
Conversely, the UPND is not as desirable in Copperbelt. Hakainde Hichilema’s foot prints in issues of privatization of mines and his unclear stance over mining issues have not helped him much herein. When UPND was formed by late Anderson Mazoka, it was funded by Anglo-American which operated Konkola Copper Mine (KCM). Anglo-American openly funded UPND in the 2001 elections that saw late Levy Mwanawasa win those elections. Anglo-American withdrew its investment in KCM when the party they funded lost, with a view of punishing Zambian miners. It is that greedy and vengeful behavior of funders of UPND that put the Mwanawasa administration into desperation to sell KCM for a mockery of $25 million to Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta.
We all saw how Anil was mocking Zambians for buying KCM for $25 million whereas he made $500 million profits every month. Since then, there have been problems after problems at KCM which have resulted into loss of employment and supply opportunities for suppliers in the mines.
We know that the livelihood of people in Copperbelt is largely dependent on mining. Any challenges that mines face directly affects many families. Today, Hakainde has an open relationship with the Oppenheimers family who have a relationship with Anglo-America in the De Beers investment.
What guarantee is there that if UPND wins, we will not see Anglo-American back in Zambia after all the problems they put when they sort to revenge against Zambians for shunning UPND in 2001 elections?
Yes, Edgar may have managed to save jobs and preserve opportunities for some suppliers but he has not done the best there is at KCM. However, the little efforts made by Edgar have earned him some love and appreciation in Copperbelt in the face of general undesirability of the PF.
On the other hand Hakainde offers no clear solutions to mining problems surrounding KCM and Mopani. Is Hakainde’s solution bringing back an investor in the name of Anglo-American who abandoned Zambians after their failed attempt to impose a regime for the purpose of exploiting resources? The vagueness of Hakainde’s stance on mining issues has left many voters in Copperbelt to remain skeptical about his presidency. Yes, UPND has made inroads but we doubt they can overtake the numbers that the PF will get in these elections.
In 2016, PF got 345,275 while UPND obtained 189,562 presidential votes. The difference was 155,713 – more than the difference of final results between the two parties.
The ruling Patriotic Front (PF) reacted sharply on Tuesday to comments by US Senator Bob Menendez who asked President Edgar Lungu to concede defeat ahead of general elections on Thursday. Menendez said Lungu should cede power because his regime had eroded the nation’s democratic credentials.
PF political and media committee spokesman Amos Chanda charged that his party was aware that Menendez had been lobbied by special interests groups and individuals to portray Zambia as a failed state.
“Allegations by congressman Menendez that Zambia was sliding into a totalitarian state are totally false because no individual has been arrested for exercising their democratic right,” Mr Chanda said
Below is the full statement by us Congressman
AUGUST 09, 2021
CHAIRMAN MENENDEZ STATEMENT FOR THE SENATE RECORD ON ZAMBIA’S UPCOMING ELECTIONS
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, submitted the following statement for the Senate Record calling for free and fair elections in Zambia on August 12. Chairman Menendez urged political leaders to work together to reverse the democratic backsliding that has occurred in Zambia under President Edgar Lungu, in order to avoid political violence and restore Zambians’ faith in their government.
“Mr. President, I rise to discuss Zambia’s upcoming elections and the erosion of democracy under President Edgar Lungu. On August 12, the people of Zambia will go to the polls to elect their President and members of the National Assembly. They will do so under the cloud of growing authoritarianism, with troops in the streets, protesters in prison, and dissenting voices muzzled by censorship. Indeed, many Zambians have good reason to be dissatisfied with their present government and, in a free and fair vote, might very well reject President Lungu’s bid for reelection. But I fear they may not have that opportunity.
For nearly 30 years, Zambians have enjoyed a relatively free and open political environment. In 1991, Zambia’s founding father Kenneth Kaunda lost the country’s first multiparty election in decades and gracefully stepped aside after 27 years in power. President Kaunda died in June of this year, at the age of 97, with a complicated legacy; he was a liberator, but also held an iron grip on power for nearly three decades. However, his final act of public service paved the way for democracy to take root in his country in the years that followed. Sadly, President Lungu is erasing that monumental contribution to the Zambian people.
Since President Lungu’s rise to power in 2014, he has used the organs of the state to intimidate his political opponents and consolidate power for his Patriotic Front party. Freedom House rates Zambia as only ‘partly free,’ citing laws and government actions which have had the effect of restricting the activities of opposition parties, limiting civil society participation, and curbing free expression. Similarly, the U.S. Department of State, in its 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, noted ‘significant human rights issues’ in Zambia, particularly in the area of elections and political participation.
In March, the Zambian political analyst Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa published an essay in which he warned that ‘Zambia may burn after the August elections.’ He wrote that the public’s distrust of Zambia’s institutions and the ruthless competition between its political elites had contributed to a climate of fear and anger that could plunge the country into chaos. The subversion of the independence of the courts and other public institutions has led to a lack of confidence. Credible allegations of corruption and impunity have been made against leaders. A collapsing economy, mismanaged by President Lungu to the point of defaulting on its foreign loans, has resulted in mass youth unemployment and rising inequality. Dr. Sishuwa also noted Western countries’ declining assistance to Zambia and their silence on its democratic backsliding. He painted a vivid image of a once-peaceful and prosperous country on the brink of calamity. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Zambian police began investigating Dr. Sishuwa for sedition shortly after the essay’s publication.
Indeed, political violence has already arrived on the streets of Zambia. Fighting between supporters of the PF and the opposition United Party for National Development left at least two people dead last week. Troops have been mobilized to restore order, but Zambian security forces have also been accused of using deadly force against peaceful protesters.
The United States has a clear interest in ensuring that Zambia remains a free and stable country. We have provided approximately $500 million in assistance to Zambia every year. At a time of increasing instability in Southern Africa, with unrest in South Africa and Eswatini, crackdowns in Zimbabwe, a brutal insurgency in Mozambique, the region cannot afford Zambia’s collapse. We know that instability anywhere has a rippling effect that impacts U.S. interests and our allies.
Moreover, Zambia presents a test for the Biden administration’s commitment to promoting and protecting democracy abroad. I encourage the administration to more address Zambia’s democratic backsliding. I hope that is corrected before elections commence. We should be clear with President Lungu that the United States does not tolerate authoritarianism and that the generosity of the American people is not without limits. The United States should increase support for Zambian civil-society and democracy and governance programming in Zambia. Finally, the Biden administration can demonstrate its commitment to the bilateral relationship by nominating a skilled and experienced diplomat to serve as ambassador to Zambia.
While the United States stands with the Zambian people, ultimately, responsibility for Zambia’s democratic decline lies squarely with President Lungu and his government. In the short term, President Lungu must commit to holding free and fair elections on August 12 and ensure transparency in the process by permitting election monitors to observe the vote without restrictions. He must also publicly commit to accept the outcome of the election, and step aside should he lose. Regardless of the outcome, the PF, UPND, and all other parties must work together to restore the integrity and independence of public institutions, end impunity for state violence, and address corruption. They must do this by partnering with civil society, restoring freedom of the press, and respecting civil liberties. They must accept that dissent and protest are not a threat to their power, but rather proof of a healthy polity.
This will be a long and difficult process which will test the courage and patriotism of Zambia’s elites. Next week’s elections may be the first step towards Zambia’s renewal or else the next step towards its ruin. Perhaps President Lungu can take inspiration from Kenneth Kaunda’s final act of leadership and put his country before his own political interests.”
THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA PLEDGES TO DELIVER CREDIBLE ELECTIONS AND READY TO CONDUCT RE-RUN VOTE.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has pledged to deliver credible elections when Zambians vote on August 12, 2021.
ECZ Chief Electoral Officer Kryticuos Nshindano said the electoral body has put in place adequate preparations to make the elections credible despite pockets of political violence recorded across the country.
Mr. Nshindano said ECZ has demonstrated its resolve to ensure that the August 12, 2021 polls are credible by guaranteeing that erring political parties have been suspended from campaigning in respective trouble-torn areas.
He disclosed that the electoral commission has spent about K1.2 billion out of its K1.5 billion budget on ensuring that the August 12 polls are credible and held in line with acceptable international electoral practices.
Over seven million voters are expected to participate in Thursday’s general elections to elect the President, Members of Parliament, Mayors or Council Chairpersons and Local government councilors.
Mr. Nshindano assured that the ECZ will ensure that election results are announced within 72 hours from the time the last polling station closes at 18:00hours on Wednesday, August 12, 2021.
He further urged the stakeholders, interest groups and the general public to desist from announcing the election results as it is the preserve of the ECZ.
He said election results for presidential, parliamentary, mayoral and councilor levels will be counted and announced at the 950 polling stations dotted across the country, and stuck at the entrance of the stations for the general public to see.
Mr. Nshindano further said the ECZ is ready to conduct a presidential re-run vote in the event that neither of the 18 presidential candidates manages to garner 50 percent plus one of the votes cast on election day.
He said the law provides for the re-run and that the electoral body has already budgeted for it.
Meanwhile, The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) says it has instituted measures aimed at ensuring that voting is conducted smoothly within correctional facilities during Thursday’s general elections.
ECZ Chief Electoral Officer Patrick Nshindano reveals that among the measures put in place, the commission has provided training to Correctional service personnel for the purposes of conducting successful electoral process within the prison facilities.
Mr Nshindano says correctional facilities are also allowed to receive campaign materials to ensure that inmates have access to voter education and exposed to the participating candidates.
The ECZ Chief Electoral officer explained in a statement that polling stations at the correctional facilities will undergo the same electoral practices prevailing in ordinary polling stations adding that all stakeholders partaking in the elections will be allowed in the premises.
“ However, as correctional centers are security facilities and therefore observers, monitors, polling agents and other stakeholders will be subjected to the routine screenings before entrance as per practice, “ he said.
