Why did Alfred Yombwe withdraw from the Kabushi Parliament by election as an independent candidate?
The remaining candidates in the Kabushi race are Osius Telela of the Leadership Movement, UPND’s Bernard Kanengo and Richard Kalasa, an independent candidate.
Mr. Yombwe has spoken to Radio Icengelo News in Ndola.
There is no amount of money which can buy my constitutional right. There is no amount of money which can buy my constitutional right which I have committed myself to upholding by virtue of me being a citizen of this country.
So, there is no amount of money which can buy my constitutional right.
Whatever will happen I have resigned, I have withdrawn. The constitution will guide us on the way forward.
You remember last week, the Vice President (Mutale Nalumango) was in the constituency (Kabushi). The ECZ called all the candidates and stopped us from campaigning saying we needed to give space to the Vice President. She was there for three days and we were not campaigning. Just after she left, the President was here again.
We were called by the ECZ and they told us not to go for campaigns until the president leaves after five days.
And you know politics are like football we have got tactics we can employ toward the end of the game but if we are barred from camping how are we going to execute those tactics? It is very unfair for us candidates.
Then we were complaining in PF that the government was using public resources to campaign for their candidates. We had the Vice President coming here using taxpayers money to campaign for their candidate.
The President and the Vice President campaigning for their candidate using public resources disadvantaged me as an independent candidate. So, we cannot move on with this nonsense going on around the country.
We can’t keep on massaging the same injustices we were complaining about in PF. What has changed? Is there any justification? Then we had someone from plot one (State House) who visited that family with triplets in Kabushi, he left some money amounting to K10, 000.
Is that not malpractice? Then the second authority in this land, she was worshipping in Lubuto UCZ (United Church of Zambia). She dished out some money to Churches, are these not the allegations that led to the nullification of that seat? So we can’t continue massaging the same things.
Then we had some incidents of political violence, UPND were beating the PF who are not even contesting for this seat and my campaign team feared for their lives. It is not fair at all so the best way is just to resign and withdraw from the race.
-Ends-
Radio Icengelo