WE ARE BORN AND RAISED IN MATERO, WE ARE SONS OF THE CONSTITUENCY…..SAYS PF AND UPND CANDIDATES
DESPITE not being residents of Matero, Patriotic Front (PF)’s Miles Sampa and United Party for National Development (UPND) candidate Tom Michelo are sons of the constituency who are keen to advance development.
Mr Sampa and Mr Michelo’s reaction follows assertions by Democratic Party (DP) candidate Susan Mulenga that the two are opportunists who do not live in the constituency but are only interested in benefits that come with being a Member of Parliament (MP).
But Mr Sampa said he understands the challenges Matero residents are going through and he is capable of addressing them.He said: “We are bringing quality development to Matero because we have a lot of unfinished projects in Zingalume, Lilanda and George townships.
“But I will not say much because I want actions to speak for me like they have always done in the past,” Mr Sampa said.For Mr Michelo, he is not interested in cheap politics of character assassination because he only wants to work for Matero residents.“It is not about how long an individual has lived in Matero, but what they are bringing to the table to help Matero residents,” he said.But Ms Mulenga said Mr Sampa and Mr Michelo are only popular on social media and do not know challenges people in the constituency face.“They only want to give people K10s to lure voters instead of finding permeant solutions to their challenges,” Ms Mulenga said.
For UNIP’s Andrew Zyambo, the former ruling party is the people’s choice because it has what it takes to change the face of Matero.Socialist Party candidate Barbara Maramwidzwe wants Matero residents to work with her in eradicating poverty.Meanwhile, former Zambia’s High Commissioner to Malawi John Phiri regrets that the PF did not adopt him to contest the Lundazi Central parliamentary seat.
Dr Phiri said ‘God will visit’ the people who doubted his candidature to compete for the seat. “I went through the preliminary adoption processes at constituency, district and provincial levels where I can confidently claim that I was the chosen one. But the central committee thought otherwise and adopted someone else,” he said.
Dr Phiri, who also served as Minister of General Education in the current administration, said he is a solid and senior member of PF and a strong believer in God.“As a senior PF leader, I resisted the many calls to resign and stand as an independent,” Dr Phiri said.
He said his desire to serve in the party was meant to uplift the welfare of people in Lundazi and not to gain employment or amass wealth.