And addressing the issue of transferred inmates from one facility to another likely to be denied the chance to vote, Mr. Nshindano said correctional personnel are fully aware of the electoral process and have been mindful even as these transfers are done.
He further added that released inmates who registered at correctional centers are free to go back and vote from these centers and assured all concerned parties that correctional polling centers are as safe as any other.
“As earlier said, you can only vote from where you are registered from, so everybody has the right to access, the conditions that prevail at any other polling stations also prevail at the polling station in the correctional facilities,” he said.
President Lungu’s despicable threat uttered when addressing the Mines Unions in Kitwe that he would arrest HH after he wins the August 12 election confirmed my long-term fears—authoritarianism. He rules by decree as opposed to by law; the courts and all law enforcement agencies exist for his bidding. In the real world, the Chief Justice, the Attorney General, the Courts and law enforcement agencies should be up in arms opposing this unethical and Machiavellian rant from the president.
I am among those who question how the privatization exercise was carried out. Zambians need to know the truth about the whole exercise for the sake of accountability–currently very little is known. There is a need for a Commission of Inquiry into the matter so as to help ordinary people understand what really happened with the national assets. The academic explanation does not help. If President Lungu spoke about establishing an Independent Commission, and seeking answers from all those who were involved including HH, it would be a fair game. Should the Commission find out that HH committed crimes and refer those crimes to relevant authorities for prosecution after Lungu wins the elections, still that would be fair game. In short, as long as the president is not using the law to punish his political opponents, it is constitutionally fine.
What makes President Lungu’s Trump-like Machiavellian threat illegal is that it violates the Constitution of Zambia. The president has no power to arrest anybody under the Zambian Constitution for the crime of privatization of Mines. Besides, the president does not determine who should be prosecuted or let go–we are a Constitutional Democracy and not a dictatorship. Of course, those miners believed the lie, but even Lungu himself knew he was lying to them.
I have repeatedly called the justice system under President Lungu as rotten to the core and his unethical threat simply confirms it; courts don’t exist to punish political opponents but to ensure justice for all citizens. The president is not the law, or above the law; he is a citizen. But under the Lungu regime, he is the above the law. This is the reason why Kambwili and GBM were both cleared of their charges once they rejoined PF. No wonder PF cadres are allowed to beat up people, while police officers watch at will.
President Lungu should understand that winning the election is one thing, governing is another. We are living in the age of social media where political organizing is becoming more and more popular than ever. HH is President Lungu’s biggest obstacle to winning this election. As head of State, his choice of words would set the mood for how people would react to the results. His unmeasured and childlike threats may energize his base, but could easily lead to post election violence that would be too costly. HH may lose this election, but he has a following that could easily destabilize the nation. There is nothing President Lungu can do to stop HH’s supporters from ruining the nation–we don’t have enough prisons for all of them. For this reason, respect for your opponent is a Patriotic act. Unfortunately Lungu seems to think he could remote control all Zambians–the truth is bullets don’t always win the war.
Understandably President Lungu is strategically exploiting the historical pain of HH’s economic victims–the miners on the Copperbelt. But does he really need to mislead the nation? The issue of mining today is totally different from that of the 1990s. Lungu wants to assume that HH is responsible for what happened with Vedanta Resources during the the Lungu administration. There is no truth to it–the two are different and should not be linked.
Audaciously, President Lungu has the right to highlight HH’s role in the privatization of the Mines–it is a fair question. It is one question that HH’s strategists have found hard to counter. In fact he could have simply used M’membe’s line when he called HH “greedy” for his role in selling off Zambian assets, the claim even the HH team hardly failed to deflect. He could have spoken about the price of copper and how that would impact the economy and better the lives of miners. These attacks would have been just as effective–but to threaten to use the law on a political opponent is immoral, abhorrent, evil and simply uncalled for. We are a democracy and the separation of power exists for the reason. If President Lungu wants to arrest HH, let him become a police officer.
THE Electoral Commission of Zambia says those who will be undertaking Parallel Vote Tabulation in Thursday’s elections must not announce their results until final results have been announced by the Commission.
“You are only allowed to present your results after the announcement of the Commission’s final results. Anyone that does before that will be prosecuted,” Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) chief electoral officer Kryticous Patrick Nshindano said today, at a media briefing on the preparedness for the 2021 general elections at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka.
“The law is very clear; there’s only one institution mandated to announce election results – and that is the Electoral Commission of Zambia.”
Nshindano was flanked by the Commission’s director of electoral operations Royd Katongo and Dylan Kasonde – the Commission’s director – ICT.
Nshindano assured that: “the poll will be free and fair.”
“We’ll guarantee that one’s vote is protected and what you are going to vote for, what the final result will be, is what will be announced, regardless of the winner. The Commission does not engage in manipulation of elections,” he said.
“I can affirm that we are ready to deliver a credible election, come Thursday, 12th August, 2021.”
He explained how the process of voting is going to be done, starting from the point one casts their vote: “and indeed the transmission of that vote.”
“One of the aspects that we’ve reiterated is that this time around, the vote starts and ends at the polling station. This is because of the conversion of streams into polling stations. This time around we do not have any streams as it were in 2016,” Nshindano explained.
“At the polling station, once one votes, the presiding officer will sign off the results announcement form – which is the GEN 20 form. Stakeholders – the political agents – will sign….”
For those who would be doing Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT), Nshindano reminded them that only the ECZ had the legal mandate to announce results.
“So, those that are doing Parallel Vote Tabulation, please go ahead; the Commission has allowed for you to do so. But inasmuch as you are doing that, do it responsibly. We do not want it to create conflict when you announce wrong things of perceived candidates that would have been perceived to have won, when in fact not,” Nshindano noted.
“That can bring a lot of instability in the country and we therefore urge you to cooperate with the Commission and ensure that you wait until the final results have been announced by the Commission, before you announce your PVT results.”
Asked about electoral violence during campaigns, Nshindano pointed out that the vice: “undermines electoral credibility and where possible, we have been able to sanction.”
“This we have done publicly and also discreetly – internally – where we have called political parties that are erring and cautioned them,” he said.
Asked about the Commission’s position, in an event of a re-run, Nshindano said the Commission is prepared to handle such, if at all it arose.
On the results management overview, ICT director Katongo said results would physically be counted at the polling station, then results pasted outside the polling station, and then physically taken to the totalling centre.
“Once all the results for the constituency are received, those are summed up and the result is announced. After that, the result is transmitted to the national result centre,” explained Kasonde.
“Once that is done, the results are verified. After verification, there is an approval process. After that, the results are announced [at the national result centre]. So, we should expect that the Commission should, this time, announce the result within 72 hours from the close of the last polling station.”
The ECZ’s certified register for 2021 shows that there is a total of 7, 023, 499 voters, of which 3. 751, 040 are female while 3, 272, 459 are male.
Patrick Mwanawasa, the son of the late President Levy Mwanawasa has said that he sees many similarities between his late father and the current President of Zambia, Edgar Lungu.
Speaking on the Round Table Talk hosted by PF last night, Mr. Mwanawasa said that both Presidents possessed great humility and desire to see a Zambia whose people are emancipated from poverty.
Mr. Mwanawasa further stated that both Presidents had given many opportunities to women to participate in the governance of the nation by appointing them to decision-making positions, reflecting that his late father’s cabinet had several women in it, while President Lungu took it a notch higher by appointing the first woman Vice President, Mrs. Inonge Wina and also by choosing a woman again to be his running mate, in Professor Nkandu Luo who he described as a formidable Human being.
Mr.Mwanawasa who served as Deputy Permanent Secretary in Eastern and Central Provinces said that his father went through a lot of challenges, which the current president equally went through.
“I think there are similarities between them. My father went through a lot of challenges such as droughts and armyworms which President Lungu has equally had to face. Remember they both overcame those challenges and today, this nation has a bumper harvest despite President Lungu battling armyworms, drought causing erratic power supply, floods, and now the pandemic,” he said.
And Mr. Mwanawasa has dismissed claims by the United Party for National Development(UPND) that there is a wind of change in the nation, as mare hallucinations. Mr Mwanawasa said he was 39 years old and that in this period he had witnessed 8 elections and uncountable by-elections. He said he knew exactly what wind of change looked like because he had seen it in 1991 and in 2011. He said even dogs and chickens felt the wind of change during those two historic moments. He stated that it was not the case this time as he had traversed the nation and could confidently say that the Patriotic Front and President Lungu were still very popular on the ground and loved by the Zambian people.
Mr Mwanawasa has since urged the people of Zambia to turn out in large numbers and vote for the PF and President Lungu for continuity, adding that the PF and President Lungu have laid a solid foundation for the prosperity of this nation and Zambians are eager to reap the benefits of this hard-working government
THE UPND and Sky Trails Limited have applied for leave to commence judicial review proceedings against the State and Zambia Airforce Commander Lieutenant General David Muma challenging his decision not to entertain their applications for clearance to privately fly UPND president Hakainde Hichilema to various parts of the country during the campaign period
The applicants are seeking an order of certiorari to quash the decision of the Airforce commander not to act upon the 15 applications for flying clearance which were submitted to him.
They want an order of mandamus compelling the Airforce commander to perform his Statutory functions under the provisions of the civil aviation Act and Statutory Instrument no.104 the aviation (aircraft navigation control) notice,1997.
In a notice of application for leave to apply for review, party secretary general Batuke Imenda said by virtue of the SI, the entire Zambian air space has been restricted and any person who intends to fly a private airplane is required to apply for flying clearance from the air commander at least 24 hours in advance.
He said in order for Hichilema to travel to various parts of the country for campaigns, Sky Trails submitted 15 applications for flying clearance to the air commander between July 22 and 29, 2021.
Imenda stated that despite Sky Trails having submitted 15 applications for flying clearance, the airforce commander has not acted upon the said applications and has not informed them the outcome of their applications or what steps they need to take to comply with or meet the requirements for the grant of flying clearances.
