UPND cautioned against defections strategy
By GIDEON NYENDWA
THE era of using defections strategy by political parties to show popularity is long gone and UPND should avoid it because this is what caused PF to lose as they were comforted by fake numbers, Political scientist, Alex Ngoma has warned.
Dr Ngoma, who is a political science lecturer at the University of Zambia (UNZA), said UPND should be careful of using the defectors’ strategy because the purported defectors were all “warm” weather politicians who migrate from where they think it was cold to look for warmer places.
Dr. Ngoma said those people who migrate from one party to another, do so after realising that they had nothing to gain from there.
He was reacting to the reported defection of over 100 members of the PF to the ruling UPND in Lusaka’s Kabwata constituency on Sunday.
He said that those kinds of people who defect from one party to another were not genuine members to be embraced by anyone because they are always seeking something.
Dr. Ngoma said that such people who behave in that way were also going to run away and move on from the party they were running to in an event it loses power.
“Political parties should always be careful of such members, that is just their nature,” he said.
He said that these people were always looking for benefits that they could reap from the party that was in government.
Dr. Ngoma said some of them hope that by going to identify themselves with the party in government they may be adopted as candidates in an election or given some positions in the civil service or diplomatic service.
He also said that some defect to the party in power so that they could have access to some facilities like loans and others just want protection in case they fall into trouble with the law in one way or another.
Dr. Ngoma said that was the reason why most of the people migrated to the party in power, not that they were genuine members who believed in the manifesto or party programmes.
