ANDREW Banda says the Patriotic Front is using illegalities to win elections.
The Patriotic Front has scooped the Kaimbwe and Kamimba local government by-elections in Kasempa and Lumezi districts respectively while the UPND has retained the Maramba seat by a small margin.
The PF has also grabbed the Loula ward of Liuwa Constituency in Kalabo from the UPND. Kaimbwe and Loula ward seats were previously held by the UPND.
Commenting on the outcome of the Kamimba ward by-election in Lumezi, Andrew, who is a UPND national trustee, said his party never lost the by-election.
“The elections in Kamimba ward were not free and fair because the electoral code of conduct requires that every political party must abide by that code of conduct,” he said. “The code of conduct stipulates that it is illegal to use government resources in an election. So this PF, the party in power is actually using illegalities to win elections, it is using government resources.”
Andrew said the government resources that the PF was using in a by-election should be used to provide social services.
“We as UPND will not allow the usage of government resources, taxpayers’ money meant for social services such as education, health, medicines, roads, reducing load-shedding, among others, to be diverted to buying unsuspecting poor voters in the villages who have deliberately been made illiterate, ignorant, hungry and poor by this uncaring PF government, which is masquerading as pro-poor government, led by Christians and yet the opposite is the case,” he said. “Further, I wish to remind our supporters and the country at large that history has a tendency of repeating itself.”
Andrew said the PF should learn from what transpired to MMD prior to the 2011 elections.
“Prior to the 2011 elections, the MMD managed to get the support of 23 PF members of parliament and were winning all by-elections using government machinery and the founding father of PF did not have as much resources compared to the MMD but 2011 came, PF won hands down,” he said. “Therefore, it is not the resources that talk but the will of the people. Remember, Mr Sata became president with only 42 per cent of the votes. In 2016, HH got close to 48 per cent of the vote despite the rigging, implying that he is more popular than the old man Sata, with due respect. Surely with the state of the economy completely broken, Zambians can vote for PF! Personally, I don’t think so and all well-meaning Zambians have the same view.”
Andrew claimed that some of the people who voted were from Malawi.
“Kamimba Ward is only one and half kilometres from Kasungu in Malawi and we are aware some people who voted in the Kamimba by-election were from Malawi. No wonder the voter turnout was higher than Maramba Ward in Livingstone which is an urban area with dense population. Close to 2,400 voters voted in Kamimba compared to Maramba where only just over 1,000 voted and yet Maramba Ward has more registered voters,” he said.
Andrew said the PF specialises in breaking the law because of what it was doing.
“When we state that the PF government specialises in breaking the law, what do we mean? Isn’t issuing of NRCs and registering foreigners breaking the law? Isn’t staying in office when there is a petition breaking the law? Isn’t using taxpayers’ money when parliament or government has been dissolved breaking the law? Isn’t shooting by PF cadres of Lawrence Banda and others breaking the law? Isn’t holding eminent lawyers’ captive, stealing their personal items and cash during the infamous bill 10 [discussion] at InterContinental Hotel not breaking the law? Instant beating of a senior police officer at Lusaka Central Police recently, isn’t it breaking the law? Isn’t the usage of government fuel, vehicles, government officials like DCs and diverting taxpayers’ money to buy voters as done in Kamimba Ward on the 4th of January breaking the law?” he asked.
Andrew challenged any PF member to challenge him on what he outlined.
“I dare anyone from the PF to challenge me on these issues. Isn’t gassing of innocent Zambians breaking the law? Where the party in power is in the forefront breaking the law with impunity, the ultimate result is anarchy and that is where the PF have led our country to,” he said.
Andrew said the UPND would effect a citizen’s arrest on any person who would be using government vehicles during the general election.
“What happened in Kamimba was illegal; all DCs, we can mention the names here, like DC Chasefu, DC Lumezi, Lundazi and many others flocked in with vehicles which were stripped of their registration numbers. We went and reported to the ECZ, they did nothing, the police never did anything,” said Andrew. “So they have not done anything but you know what that means. In the next elections, we will not allow that if ECZ doesn’t take control of this. We ourselves will start stopping these people from bribing people in elections. If the police don’t protect us or protect the vote from being stolen, we the UPND will protect the vote by ensuring that those that come in and bribe people are dealt with.”