“Strangely, the same airforce commander has been quick to grant the applicants flying clearances for Southern, Western and North Western provinces but has not acted upon 15 applications for other provinces which are perceived to be strongholds of the Patriotic Front and denying Hichilema the opportunity to campaign in those areas,” Imenda said.
He contended that the Airforce commander’s failure, neglect or refusal to act upon their 15 applications for flying clearance had greatly prejudiced the UPND’s president and other candidates who have been forced to travel by road to various parts of the country to campaign.
“The commander has abused his Statutory duty by deliberately not acting on the applicant’s applications contrary to the purpose for which the Statutory power of administering SI.no.104 of 1997 has been conferred on him,” Imenda said.
He claimed that the failure by the Airforce commander to act upon his party’s application for clearance to allow Hichilema to be flown to various parts of the country was colored by political considerations.
Imenda said the airforce commander should not be guided by political or other irrelevant considerations nor should he discriminate against any applicant in the grant of such flying clearance.
He added that the campaign period ends tomorrow and the airforce commander’s decision not to act upon the UPND’s applications is not only irrational but calculated to disadvantage Hichilema.
Imenda said the airforce commander’s decision was illegal as it amounts to a refusal to perform his statutory duty.
In another matter, the UPND is challenging the decision by the ZNBC director general Malolela Lusambo to refuse to air the party’s campaign adverts during prime slots.
Imenda said the party and the national broadcaster entered into a contract to air its political adverts on radio and TV during its main news at 19:00 hours and 22:00 hours before the 19:00 hours news and during the presentation of local news.
He said the bellow advert was abruptly suspended on the basis that it insinuated that government was corrupt and five of the UPND’s adverts were rejected as the individuals in some of the adverts were clad in PF regalia and they would be injured, while for some ZNBC claimed they were directly attacking President Edgar Lungu.
Imenda wants an order of certiorari to quash the decision of the director general of ZNBC to decline to air the party’s adverts.
He also wants a declaration that the actions of ZNBC director general to reject some of the selected campaign advertisements is ultra vires Article 20 of the constitution section 7(1)(h)(j) and (m) of the ZNBC Act and electoral (code of conduct) regulations 2011 of the electoral Act Chapter 13 of the Zambian laws and is null and void.
OPEN LETTER TO ZAMBIA ARMY, ZAF, ZNS, POLICE AND INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
Tuesday, 10th August, 2021.
Ref: An Appeal to the Military and Security Wings Conscience as the country votes this Thursday.
Fellow Country men and women,
It’s is said that the greatest prison to be feared more than any human facility is one’s conscience. A man who betrays his conscience loses his humanity and forever confines himself to the dungeon of mental isolation.This week is decisively a defining moment for the restoration of our lost glory as a nation.While the masses are decided, evidence suggest that the enemies of the masses are squarely decided to shed blood just to keep the masses they have held captive for the past 8 years. As things stand now today,they are entirely dependent on you, our Men and Women in Uniform.
When you took your oath of duty, you all swore allegiance to protect the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia which by extension implies the helpless masses. Now is the time to live up to your sworn duty. It’s is evident to the whole world that the Police command has been deeply polarized and is held captive. Hakainde Hichilema is not a person as it where in the context of our political discourse. He is a representation of the majority Zambians on the flip side of the massive economic mismanagement of our nation at the hand of the Patriotic Front government.
What is frightening is seeing the whole alot of the president Mr. Lungu suggesting death against HH barely two days when another PF official Mr. Antonio Mwanza suggested that HH would have been shot in the head if it was in Rwanda. We thought president Edgar Lungu would apologize to Mr. Hakainde Hichilema and the Zambian citizenry and the entire international community for such remarks by Antonio Mourinho Mwanza . But he comes with more death threats. This is unacceptable. This is a big threat to our democracy as indicated by the US embassy in Zambia and we condemn it.
Our dear men and women in uniform, these are the people that the Patriotic Front government has caged, blocked and are willing to eliminate in order for them to continue on the spree of wanton treasonable orgy on national identity. They can not do this by themselves. They are currently counting on you men and women in uniform to aid them kill your own brothers and sisters for exercising their democratic rights. Are you going to betray your conscience and the many helpless dieing masses by siding with the oppressers? We are not asking for any insurrection. All we’re asking for is the restoration of your sworn duty to ensure a free polling process before, during and after. Hakainde Hichilema has been denied flying permits when the Patriotic Front government is flying six aircrafts everyday traversing the country and promoting tribalist such as Chishimba Kambwili, Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba and many others. Hakainde Hichilema has been blocked from entering some parts of the country when PF is everywhere using tax payers money and that comes from our donors.
The sad part is that this is being supported by the very people who should have been moderating in this acrimonious shift of public confidence in the key institutions. Where do people run to in such times?
The deployment of the men and women in uniform is not warranted by any public interest concern. This is a well calculated move to secure a crooked and cooked up poll using a cordon of military perimeter. But we have so much confidence in you our army that you will stand by the citizens. Edgar Chagwa Lungu forcefuly pushed for a third term through a highly divisive legal debate another assault on our democracy. Now, he wants to forcefuly still impose himself on the Zambians! No we can’t allow this anymore.The grand finale of this mischievous scheme currently lies squarely in the hands of our loyal men and women in uniform.
There should come a time in life when conscience should ride over blind unethical commands. We have faith that our men and women in uniform will uphold their sworn duty to protect the weak masses from the internal aggression of the few desperate looters. The simmering tension needs to be managed with patriotism. Why should one man be blocked and the others allowed to move freely. We as citizens have lost confidence in the Electoral Commission of Zambia which is purely getting instructions from state house. Under normal circumstances,if we had independent institutions and credible observer groups, this Election could have been declared unfree and ultimately a sham. Electoral participation dictates a free interaction with the electorates. The ECZ should be ashamed to referee a game where one contestant is shackled.
To our men and women in uniform, this is a defining moment not only for you but for our country as a whole. The window of opportunity is fast closing. Stand up for the right and be part of the heroes that carry the torch of excellence in this hour of darkness.
Wishing you all God’s blessings and strength as you diligently discharge your national duties. May the almighty God bless mother Zambia.
Yours sincerely
Sikaile C Sikaile Good Governance and Human Rights Activist for Zambia and Amnesty International
CC: UN SECRETARY GENERAL
: ALL DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS ACCREDITED TO ZAMBIA
: ALL CHURCHES IN ZAMBIA
: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
: CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS
: ALL POLITICAL PARTIES
I AM submitting a legal and political opinion to the ECZ through this forum that it should never be part of treasonous act in Zambia.
There is no reason whatsoever why theft of an election in any country, through rigging, with incontrovertible evidence proving the same, should not attract the charge of treason. In the case of Zambia, the parent charge of treason is under Section 43 of the Penal Code. Analogous sections of this are found in other countries’ criminal statutes. Stealing an election through rigging involves unlawful, illegal and massive unconstitutional violations of the constitutional and electoral laws of the country to alter the coming into power of a legitimate government chosen by the people.
Theft of an election is a fraudulent usurpation of power by an illegitimate government that has been turfed out of power by the country’s voters. It is a coup d’état to unconstitutionally and illegally cling to power by the incumbent government. The fact that there is initially no violence, a term which is used interminably in Section 43 of the Penal Code, is immaterial as violence is embedded in the very act and fact of rigging an election.
Violence is part of the plan to enforce the acquiescence of the population should the rigging be exposed and fought against. And violence can consume the nation in the aftermath of a rigged election as we saw in Ivory Coast, Kenya (2007/08) and elsewhere. In the case of Zambia, individuals were arrested and accused/charged of fomenting violence by trying to resist and expose evidence of rigging. Thus violence is implicated and is part of overt acts in the enforcement of rigging an election.
In the Edward Shamwana treason case in Zambia, no violence was actually used, but it was part of the plan and even though no violence was used, Shamwana and others were convicted of treason. Those who know about the plan to illegally overthrow the government but who don’t divulge those plans to the authorities can be convicted of misprision of treason. In the case of election theft through rigging, many people would directly or circumstantially have knowledge that rigging is underway.
The result of election theft by rigging is that you have an illegitimate government that does not have the mandate to rule just as you would have a government that took power by force. There is no difference.
Election theft by rigging has grievous aggravating factors and must constitute treason. A coterie of individuals with planning and deliberation aforethought, sometimes over a lengthy period of time, organise to engage in the overt and covert actus reus (action) with requisite mens rea (intention) to violate the constitution and electoral laws of their country.
Some of these individuals who participate in the conspiracy to violate the constitution and electoral laws of the country, would have sworn on the Holy Book to follow and uphold the constitution and laws of the country. But here they are, violating the very oath, constitution and laws they had sworn to abide by and enforce. There can be no greater betrayal of the constitution and laws of the country than what is involved in election theft by rigging. This is treason.
Theft of an election by rigging engages the coincidence of actus reus (the doing) and mens rea (intention) to violate the law and is complex. It is not as inept as Captain Solo waking up one day and deciding that he was going to have fun that day at the main radio station! Rigging can be sophisticated and involves many people: the army, the air force, the police, ministries, civil servants, the judiciary, the Presidency, diplomats, banks, immigration, transporters, printers, newspapers, and many other entities and institutions.
Sometimes it involves the registration of foreign voters by issuing them the country’s primary identity cards like National Registration Cards. It involves conniving with foreigners to print ballot papers some of which are pre-marked or that are easy to manipulate.
Rigging involves training and facilitating individuals, sometimes foreigners to manipulate computers and election technologies in favour of the regime in power to enable it to cling on to power. Theft of an election involves stationing cadres at voting points to intimidate and engage in violence against election monitors or the opposition. Theft of an election by rigging involves destroying the opposition’s votes and inflating that of the party in power.
Election theft by rigging involves using the army and police and government ministries and infrastructure to deprive the citizens of the benefit of installing a legitimate government of their choice. This is as treasonous as it gets. Theft of elections through rigging must be criminalised as acts of treason. That should act as deterrence. The ECZ would be part of any rigging scheme. They don’t want to get involved in a crime of grave consequences.
