PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu’s Copperbelt Province campaign manager Frank Ng’ambi has urged every Zambian to support President-elect Hakainde Hichilema because he is the people’s choice.
Ng’ambi says the PF lost elections because the electorate had just decided that they wanted an alternative leadership.
He believes that not all is lost for PF as they still have significant numbers in Parliament which he says should be respected.
In an interview, Ng’ambi said Zambians chose democracy as a way of governing “ourselves” and therefore the electorate chose Hichilema as the best candidate among the 16.
He said the decision of the voters should be respected and supported.
“…working with everybody regardless of their political divide, the magnanimity he has demonstrated that he has capacity to forgive,
capacity to pick up where to start from and ensure that his followers should not victimise anyone. That alone has given me confidence that
Zambia will continue experiencing growth and leadership,” Ng’ambi told The Mast.
The former Chifubu lawmaker who was controversially not readopted by the PF to defend his seat, also delved into the President-elect’s
acceptance speech.
“And it’s us as Zambians, out of what he said, talking about media freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of association. These are some of the things that we need as Zambians,” he said. “And besides that he wants to remove the cadreism. He doesn’t want to see cadres in bus stops. He doesn’t want to see cadres in markets. That speaks to providing an enabling environment where people are free and able to operate with their full rights.”
Ng’ambi also hailed Hichilema’s promise to restore the rule of law which had collapsed under the PF.
“And the other thing that came out so strongly was that he talked about governance under the rule of law where justice will prevail regardless of the political affiliation. These are what I would want him to put into practice so that those key pronouncements trickle down to law enforcement as well as those that supported him,” he said.
Asked why his party lost elections despite investing heavily in the exercise, Ng’ambi
said Zambians had just made their mind to have an alternative leadership.
“I must say that we campaigned as the Patriotic Front. President Lungu was very strong and a capable candidate for seven years, and the people
saw what the PF government had done. But I think that time just came for the people to look for an alternative leadership,” he said. “And it has come to pass and all of us we believe that we campaigned freely, and we had a message. The PF manifesto speaks to the expectations of the people.”
Ng’ambi said he stood ready to offer assistance to the new administration if he was consulted as a person who has been in politics for 30 years.
He emphasised that every president that had ruled the country had had their own theme for development.