KENNEDY Kamba has dismissed a recent opinion poll from the University of Cape Town, which shows that the ruling party’s popularity in Lusaka has declined as compared to the Copperbelt.
Yesterday, The Mast published a story quoting a survey report from South Africa’s University of Cape Town (UCT) which revealed that the ruling Patriotic Front party’s support in Lusaka has steeply declined than on the Copperbelt.
The UCT’s Afro-barometer survey collected at the end of 2020 and released last month with the support of the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Publicity Policy in Africa titled ‘Voting preferences among Zambian voters ahead of the August 2021 elections’ prepared by Jeremy Seekings and Hangala Siachiwena suggests that there had been: “Some erosion [of] support for incumbent President Edgar Lungu and the governing Patriotic Front since the 2016 elections.”
“Identification with the PF in Lusaka reduced by more than half between 2017 and 2020, while this doubled for the UPND from 11 to 19 per cent during the same period. Second, in the Copperbelt, identification with the PF reduced moderately (from 28 per cent to 23 per cent), while that with the UPND remained relatively unchanged. Third, the proportion of voters who did not feel close to any political party or who were close to a party but did not declare with party, increased by 12 per cent in Lusaka and five per cent in Copperbelt. This increase appears to have been at the expense of the PF which had a reduction of voters identifying with it by 17 per cent point in Lusaka and five per cent points in Copperbelt provinces,” showed the survey in part.
“The declined support for the PF appears to have been driven by its poor economic performance and declines in living conditions of Zambians… The analysis of partisan affiliation and voting preferences suggest that support for the PF has declined in the urban provinces. The decline appears to be much steeper in Lusaka than in Copperbelt. Moreover, the UPND appears to have grown in support in Lusaka and, at the very least, maintained the same level of support in Copperbelt Province between 2017 and 2020. Importantly, the UPND seems to have slightly more support than the PF in Lusaka.”
But Kamba has disputed the report, saying it is sheer propaganda from the opposition.
“We knew very well that the opposition, especially [UPND leader] Hakainde Hichilema, started spending sleepless nights after the accurate opinion poll that was released last week by political scientists, indicating that President Lungu will win the forthcoming general elections,” he said in a statement yesterday. “We knew that the UPND leader in conjunction with other opposition parties will rush to South Africa to scavenge something from some university friends to try and counter facts that were published last week that President Lungu will win. We want to tell all Zambians of good will not to listen to doomsayers. We have some disgruntled and shameless individuals that want your government to fail but it will not and it is winning the elections. We are happy that President Lungu is genuinely loved by the people and he is truly popular.”
He further described the poll findings as mere hallucinations.
Kamba said as the nation approached the general elections, there would be a lot of political propaganda.
“Let me state from the onset that as we run towards the polls, there will be unreasonable propaganda that will be unleashed by the opposition, claiming that they have gotten the numbers from the PF strongholds, when in fact not,” he added. “The futile attempts of the opposition and the so-called experts from South Africa’s University of Cape Town are mere hallucinations, wishful thinking and laughable at the same time. They are simply panicking because they know that President Lungu is sending someone into retirement after August 12 this year.”
Kamba affirmed that the PF countrywide popularity was not about magic but reality.
He said the ruling party had delivered in all parts of the country, hence the reason to be reelected.
“President Lungu’s popularity has really put the opposition under pressure that they are now panicking to an extent where they think that mere speculations and cheap propaganda will try to help them. The opposition leaders are wasting their time. Let them try the next elections because President Lungu has already won the 12 August polls,” said Kamba. “This is not magic; this is about facts. President Lungu’s popularity in Lusaka and across the country is unmatched because he has worked extra hard to transform the capital city into something Zambians are proud of. He will retain power on August 12, to successfully implement and complete his progressive developmental agenda. Our appeal to Zambians is that continue ignoring haters because President Lungu is a good man who loves this country and he is working round the clock to meet people’s expectations.”
ennedy