Yes democracy in Zambia is my business as it is for all Zambians under Zambia’s Sky.
LEADER of the United Movement for Kola Bemba Kingdom Boniface Besa Bwalya has called on Zambians to unite and vote out what he termed tribalists.
He says only enslaved Bembas will vote for PF presidential candidate Edgar Lungu because “they are the ones he eats with but they are few”.
Bwalya, told The Mast, that the tribal card the PF has been using should annoy people even more.
He reminded the Bemba people to whom President Edgar Lungu and the PF have been appealing for support against the UPND that the Head of State had once called them thieves.
“Ndelomba ku bena Zambia, tiyeni tume akapi pamo, twikatane tucimfye ba mwansakabinga ba tucusha. Tiyeni twikatane pamo tufumyepo aba pantu ba kapatulula ka mu tundu. (I’m begging all Zambians, let us work together. We unite and defeat these devils who have troubled us. Let us unite and remove them because they are tribalists),” Bwalya said in apparent reference to the PF. “Uyu muntu alitutuka ukweba ati mwe babemba nimwe ba kabolala, alitutuka insele. Kabili abwekeshapo ukututuka ifwe, tatwakamuvoteleko! (This person insulted us that you Bembas are thieves, he insulted us. Again, he has insulted us, we will not vote for him).”
And Bwalya said only enslaved Bembas will vote for President Lungu on August 12.
“Ifwe pamo nga ababemba natumukanina. Ndesoka na babemba bonse, onse umubemba uushaikatwa bunkole, tekwesha uku votela Lungu. For us as Bembas we have rejected him. I am speaking to all Bembas, every Bemba who has not been enslaved, do not vote for Lungu),” Bwalya added. “Ababemba aba ikatwa bunkole ebaka votela Lungu, ebo balya nabo; but banono. (Only enslaved Bembas will vote for Lungu, they are the ones he eats with but they are few).”
Bwalya also expressed confidence that the Electoral Commission of Zambia would ensure free and fair elections next week.
He has since appealed to the United Nations and its agencies in the country to keep an eye on the soldiers deployed across the country.
“Ndesubila ukuti ba ECZ bakabikako amano. Elyo kabili ndelomba ifyalo fya kunse, ama interntational observers maka maka ba United Nations and Commonwealth, ukulolesha pali uyu umulandu. (I hope that the ECZ will do a good job. And I am asking the international community, the international observers especially the United Nations and Commonwealth, to look into this matter),” said Bwalya. “Elyo ba Lungu babika aba soldier mu street babikepo amenso betulekelesha. (And Mr Lungu has deployed soldiers on the streets, let them pay attention, they should not neglect us).”
By Dr Nevers Mumba
MY TAKE ON THE KK VIDEO ON HH PLANS TO SPLIT ZAMBIA
A debate has arisen on social media regarding a Video in which our founding President, Dr.Kenneth Kaunda is quoted as saying He cannot think of any other man in politics who is thinking of “splitting” Zambia apart from HH. (Whom he refers to as that man from Zimbabwe, then later Southern Province and he struggles to remember his name)
Obviously, the wide circulation of this video, mainly by political supporters of the PF, as well as other citizens, barely a day before elections would, and has, created anxiety.
As a person who knew Dr.Kaunda very closely,band as someone who equally knows Mr. Hakainde Hichilema quite well, I think I qualify to speak about this sensitive subject as follows:
#1. Let us allow President Kaunda to rest in peace. We burried and mourned him with honour and dignity and we recognised his contribution to maintaining the unity of our Country across Tribe.
Digging up this old contraversial video is both unfortunate and playing dangerous politics.
#2. Secondly, since the video is out, I would like to state that the statement made by Dr. Kaunda was probably based on a negative report given to him as is usually the case with Presidents and Former Presidents. In fact, I myself have received wrong Reports before. Also, I’ve had wrong and false reports about me sent to various sitting and past Presidents from time to time. In fact, this particular rant by our dear Dr.Kaunda does seem to be one resulting from such a case of him being ill informed, and is to be dismissed as nothing but old age bunter.
Why do I say so?
Firstly, I knew Dr.Kaunda personally and he brought me up as a Son. Dr Kaunda never saw himself as infallible and perfect. In fact , Dr.Kaunda was a man of like passions as all of us and he never, as far as I know, placed a burden on us the people of Zambia to ever take each and everyone of his statements and acts as being right and correct all the time. It therefore, would be very careless to assume that in his death, every statement he made, including this one, was to be revered and treated as the gospel truth.
In addition, in my life as a pastor for 44 years, I have quite some experience in caring for the aged and I know better than to take everything that our very senior citizens say as a POLICY direction and to this, Dr.Kaunda’s statement is no exception.
I remember that at the funeral of Nelson Mandela, Dr.Kaunda repeatedly referred to the former ruling party of South Africa as “The Boer Party”, a remark that angered some quarters.
However, it was understood by all that he probably meant no harm and that Dr. Kaunda came from a different generation that did it’s best to achieve unity in their own way.
It is therefore through a similar lense that I believe we must try and view this video.
Dr.Kaunda may have believed and said what he did at some point, before he had met and known the gentleman. His views about HH may have been at some point, informed by a bad report as I have shown above, but that doesn’t mean we as ZAMBIANS must agree with him. We all loved KK and yet in 1991, we all disagreed with him.
#3. I am Running for President in my own stead, and I therefore, have no agenda or motivation to save HH’s name. However, I have know Hakainde Hichilema personally, and I have campaigned and criss crossed the length and breadth of this country together with him and I can confidently say that:
DIVIDING THE COUNTRY IS NOT ONE OF HH’S PLANS OR IDEALS.
In fact, one thing we both share is a passion to unite our people, especially from the North and the South, as brothers and sisters.
We may compete politically, but in the interest of national unity, we meet on this singular principle.
Having said this, it is not my aim to speak against our departed Dr.Kaunda either, but I would like this generation of ZAMBIANS to be brave enough to chart our OWN path, and to feel free to find our answers to the difficult questions we face of poverty, disease, education, technology as well as cultural and tribal division. We believe that this is at the heart of every well meaning Zambian and is indeed the reason why I stand as presidential candidate in the coming election this Thursday.
So, even as that video (which is in copy here) is viewed, please remember that we do not want to plant or water the seeds of division in any way now or ever. And I believe that my brother and fellow candidate, HH does not either (in as far as i have known him).
Join me at 20 hours. I will be discussing this and other key topics as we head into Voting on Thursday.
CHAIRMAN MENENDEZ STATEMENT FOR THE SENATE RECORD ON ZAMBIA’S UPCOMING ELECTIONS
August 9, 2021
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez
(D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, submitted the following statement for the Senate Record calling for free and fair elections in Zambia on August 12. Chairman Menendez urged political leaders to work together to reverse the democratic backsliding that has occurred in Zambia under President Edgar Lungu, in order to avoid political violence and restore Zambians’ faith in their government.
“Mr. President, I rise to discuss Zambia’s upcoming elections and the erosion of democracy under President Edgar Lungu. On August 12, the people of Zambia will go to the polls to elect their President and members of the National Assembly. They will do so under the cloud of growing authoritarianism, with troops in the streets, protesters in prison, and dissenting voices muzzled by censorship. Indeed, many Zambians have good reason to be dissatisfied with their present government and, in a free and fair vote, might very well reject President Lungu’s bid for reelection. But I fear they may not have that opportunity.
For nearly 30 years, Zambians have enjoyed a relatively free and open political environment. In 1991, Zambia’s founding father Kenneth Kaunda lost the country’s first multiparty election in decades and gracefully stepped aside after 27 years in power. President Kaunda died in June of this year, at the age of 97, with a complicated legacy; he was a liberator, but also held an iron grip on power for nearly three decades. However, his final act of public service paved the way for democracy to take root in his country in the years that followed. Sadly, President Lungu is erasing that monumental contribution to the Zambian people.
Since President Lungu’s rise to power in 2014, he has used the organs of the state to intimidate his political opponents and consolidate power for his Patriotic Front party. Freedom House rates Zambia as only ‘partly free,’ citing laws and government actions which have had the effect of restricting the activities of opposition parties, limiting civil society participation, and curbing free expression. Similarly, the U.S. Department of State, in its 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, noted ‘significant human rights issues’ in Zambia, particularly in the area of elections and political participation.
In March, the Zambian political analyst Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa published an essay in which he warned that ‘Zambia may burn after the August elections.’ He wrote that the public’s distrust of Zambia’s institutions and the ruthless competition between its political elites had contributed to a climate of fear and anger that could plunge the country into chaos. The subversion of the independence of the courts and other public institutions has led to a lack of confidence. Credible allegations of corruption and impunity have been made against leaders. A collapsing economy, mismanaged by President Lungu to the point of defaulting on its foreign loans, has resulted in mass youth unemployment and rising inequality. Dr. Sishuwa also noted Western countries’ declining assistance to Zambia and their silence on its democratic backsliding. He painted a vivid image of a once-peaceful and prosperous country on the brink of calamity. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Zambian police began investigating Dr. Sishuwa for sedition shortly after the essay’s publication.
Indeed, political violence has already arrived on the streets of Zambia. Fighting between supporters of the PF and the opposition United Party for National Development left at least two people dead last week. Troops have been mobilized to restore order, but Zambian security forces have also been accused of using deadly force against peaceful protesters.
The United States has a clear interest in ensuring that Zambia remains a free and stable country. We have provided approximately $500 million in assistance to Zambia every year. At a time of increasing instability in Southern Africa, with unrest in South Africa and Eswatini, crackdowns in Zimbabwe, a brutal insurgency in Mozambique, the region cannot afford Zambia’s collapse. We know that instability anywhere has a rippling effect that impacts U.S. interests and our allies.
