THE Lukashya and Mwansabombwe by-election results do not move me; these people are not winning elections but merely buying and bribing voters, says Chishimba Kambwili.
Reacting to the UPND’s loss in Mwansabombwe and Lukashya where they were supported by the National Democratic Congress, Kambwili said he was a seasoned politician who knew that results of a by-election had no bearing in a general election.
He noted that with a voter population of about 47,000 in Lukashya, only about 15,000 voted therefore a reasonable party would not be excited by such a triumph.
“Let me tell ba Inonge Wina and PF that people who don’t learn from experience and past history are as good as a lost generation. People like Inonge Wina are old enough to advise PF to do the right thing and not to do exactly what MMD did when they lost power in 2011, not to do what UNIP did when they lost power in 1991. These people are not winning these elections, they are buying and bribing voters and they know that, so for them to say it is a sign for 2021 is misleading themselves,” Kambwili said.
“Look, Lukashya has 45-47,000 voters but only 15,000 cast their vote. They can manipulate 15,000 people but they cannot manipulate people even if we were to say 30,000 out of that 45,000 they cannot manipulate them. And they must know that a by-election is not a barometer for what is going to happen in the general election. In a by-election all the ministers, all the resources of the party are concentrated in one area, the propaganda, the lying to people by ministers is concentrated in one area but when it’s in a general election, it’s different, it is everyone for himself, God for us all.”
Further, Kambwili said people who change governments were not even involved in the day-to-day politics.
He added that the people who matter in a general election were those who were non-aligned but make informed decisions on who to vote for and were in the majority.
Kambwili reminded the PF that prior to 2011 MMD was scooping all by-elections but failed to triumph in the general election.
He noted that for PF to lose, they do not need to lose in all their strongholds but just a defeat on the Copperbelt and Lusaka was enough to retire them.
“And PF knows that what they are doing is basically buying the people and corruption,” he said.
The former Roan member of parliament and information minister said the PF were using the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit to bribe voters in all by-elections, a thing he stated was against the law.
He warned DMMU coordinator Chanda Kabwe to detach his office from party politics.
He said if he continues on the same trajectory, his ending would be disastrous.
“Chanda Kabwe is using money from DMMU to promote PF to win elections. Wherever there is an election, Chanda Kabwe moves in to start programmes of ‘helping’ the needy. That is misappropriation of government funds. I want to warn my young brother that he is the controlling officer at DMMU, he is the one who signs the release of these ‘goodies’ to the areas and if they come to ask who authorised, he will be the one to answer,” Kambwili warned.
He said PF could only be equated to the emperor’s new suit where everybody saw that it was alright until a small child said the ruler was naked.
He said the PF was hurting people more with what they were doing by manipulating votes.
He added that the opposition alliance would forge ahead in working as a unit but stated that they had lessons learnt from the loss.
Kambwili said the PF win was not a victory to be celebrated as it was short lived.
The NDC leader noted that people were suffering and a few were bound to fall for the PF trickery.
“Their win is not an indicator, by far…it is an act of corruption and an act of deceit. For me, I am not even worried because I am very experienced in this game, extremely experienced in this game. The PF does not even have a message for the people, their message is give out money, more money and goods. Bali nensala abantu so if you give them K50, they will vote for you but in 2021, it will be different as people are eager to change government,” said Kambwili.
“The opposition alliance will go on but I think there are lessons that we must learn from what happened. There are shortcomings that must be discussed quickly and ironed out and the quicker we deal with them the better for the Zambians.” – The Mast