Tue, 18 Apr 2017 11:11:31 +0000
By ROGERS KALERO
A UPND cadre on Friday told one of the hawkers in the Kitwe City Centre (KCC) to take off the Patriotic Front (PF regalia which he was wearing before he could buy the tomatoes he was selling.
The hawker, identified as Sylvester Mambwe, was told to take off the PF regalia he was wearing which had the portrait of President Edgar Lungu when he approached the UPND cadre with the intention of persuading him to buy his merchandise.
The UPND sympathizer, who had parked his vehicle in front of Indo-Zambia Bank, told Mr Mambwe that he would not buy whatever he was selling until he took off the PF skipper he was wearing.
“I have money, but I will not buy what you are selling because you are wearing the PF regalia where there is a picture of President Edgar Lungu. President Lungu has put UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema in prison on trumped up charges.
“I will only buy what you are selling if you take off that PF regalia with the picture of President Lungu and put it in your bag,” the man said.
Mr Mambwe said he then went behind Indo-Zambia Bank and took off the PF shirt so that the UPND cadre could buy the tomatoes he was selling.
When a security guard at the bank asked him what he was doing, Mr Mambwe said he was taking off the shirt for the sake of selling his tomatoes.
‘‘I am just taking it off because I want to sell my tomatoes. After that, I can wear it again,” Mr Mambwe said.
And some marketeers listening to the conversation said they were shocked that sympathizers of the opposition party could sink so low in trying to fight President Lungu.
John Chilaishya told the Daily Nation that the UPND had exhibited serious bitterness and hatred for President Lungu to the extent that they did not want to see his picture.
“I pretended as if I was not listening, but I heard the conversation and this is serious hatred which UPND is exhibiting where you don’t even want to see the picture of somebody. President Lungu was just a player in the 2016 election and he was declared a winner.
“If they have a problem on how the petition was handled, they should not blame President Lungu but blame the courts. They should not harbour hatred against President Lungu,” Mr Chilaishya said.