Moreover, Zambia presents a test for the Biden administration’s commitment to promoting and protecting democracy abroad. I encourage the administration to more address Zambia’s democratic backsliding. I hope that is corrected before elections commence. We should be clear with President Lungu that the United States does not tolerate authoritarianism and that the generosity of the American people is not without limits. The United States should increase support for Zambian civil-society and democracy and governance programming in Zambia. Finally, the Biden administration can demonstrate its commitment to the bilateral relationship by nominating a skilled and experienced diplomat to serve as ambassador to Zambia.
While the United States stands with the Zambian people, ultimately, responsibility for Zambia’s democratic decline lies squarely with President Lungu and his government. In the short term, President Lungu must commit to holding free and fair elections on August 12 and ensure transparency in the process by permitting election monitors to observe the vote without restrictions. He must also publicly commit to accept the outcome of the election, and step aside should he lose. Regardless of the outcome, the PF, UPND, and all other parties must work together to restore the integrity and independence of public institutions, end impunity for state violence, and address corruption. They must do this by partnering with civil society, restoring freedom of the press, and respecting civil liberties. They must accept that dissent and protest are not a threat to their power, but rather proof of a healthy polity.
This will be a long and difficult process which will test the courage and patriotism of Zambia’s elites. Next week’s elections may be the first step towards Zambia’s renewal or else the next step towards its ruin. Perhaps President Lungu can take inspiration from Kenneth Kaunda’s final act of leadership and put his country before his own political interests.”
VERNON Mwaanga has observed that this Thursday’s elections will not meet international standards of free and fair because the ruling party has been blocking the opposition from campaigning freely.
On Saturday, opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema was denied air permit by the Zambia Air Force to land on the Copperbelt for campaigns.
According to security wings, President Edgar Lungu was also on the Copperbelt, so having two rival parties could have caused a clash.
But Mwaanga, a freedom fighter and veteran politician, condemned the PF manoeuvres.
“The Copperbelt is a large province, which has the capacity to accommodate President Lungu and other opposition leaders to campaign peacefully in different parts of the same province. During the days of the original MMD government, we used to campaign in the same province with the late president of PF Mr Michael Sata,” he said in a statement. “Where has the law come from which says that when the Republican President is campaigning, no other presidential candidates should campaign there? This is absurd, is one of the reasons why these forthcoming elections, cannot and will not meet international standards of free, fair, transparent and democratic.”
He said despite the campaigns being subdued by the pandemic, the opposition have also been treated unfairly by the ruling party.
“Election campaigns have been subdued due to restrictions. We have also witnessed the grossly unfair treatment of opposition leaders, particularly the UPND Alliance presidential candidate Hakainde Hichilema and his Alliance partners who have from time to time been denied air service permits to fly to various provinces in chartered private aircraft,” Mwaanga added. “Only today (Saturday), I saw a twit by Alliance presidential candidate Hakainde Hichilema, to the effect that his rightfully issued air service permit to fly to the Copperbelt had been suddenly cancelled on grounds that the President, Edgar Lungu would be campaigning on the Copperbelt.”
Mwaanga however encouraged citizens to turn up in large numbers and vote.
He also rubbished sponsored opinion polls which he said had no basis at all.
“Our citizens who registered as voters should peacefully turn-up in large numbers and exercise their constitutional right to vote for their preferred presidential candidate, member of parliament and local councillor,” he said further. “Discredited sponsored opinion polls have been published, which must be totally ignored and treated with the contempt they more than deserve. This presidential election will be very close, but in the final analysis, this should be left to the voters and voters alone. The outcome should represent the genuine will of the people of Zambia.”
And Mwaanga said there should be no interference with the vote.
He also warned some presidential candidate who were planning to withdraw at the last minute and cause a postponement.
“Party polling agents must be alert and the same goes for monitors and international observers, who must ensure that there is no manipulation or interference of the electoral process right up to the announcement stage. There should be no attempt to interfere with the electoral process by anyone. ECZ must show a high degree of impartiality so that it enhances the confidence level of those taking part in the elections,” Mwaanga urged.
“There has been talk of some presidential candidates wanting to withdraw or resign from their political parties at the last minute and cause a postponement of the Presidential Elections. This would be irresponsible and dangerous. It would anger the voters and those responsible would be treated as traitors and would incur the wrath of the voters and the people of Zambia as a whole.”
He said ballot papers had been printed at high cost, so nothing should happen to disrupt the presidential elections on August 12.
MONGU Diocese Bishop Evans Chinyama Chinyemba says the Electoral Commission of Zambia should have foreseen that many students will not be in the centres where they registered and should have come up with another way to address this challenge.
In the diocesan online magazine – Drum Beat, August edition – From The Bishop’s desk, Bishop Chinyemba said the 2021 elections were a challenge to students’ exercise of democracy.
“Most of you registered in the centres of your colleges and universities as you expected you would be in residence by the time of elections. Most of you are first time voters and you had hoped to participate in these elections. Now that colleges and universities are closed, I am aware that some of you will be financially constrained and unable to travel back to your respective colleges or universities in order to cast your ballot,” he said. “We are aware of the predicament you find yourselves in. It is my opinion that ECZ should have foreseen that many students will not be in the centres where they registered, and should have come up with another way to address this challenge.”
He said the August 12 elections should reflect a mature electorate who cast their ballot with responsibility for the wellbeing and future good of the nation.
“May your vote speak for the many young people and others who are unable to vote because of age and other circumstances beyond their control,” he said. “As a way of introduction to this edition; I begin this Drumbeat reflection by quoting William McElvaney when, in describing the artistic works of Yaacov Agam writes: ‘The particular work by Agam in our home is a reticulated lithography called Undersea Rainbow. It consists of many circles and interacting shapes of varying colour. The viewer does not look into a fixed, static scene, but rather participates in the art to become a part of the art. As the viewer moves, colors and forms change according to the viewer’s shifting position and points of view. In other words, what you see depends on where you stand…Undersea Rainbow has yet more to suggest. Even though it draws us into its rich movement and color on its own terms, the whole truth of the matter is that what we see depends on our point of viewing’… Banabahesu, where have you been standing in the past few years and in the past few months? Where do you stand right now in order to view what is happening around you? Where do you wish to stand in the next few days so that you understand the situation of the country?”
Bishop Chinyemba said this month Zambia stands at the threshold of the nation’s general elections.
“We are a democratic nation that elects our leaders through the ballot box by casting our vote. What kind of leadership do you want? Where do you stand on the Undersea Rainbow of Zambian politics? Your position of viewing the country prompts you to go and line up and vote. Just like the Undersea Rainbow, standing at a certain position you will see things differently,” he said. “As you stand before the Undersea Rainbow of Zambian politics, do you see yourself having benefited so that you have become prosperous, wealthy, powerful, empowered, wanting for nothing? Will this experience determine how you cast your vote? Before you cast your ballot, ask yourself; how is my neighbour doing economically and socially? Conscience speaks to you, guides you and challenges you in these few days remaining before we go to the polls.”
Bishop Chinyemba said on the other hand, as Zambians stand before the Undersea Rainbow of Zambian politics, and their life experience had been one of poverty, deprivation, powerlessness, suffering, illness and harassment, their vote would reflect their experience.
“How will your vote reflect what you see around you? Banabahesu, you can no longer stand there and continue criticising government, you have a right to vote and change that which you feel is not right. Again, conscience speaks to you and directs your steps,” he said.
He told politicians that having gone round the country and constituencies and addressed various political meetings and other forms of gatherings they now know what shape the country was in.
Bishop Chinyemba said in such meetings and gathering, they were privileged to address many people.
“Are the people you met in all those meetings happy? Are they contented? Are they encouraged by your words and promises? Have you encountered people who are desperate, hungry, illiterate, and impoverished? Did you see the marks of pain and suffering and anxiety written on their faces? As aspiring leaders, what vision and hope can you hold up to such a people? In Philippians 2:4 we find these words, ‘Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.’ The masses of people who came to your meetings are the others Paul is referring to in this verse,” he said. “As each election year comes around, very often we seem unprepared. Zambians have to argue about the process of registration of voters. We begin talking about issues of obtaining National Registration Cards. Another challenge we seem to struggle with is the recruitment of poll staff, at times abandoning the prescribed regulation of how such staff should be recruited. In many cases the nation has problems with the management of election results to the discouragement of the electorate.”
Bishop Chinyemba wondered what election officers see when they stand in front of the Undersea Rainbow of Zambian elections.
“You as election officers are the custodians of people’s hopes and aspirations during the election,” he said.
Bishop Chinyemba said to stand before the Undersea Rainbow of Zambian politics and elections called on everyone to examine their consciences.
“Banabahesu, you are not just members of the Church, you are also ‘faithful citizens’ who are motivated by faith and gospel values which Christ died for. To all Catholics and people of good will, I offer this teaching of the Catechism of Catholic Church no.1778 [which] states, ‘Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognises the moral quality of a concrete act that he/she is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed,” said Bishop Chinyemba. “In all he/she says and does, is obliged to follow faithfully what he/she knows to be just and right.’ Banabahesu, today it is not my duty to tell you how to and for whom you should vote. Mine is to help you reflect on your experiences and form your consciences in accord with God’s will. Recognising that the responsibility to make choices in political life rests with each individual in the light of a properly formed conscience, I call upon you to go out and vote. After all it is your civic duty.”
ZIIMA says the PF are seeking to bring a conflict between UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema and The Mast over their cloning of the newspaper.
On Saturday, PF agents cloned The Mast and put their own headline which they circulated online and later printed in hard copy.
Zambia Institute of Independent Media Alliance (ZIIMA) president Jajah Coulibaly said it was clear that the PF had no message for the voters.
