WINA AZALILA…general election is coming and be complacent, Kambwili warns UPND
By Fanny Kalonda
PF presidential hopeful Chishimba Kambwili has accused government of threatening and intimidating voters that they would not receive fertiliser if they did not vote for UPND candidates during last week’s by-elections.
Kambwili said he was disappointed that the UPND were using the same tactics that previous governments used during by-elections.
“I’m appealing to you my dear brothers… do the right thing. Stop the wrong things. We need each other. This country needs healing. This country needs to observe the tenants of democracy,” Kambwili said. “The general election is coming and be complacent, these results are good for you, they are good for PF because you are being complacent that you are very very popular. Thank you for your popularity. And congratulations on winning the elections. But I can tell you, come the general elections WINA AZALILA.”
He described last week’s by-elections as a sham stressing that people voted according to intimidation as areas where the main economic activity was not agriculture like Chingola, the UPND lost.
“…elections are a sham. A very big disappointment and I think anyone who is celebrating these elections is deceiving himself. And I want to tell the UPND government that please stop deceiving yourselves because what is happening in the by-elections we have seen these things,” Kambwili said. “Winning by-elections is not a barometer to measure your popularity or whether a government has lost popularity or not because of the so many illegal things that are done during the by-elections. Because of how people that are involved in the voting, because of what the ruling government, the ruling parties do during these elections. Yesterday’s [Friday] elections are a sham of the worst kind. If I were you, I would be worried. If I were in UPND, if I were the leader of UPND, I would be very worried. First look at the margins in the UPND coming first and the PF coming second, very small margins.”
Kambwili said the UPND should learn from the mistakes of others, work towards avoiding them and not repeating them.
He said this is because the UPND promised Zambians that what happened in the previous administration would not happen in their government.
“You must be able to learn from the mistakes of others and make sure that you don’t repeat the mistakes of others. I am telling you the truth. The results that have come out are not a true reflection of the feeling of the people. It was intimidation and using underhand methods. Let me remind you that the dynamics of a by-election are not the dynamics of a general election and winning by-elections by intimidation, violence and other means will not help you. You are just wasting your time,” he said. “You were voted on the basis of promising the people better management of the country. Free elections, observing the rule of law, and respecting every Zambian. You promised the people of Zambia that what used to happen in previous regimes will not happen under your watch, under the new dawn administration. But I must say that I am extremely disappointed because what the people voted against is exactly what the UPND government is doing during elections.”
Kambwili said the by-elections are not a loss by the PF but a step towards reclaiming the leadership of the country.
“This is not a loss to PF. But is a step ahead in reclaiming the leadership of this country from the current leadership. I am celebrating the results throughout because I know that the tricks that were used yesterday, the violence that characterised the elections, the chasing of monitors from the totalling centres, and when counting started and above all the whole UPND machinery went into these by-elections at the time that people are supposed to receive fertiliser and told them if you don’t vote for our candidates, you won’t receive fertiliser this year. What a shame and you know that people in rural areas depend on fertiliser and anyone who is going to tell them that they are not going to get fertiliser, they will get intimidated. They will get scared,” Kambwili said. “But I can tell you it had a very big impact on the way people have voted because that was the story everywhere we went.”
He said Zambia needs healing and observing the tenants of democracy.
Kambwili said the country needs to be run by nothing but the truth.
“I’m appealing to you my dear brothers… do the right thing. Stop the wrong things. We need each other. This country needs healing. This country needs to observe the tenants of democracy. This country must be run by nothing but the truth, following the laid down procedures,” he said. “In any case, anyone who would believe in the results of the current Electoral Commission of Zambia would be doubted. Because look at their behaviour in Kabushi and Kwacha. Look at just their behaviour in Kabushi and Kwacha not even respecting a court order! Then those are the people that are running the elections in Zambia. There is room to change this trajectory so that these elections are held in a conducive manner. I condemned these things during the previous regimes and am still condemning it because I have been very consistent.”
Kambwili said the UPND has become complacent “which is a good thing for PF”.
“When you go around and hear what people are saying about the UPND government and the way they are governing and the results of the elections, two different things. Incompatible pairs and you are celebrating ‘we have won, we have won’. The general election is coming and be complacent, these results are good for you, they are good for PF because you are being complacent that you are very very popular. Thank you for your popularity. And congratulations on winning the elections. But I can tell you, come the general elections WINA AZALILA (you will cry),” he warned. “Let me say that these elections have not been won. These elections have been fixed. And PF well done. What is important PF is that we are still united. We still have the people. We still have the support of the people. The numbers don’t lie, people still love you. People still need PF. These results speak volumes and don’t despair. We have not lost the elections as far as I’m concerned. We have won the elections, well done PF.”
Kambwili said UPND should stop deceiving themselves but do something that people would appreciate.
“These results were marked by a lot of irregularities. Polling agents were chased when counting the votes. Stop deceiving yourselves. You can even see that the trend in the rural areas where people depend on fertiliser and FISP, PF has lost almost all the elections but in Chingola, which is an urban area PF has won because in Chingola you are not going to intimidate them that you won’t receive fertiliser. They don’t depend on fertiliser, they work,” said Kambwili. “But because your message was fertiliser, you won in all areas where the issues of fertiliser arose. But you have lost in Chingola. That should worry you. So well done PF. And please members of PF don’t despair. We have not lost the elections. It is a very small setback. And to you UPND, do the correct thing.”