“We have observed with much regret the reported cloning of one of Zambia’s leading privately owned newspapers, THE MAST, by suspected PF agents to suit their appetite for toxic hate speech. The said publication under headline, HH IS A SATANIST, has potential to draw the media house into unnecessary conflict with the UPND and the party president Mr Hakainde Hichilema in person,” he said in a statement yesterday. “We realise that most politicians from the PF have no agenda and message in this campaign. They have tried to muzzle the media and now they have started cloning newspapers. They did this to News Diggers within this year and circulated it online. And now they have moved to The Mast. We wonder which private newspaper they will target next. This is absurdity that deserves strong reprimand.”
He said it was shameful that the ruling party could go to such levels of desperation.
“We agree with THE MAST that the charlatans must clone their own publications. It’s indeed a shame that the ruling party can go to such levels after sensing an impending heavy defeat in elections. We expect the police to investigate the people doing this and arrest them without delay,” Coulibaly added. “Even with a disclaimer from THE MAST Newspaper, some known PF surrogates have continued to circulate the illegality in social media platforms. The worst is that they even went to the extent of printing the same cloned publication in hard copy which they distributed in selected parts of Lusaka and the Copperbelt.”
And Coulibaly has urged the Electoral Commission of Zambia to accredit all deserving journalists for this Thursday’s general election.
He said it was wrong that the Commission could segregate by leaving out some media institutions when they were accrediting.
“On the other hand, we wish to condemn the Electoral Commission of Zambia for their biased accreditation of media houses to the results centre. As a referee in this election, ECZ should have accredited journalists from all media institutions. It is not good for them to play politics with the media as if they are a political party,” said Coulibaly. “We know that they are under pressure from PF, but such illegal acts give credence to claims that they have a scheme to bar objective media houses and journalists from the results centre, specifically to manipulate the flow of accurate information. We fail to understand how mainstream media can be denied accreditation in preference for PF propagandist blogs! This act will complicate the standing of the ECZ after the elections. We therefore implore the electoral body to reconsider their position and accredit all those media institutions they denied accreditation.”
SPIRITUAL WARFARE WITH RESPECT TO THE 12 AUGUST 2021 ELECTIONS
By Dr Fred Mutesa
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12 NLT).
We have begun a week of heightened spiritual warfare over the destiny of our nation because of the general elections due on August 12th, 2021. Elections are a means of deciding who holds power in the nation. Who holds power in the nation has influence over souls of men.
The Bible teaches that “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan”(Proverbs 29:2 NKJV). The Bible also teaches us that God delights to see justice, righteousness and compassion in the earth (Jeremiah 9:24). These scriptures should guide us as we choose leaders to lead Zambia over the next five years.
According to the scriptures, God created the nations of the earth for a purpose, never mind the agency by which they came into being. We read that, “…He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us”(Acts 17:26-27 NKJV).
The devil opposes the work of God in the earth. The Lord Jesus Christ put it this way: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly”(John 10:10 NKJV).
We see therefore that the time of elections is a decisive moment in which there is a serious contestation for power in the unseen realm. We have a choice through the ballot to determine under which social order we are going to live.
Both God and the devil need human agency to carry out their wills in the earth. God has power to override human will, but He has elected to give man free will to make his choices. The devil, on the other hand, works on manipulating, deceiving and imprisoning the souls of men so that they do not exercise free will.
What we often see in the physical realm is a reenactment of what has been configured in the spiritual realm. The spirit world rules the physical world. Good or evil is determined by what men yield their lives to.
We see the influence of the spirit world on the physical clearly illustrated in Daniel’s encounter with arch angel Gabriel (Daniel 10). Gabriel told Daniel that he had met with resistance on his way to bring him God’s message in response to his prayer. A spiritual entity called the prince of Persia had opposed him, until arch angel Michael came to his aid.
Persia was a physical kingdom with real men in authority. But over it was a demonic principality called the prince of Persia that influenced life in the kingdom. For the demonic entity to execute its mandate, it needed the cooperation of the human agency of those in authority. Hence the scripture in Proverbs 29:2 above that tells us that “when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” This is what our key scripture for today is telling us. Conflicts and misunderstandings between men is the work of unseen forces.
I am putting it to you, ladies and gentlemen, that this election is not about economic development or the lack thereof; it is about control of the soul of Zambia! Either we are free men and women with collective control over the destiny of Zambia or we are prisoners of divisive forces who profit from the misery of the nation. We make the choice which direction we take.
What are the characteristics of the prince of Zambia who rules over our nation from the spiritual realm? You just need to look at the vices that attend our political system to get your answer.
Political violence, false scales in the application of justice, corruption, ritual murders, gassings, false religion, tribalism, hate speech and deception, to mention only a few; these are the works of the devil. Remember, he comes to steal, kill and destroy. He is also a liar. But the devil can’t implement his agenda without the cooperation of human agency.
This election therefore is about dealing with the spiritual climate in our nation. It is about deciding on what is important in God’s sight; righteousness, justice and compassion. As we scrutinize candidates at various levels, these are the credentials we should be looking at.
Believers have a duty to use their spiritual weapons to demolish strongholds. Strongholds are polluted mindsets that are captive to the devil’s devices. We need to pray that the people vote with their consciences and not any other influences. Conscience is the ability to distinguish between evil and good. It takes discernment to see beyond the veneer of lies and false promises. Believers must also pray that the plots of the enemy against the redemptive destiny of our nation will not succeed. If with a clear conscience you think Zambia is fine as it is, retain the leaders that we have had over the last five years.
If, on the other hand, you are dissatisfied with where the nation is, elect new leaders who you are convinced will be an upgrade over the current ones. Zambia is a nation covenanted to God, but this should not just be mere words, but more importantly deeds. If we choose good over evil, God will fight for us and deliver our nation from all the ills we have come to detest.
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu’s ‘backbone’ Innocent Kalimanshi has been hindered from participating in Thursday’s general election, as the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court has declined to try him on drug related charges using a repealed law.
Magistrate Stanford Ngobola could not try Kalimanshi who was taken to court around 16:00 hours on Monday for possessing cannabis under the new Act.
The narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances Act No.35 of 2021 has stiffened the law on drug trafficking and possession of psychotropic substances.
The Act has been repealed and the next minister of home affairs is yet to sign the Statutory Instrument which indicates the quantity of drugs that will substantiate the charge of possessing psychotropic substances, which now attracts a minimum sentence of one year.
The implication of allowing Kalimanshi and his co-accused to take plea under the said charge was that they would have been released on bail pending trial.
Kalimanshi is facing charges of possessing psychotropic substances, and using a mother vehicle to commit an offence under the Narcotic drugs Act.
His co-accused are charged with possessing psychotropic substances and possessing offensive weapons.
Allegations in the first count are that Titus Phiri, Nkandu Mundubi, Andrew Monde, Melvin Sichinga and Emmanuel Mwape on July 23, 2021 had in their possession 95.3 grams of cannabis, a product of cannabis sativa without lawful authority.
In the second count, Monde allegedly possessed 36.0 grams of cannabis.
In the third count, Kalimanshi on July 23, 2021 allegedly possessed 2.0 grams and unlawfully used a motor vehicle, an unregistered Nissan Fairlady for purpose of committing an offence under the Narcotic drug and psychotropic substances Act No.35 of 2021.
It is alleged in count five that Lameck Tembo, Ammon Simwanza, Keron Mwewa, Amon Banda, Lackson Phiri, Chola Chishimba, Moses Mwaba, Steven Ndawa, Matthew Phiri, Saidi Mumba, Mtendere Mwanza, Musonda Bwalya, Alick Daka, Steven Simpala, Peter Nkhoma, Peter Ngoma, Oscar Chinga, Musa Chanda, Given Kokwa, Simon Mkandawire Aaron Mumba, Emmanuel Mwape and Patrick Mulenga on July 23, 2021 possessed 19 axe handles and five machetes without lawful authority.
Before the accused could take plea, magistrate Ngobola wondered why Kalimanshi’s co-accused were not charged with trafficking due to the quantity of drugs.
Magistrate Ngobola asked the State why the accused were charged with possessing psychotropic substances because the stipulated quantity of drugs under the that charge was 0.3 grams.
State advocate Sipholiano Phiri told the court that the Statutory Instrument under the Act which stated the amount of drugs to support the charge of possessing psychotropic substances had not yet been signed by the Ministry of Home Affairs as parliament was dissolved prior to the elections.
The accused’s lawyer Osborne Ngoma subscribed to the explanation by Phiri.
Magistrate Ngobolo said since the Statutory Instrument had not been signed, the accused ought to be tried under Statutory Instrument No.119 of 1995 which was still in force.
He reserved ruling for Monday, August 16 on whether or not he will try the accused persons under the repealed law or whether the charges should be amended.
Kalimanshi, who is the commander of a rebellious group of PF youths known as ‘Americans’, was apprehended by the Drug Enforcement Commission together with his ‘troops’ following a raid at their illegal barrack.
This followed reports by members of the public that the delinquent group had engaged in illicit drug activities, and was terrorising Chawama compound and mounting illegal road blocks.
Khaby is closing in on Charli D’Amelio’s 122 million TikTok followers.
Khaby Lame has become the second person to pass the 100 million follower mark on TikTok.
One month ago, the 21-year-old Senegalese social media star who lives in Italy, made headlines as he overtook Addison Rae to become the second most followed TikTok star.
On July 5th, Khaby hit 83 million followers, racing past Addison’s 81 million. On August 9th 2021, just 35 days later (!), Khaby has now reached an impressive 100 million followers, making him the second TikTok star to surpass the milestone behind Charli D’Amelio.
Khaby is now one step closer to overtaking Charli as TikTok’s most followed user, and, at the rate that his follower count is rising, it’s looking likely that he might be able to achieve it.
After hitting 100 million followers, Khaby is now 22 million away from Charli D’Amelio’s current record.
Back in November 2020, Charli D’Amelio became the first TikTok user to pass 100 million followers. The star gained 50 million followers in seven months, after hitting the 50 million mark in April 2020.
Prior to hitting that 100 million milestone, Charli actually lost 1 million followers amid backlash to a ‘Dinner With The D’Amelio’s’ YouTube video. Before the drop in followers, Charli had gained more than 700,000 followers in three days, according to Social Blade. Of course, Charli eventually gained them back and hit the milestone.
She now currently has 122 million followers.
ccording to Khaby’s Social Blade stats, the creator gained a whopping 500,000 new followers in 24 hours. In the last 30 days, he’s gained 12.5 million followers. Social Blade also states that the average amount of daily follows that Khaby is getting is around 416,667.
As shown by live follower count, Khaby hit 99.9 million followers at 11:00 AM BST on August 9th. He reached 100 million at 1:15 PM BST, just 2 hours and 15 minutes later.
100,000 new followers in just over 2 hours? King of TikTok!
Who are the Top 5 most followed TikTok accounts?
As of August 2021, Charli D’Amelio is still the most followed user on TikTok.
Charli D’Amelio – 121.9 million
Khaby Lame – 100 million
Addison Rae – 82.3 million
Bella Poarch – 77.9 million
Zach King – 63 million
I Couldn’t Betray My Father By Attending His Burial At A ‘Parking Lot’ – Kaweche Kaunda.
Son to late first Republican President, Kaweche Kaunda, has explained that he does not regret not attending the burial procession of his father, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda at Embassy Park in Lusaka on the 7th of July 2021.
Speaking during a courtesy call meeting by The Movement Magazine Chief Executive Officer, Namwezi Namwinga along with the Magazine Executive Editor, Chimweka Chileshe at his State Lodge residence, Mr. Kaunda said he couldn’t attend the service at the Cathedral because he was also disappointed by the Church leaders’ approval to go ahead.
“I had spoken with the Church leaders advising them to not ahead and bless the burial site that the old man (Dr. Kaunda) didn’t want to be buried at. They understood when we discussed, but to my surprise, everything went on contrary to what was discussed with some of them,” Kaweche said.
“I used to spend a lot of time with my father and he made it clear, even in writing to Government, that he didn’t want to be buried at that parking lot that hasn’t even been legally declared a Presidential burial site. Even after my brother (Col. Panji Kaunda) wrote a letter to Cabinet Office for KK’s wish to be honored, they eventually managed to convince my brother somehow that it was legal and I didn’t want to fight with him in public. However, I do represent a good number of my family members who weren’t happy with the decision to burry him there. Bishop Trevor Mwamba is the only clergy man there who reiterated my dad’s wish to be buried next to his late wife.”
Kaweche Kaunda added that even the moving of Dr. Kenneth Kaunda’s body across the ten provinces of the country was not the family’s wish, but they compromised on it with the family agreement to not compromise on the burial plan next to the late Betty Kaunda, something that even Col. Panji Kaunda agreed to initially.
“There’s a good number of people who also couldn’t attend because they knew the burial at Embassy Park was not my father’s wish. Former Heads of State like Thabo Mbeki knew his burial wish and he didn’t attend. Even President Chissano called to express concern over the same before attending as the only former Head of State.”
In reaction to opinions that President Kaunda was state property therefore the state had the right to choose his place of burial, Kaweche Kaunda disagreed stating that his father was only state property until his death when he then became family property.
“Even when you speak with lawyers, they will tell you that after his death he was no longer state property, but that of us – his family. Besides, had he been buried around here next to mom, we would have given up that land as public property. The idea was to honor his wish that he kept talking about, even to some of his staff. If you ask them they’ll tell you. Even when we drove passed that place (Embassy Park), he made it clear.
During the courtesy call meeting, Mr. Kaunda also commended The Movement Magazine for honoring his father’s legacy through the latest issue launched on the 31st of July 2021. He also reacted to the leading headline, ‘Who Was KK Supporting for The 2021 Elections?’ saying his father was deliberately kept away from the news sometimes, but when he came across a story of national interest, he would always give a neutral opinion regardless of who the individual in question was.
GOVERNMENT REITERATES ITS CALL FOR RESPONSIBLE USE OF THE INTERNET AS THE COUNTRY GOES TO THE POLLS
Government has reiterated its call for responsible use of the internet as the country heads towards elections on August 12.
Government will not hesitate to invoke the relevant legal provisions if some people decide to abuse the internet to peddle falsehoods that could destabilise the country during this time of elections.
Information and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Amos Malupenga says Government has a duty to ensure peace and stability are maintained and will not allow any breakdown of law and order.
“Government, therefore, expects citizens to use the internet responsibly. But if some people choose to abuse the internet to mislead and misinform, Government will not hesitate to invoke relevant legal provisions to forestall any breakdown of law and order as the country passes through the election period,” Mr. Malupenga said.
Mr. Malupenga was speaking when he handed over a video camera and a mobile phone to a Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) reporter based in Ikeleng’i District in North-Western Province, Victor Mwila, who was attacked by alleged UPND cadres in his course of duty in the area.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services bought the items as a replacement of the same that were stolen from Mr. Mwila during the attack.
On political violence, Mr. Malupenga observed that President Edgar Lungu’s decision to deploy the military personnel to support the Zambia Police in maintaining security is bearing fruit.
He said Government is happy that since the military were deployed, there have been no serious incidences of violence.
And Mr. Malupenga said the Ministry decided to replace the video camera and mobile phone that were stolen from Mr. Mwila in order to avoid disruption in his reportorial work especially this time when electoral activities are at their peak ahead of the August 12 General Elections.
“I wish to send a strong warning out there, however, that the law will not spare anyone that harasses the media in the course of their duties. The freedom and safety of the media to inform, educate and entertain the public is to be respected and upheld by all, as guaranteed in the laws of the land,” said Mr. Malupenga.
Mr. Mwila thanked Government and fellow media practitioners for the support during the traumatic ordeal he went through.
On 23rd July, 2021, Mr. Mwila, while on duty, was attacked by alleged UPND cadres.
During the attack Mr. Mwila suffered serious physical injuries in which a video camera, a mobile phone and some money were also stolen from him.
Issued by:
Press and Public Relations Unit
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES
9th August, 2021.
The United States has warned that it will hold accountable politicians and individuals perpetrating violence to undermine Zambia’s electoral process.
United States Charge’d’ Affairs David Young has said his country is a friend of democracy in Zambia and around the world and would therefore hold accountable any individuals who promote violence, undermine electoral process and engage in corrupt behavior.
Mr Young said Zambia had a commendable record of democratic elections and that his country would continue to engage all stakeholders to work for free and fair elections.
He said in a statement that the United States would continue engaging the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to support a transparent electoral process that included counting, observing, reporting, and publicly announcing results.
“Zambia has a commendable record of democratic elections. As we approach August 12, I want to urge Zambian citizens to do your patriotic duty and vote for the candidate of your choice. Shun violence. Support the democratic electoral process. We will hold accountable any individuals who promote violence, undermine electoral processes, engage in fraudulent or corrupt behavior, or otherwise violate democratic rights and the foundations of free elections,” Mr Young said.
The United States envoy to Zambia stated that his country in concert with other donors has been funding and offering technical assistance to strengthen ECZ elections administration.
He said the USA has been involved in stakeholder management, voter education and enables civil society organisations to undertake nationwide monitoring and observation of key electoral processes, including the polling day.
“When these efforts to support democracy do not work and fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms are violated, the United States can and does apply visa restrictions, travel bans and financial sanctions. We apply these measures because we are serious about our commitment to human rights and democratic principles,” Mr Young said.
He said that Zambia’s elections which come on Thursday provided an opportunity for Zambians to have their say in how their country should be run.
Mr Young explained that the Thursday general elections were a competitive contest election and that the United States believed that results could defy polling opinion polls.
“We have seen media reports claiming one side or the other will win, but such polling does not guarantee how voters will freely vote on Election Day,” Mr Young said. -Munati Television
Statement by U.S. Embassy Lusaka Chargé d’Affaires David Young
Democratic Elections in Zambia
LUSAKA– The United States is a friend of Democracy in Zambia and around the world. We support a free, fair, transparent, and peaceful democratic process. We support Zambia’s democratic process. The U.S. Government stands arm in arm with Zambian people and all people around the world in working for and protecting democracy.
The national elections that will occur on Thursday provide an opportunity for Zambians to have their say in how their country is run. This is a competitive election, and as we have seen in the United States, results can defy polling. We have seen media reports claiming one side or the other will win, but such polling does not guarantee how voters will freely vote on Election Day. Elections depend on turnout and dedication as well as officials dedicated to democracy and upholding the democratic process and the will of the people.
The United States Government supports democracy and democracy defenders in a wide variety of ways. We engage in private diplomacy with government, opposition, civil society and church organizations, among others. We engage in public diplomacy by communicating to the media issues of concern and support for the democratic process. We provide funding and programs to support democracy and elections. In Zambia, U.S. funding, in concert with other donors, provides technical assistance to strengthen ECZ elections administration, stakeholder management, and voter education, and enables civil society organizations to undertake nationwide monitoring and observation of key electoral processes, including election day polling, and to develop and implement advocacy strategies to strengthen the election system.
When these efforts to support democracy do not work and fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms are violated, the United States can and does apply visa restrictions, travel bans and financial sanctions. We apply these measures because we are serious about our commitment to human rights and democratic principles. We will hold accountable any individuals who promote violence, undermine electoral processes, engage in fraudulent or corrupt behavior, or otherwise violate democratic rights and the foundations of free elections.
Zambia has a commendable record of democratic elections. As we approach August 12, I want to urge Zambian citizens to do your patriotic duty and vote for the candidate of your choice. Shun violence. Support the democratic electoral process.
We will continue to engage all to work for a free and fair vote. We will continue engaging with ECZ to support a transparent process that includes counting, observing, reporting, and publicly announcing results along the way, constituency by constituency so that we can continue building confidence in the electoral system and process.
I want to make it clear that there should be no intimidation of voters by cadre groups from either party. The police and military should apply the law equally and humanely in defense of the safety and fundamental right of Zambian citizens to vote and participate in the democratic process, including the fundamental freedoms of speech and assembly. These are internationally guaranteed human rights that Zambia supports and has signed on to in the UN and other international treaties.
On August 12 and the days following, the eyes of all Zambians, and indeed the world, will be watching the actions and the words of Zambia’s candidates, party leaders, cadre mobilizers, police and military officers, and representatives of the state and quasi-independent organizations that conduct elections, rule in the courts, and administer the law. You carry the very weight of your nation’s democratic history and its future on your shoulders.
KBF AND LLOYD KAZIYA UNTRUSTWORTHY – SUNDAY CHANDA SAYS
Kanchibiya Monday 9 August 2021 (Smart Eagles)
The “marriage” between KBF and Former Minister of water development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection Lloyd Kaziya is based on frustration and anger towards the PF for not giving the duo attention they wanted because of they are failures, PF Kanchibiya Constituency Parliamentary candidate Sunday Chanda has charged.
The duo featured on Mpika FM a fortnight ago and attacked Republican President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and the Patriotic Front.
The pair has been seen going round the country discrediting President Edgar Lungu and the PF while praising the opposition when not too long ago they were doing the exact opposite.
Mr. Chanda said Mr Fube just a few months ago was rubbishing other opposition parties saying they have no manifesto and if they “had sense” would learn from him, who has written a book that he intended to use as a manifesto as Zambia’s President.
He wonders what manifesto the opposition alliance is using to campaign as all the members have in the past rubbished others’ campaigns for lack of a plan or a manifesto.
The former media director of the ruling party has also charged that the pair are where they are today because no one has confidence in them to deliver anything tangible for the benefit of Zambia.
He says Mr Kaziya who is former Matero Constituency Member of Parliament failed to do his work both as a parliamentarian and Minister of water development and sanitation.
“When Mr Kaziya was MP, material became the least developed Constituency in Lusaka while other Constituencies were developing, it even got to a point where the people had no respect for him that even councillors were disrespecting him and justifiably because he failed to perform.”
He said that in his portfolio as minister of water development and sanitation, Mr. Kaziya failed miserably that President Edgar Lungu had to fire him because of incompetence and replaced him with Dr. Wanchinga and the difference begun to be seen immediately.
“He should not come here and talk about collective responsibility when in his own capacity he has failed to perform on so many levels.” He said.
And Mr Chanda says likewise KBF is another person that is frustrated because he has been power hungry without showing any qualities worth betting presidency on.
He says Mr. Fube was bent on being on the ballot paper this year that he tried to use whatever method he could to try and become president of the Patriotic Front but was denied because he does not possess any leadership qualities to hold such a respectable position.
“KBF claimed that he knew the vision of his Excellency President Michael Sata- MHSRIP and wanted to use that claim to ascend to party leadership but we all know what President Sata did before his passing.
President Sata had to call for President Edgar Lungu to come and act as president along with being Secretary General of the party, Minister of Defence and Minister of Justice, if that alone is not an indication of a parent placing an inheritance on someone then I don’t know what sort of African culture Mr. Fube knows.” Mr. Chanda said.
President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is the number one tribalist in Zambia, UPND Alliance partner and Zambia Must Prosper (ZMP) movement leader, Kelvin Fube Bwalya, has said.
Mr. Bwalya said the tribal crusade that is being spewed out in the Northern part of Zambia against the Tonga speaking people of Southern Province by Chishimba Kambwili and Godfrey Bwalya Mwamba is a
political scheme engineered by President Lungu.
Speaking live on radio Mano in Kasama yesterday, Mr. Bwalya said President Lungu was the waste tribalist in present Zambia.
Mr. Bwalya, who is popularly known as KBF said Mr. Kambwili is a caged messenger, unleashed to win the Bemba vote for Mr. Lungu using tribalism against UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema and the people of Southern Province.
“I came to know about President Lungu’s tribal traits when I was the Patriotic Front (PF) elections committee vice chairperson.
President Lungu used to write letters to the committee, stopping the distribution of campaign materials in Southern, Western and North- Western Provinces because the three provinces were supporting a Tonga speaking presidential candidate,” Mr. Bwalya revealed.
Mr. Bwalya further alleged that President Lungu, an Easterner, was using Bemba speaking individuals to wage a political tribal war against the Tonga speaking people, a scheme he described as dangerous for the country.
He warned that President’s Lungu’s tribal crusade against the Tonga speaking people could plunge the country into a tribal conflict as seen other countries.
He appealed to Zambians across the country vote for the UPND Alliance presidential candidate in order to stop the tribalism which Mr. Lungu is perpetuating.
“When I realised that President Lungu had resorted to promoting tribalism as a strategy to win this election, I embarked on a mission to speak with my colleagues in other political parties with a view to save our country from the fast -emerging tribal divisions.
“I spoke to Mr. Felix Mutati, Dr. Ernest Mwansa, Mr. Kaluba Simuyemba, Harry Kalaba, among others, to see how best we can bring the country together as one Zambia one nation and as espoused by our first Republican President Dr. Kenneth Kaunda,” said Mr. Bwalya
“This tribal crusade that Mr. Kambwili has embarked on is President Lungu’s programme to alienate the Tonga speaking people from participating in the political governance of Zambia ” he said.
Mr. Bwalya feared that should President Lungu be allowed to win the Thursday election, Zambia would plunge into tribal anarchy.
He said Chishimba Kambwili was President Lungu’s project to spew tribal hate against the Tongas, specifically Mr. Hichilema.
He said the purpose of the UPND Alliance and the Zambia We Want (ZWW) working together was to unite the country across tribal lines.
Mr. Bwalya defended Mr. Hakainde Hichilema against all forms of tribal politics, noting that the UPND Alliance presidential candidate had followers in all the 10 provinces of Zambia.
He said Bemba speaking people were the majority in the UPND national management committee, unlike President Lungu’s central committee which was dominated by people from Eastern and northern regions.
He appealed to all Zambians to embrace one another regardless of where they hail from in order to promote unit.
Later in the day, Mr. Bwalya and his entourage joined UPND Alliance parliamentary candidate for Lukashya constituency, Davies Mulenga, in the distribution of face masks. Thousands of Lukashya residents scrambled to catch a glimpse of the outspoken politician.
PF IS WINNING BIG: REJECTS GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY- SG
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) Secretary General Davies Mwila says the PF will win elections by 10 hours and there would be no re- run.
Mr. Mwila said there would be no Government of National Unity.
“Presidency is very serious business and we need President Lungu who has 7 years of experience. He is the only one who has condemned violence, but the opposition has never done that,” he said.
The PF Secretary General said the opposition realised that it had no numbers to win the August national polls thereby resorting to institutions of governance such as the Electoral Commission of Zambia, Zambia Police Service and the judiciary to discredit the outcome of the elections.
“Zambians must stand up and vote out political parties that promoted violence. Zambia is a Christian Nation and all need to condemn violence. It is unfortunate that the country continued to witness terrible acts of political violence, perpetrated by the UPND. We condemn the killing of two PF members by UPND criminals in Kanyama Constituency in Lusaka,” Mr. Mwila said.
He said this when he addressed a virtual rally in Lusaka today.
Mr. Mwila said President Lungu protected jobs after taking over Mopani Copper Mines and Konkola Copper Mines warning that the opposition received bribes to sell KCM again.
“The PF Government through the ZCCM- IH last week set aside 12 Million Kwacha to clear outstanding terminal benefits to over 5000 miners, at Mopani,” the PF Secretary General said.
Mr. Mwila said the PF government also cleared similar amounts of terminal benefits to over 3, 500 miners at KCM.
“The PF Government lifted the debt burden of civil servants by entering into a Debt Swap with financial institutions. PF Government would clear outstanding arrears to civil servants, swap their debts and shift their liabilities to the Public Service Micro Finance Company which charges far lower interest rates,” Mr. Mwila said.
He said credible opinions released so far have predicted that President Lungu would win the elections.
“Credible entities by Zambian thought leaders have predicted a clear win for President Lungu. These surveys are from academic institutions who placed President Lungu at 60% win, Zambia Decides 2021 Survey, which placed President Lungu at 56%; research by two international think – tanks that predicted President Lungu would win by 56.8%; Africa Confidential predicted that despite challenges Zambia was facing, President Lungu would win; the Economic Intelligence Unit which was a well respected global business magazine also predicted a clear win,” Mr. Mwila said.
He thanked President Lungu for the hardwork he put in the national campaign.
“The 2021 election campaign was difficult and different because of the pandemic but the PF has always adhered to health guidelines. It is for that reason that PF was using other ways of reaching out to the Zambian people such as door to door campaigns, road shows and virtual rallies,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PF Secretary General said the PF Government increased the number of public universities from three to seven namely Kapasa Makasa University, Palabana University, Kwame Nkrumah University, Michael Chilufya Sata Medical University, and Levy Mwanawasa Medical University.
“The PF Government has also built new technical and vocational colleges among them Mwense College, Kalabo Trades, Isoka Trades, Sesheke Trades, Lundazi Trades, Mporokoso and rehabilitation of Nkumbi College Lukashya Trades,” he said.
In the health sector, the Secretary General stated that the PF recorded success in the health sector after building five specialised hospitals.
“The PF Government has rolled out infrastructure development such as airports, roads, bridges, schools and hospitals to all parts of the Country without leaving anyone behind,” he said.
He said the PF Government built three international airports namely Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport, Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport and the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport.
“President Lungu is not segregative. He has taken infrastructure even to areas where he was not voted for. He has built Kazungula Bridge, Sioma Bridge, Mazabuka Road, Livingstone Bus Terminus. Today, Solwezi is done, Mansa- Luwingu, Luangwa – Mwami,” Mr. Mwila said.
He said in 2015, President Lungu found 250 000 beneficiaries but increased the number to one million people and recorded a bumper harvest.
“The PF Government has trained and recruited 25 000 health workers during it’s tenure,” Mr. Mwila said.
