THE move by Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) president, Sean Tembo, to petition the Kabwata constituency by-election result is laughable and absurd, Andrew Tayengwa’s campaign manager and senior UPND member, Chilekwa Munkonge, has said.
Mr Munkonge said that it was unfortunate that Mr Tembo had taken the matter to court despite the election being violence free.
He said that they were ready for Mr Tembo and that they would meet in court and suggested that it would be difficult for PeP to provide any evidence.
“For me, I feel the Kabwata elections were the most free and fair because as you saw people were allowed to put on their party regalia freely unlike in the past when elections were marred with violence,” he said.
Mr Munkonge however said it was the PeP’s constitutional right to take legal action but as far as he was concerned there was nothing wrong with the elections.
He said everyone was treated as a competitor who conducted their campaigns freely without any intimidation.
“It will be very difficult for the petitioners to prove their case because the UPND conducted their campaigns in a mature manner unlike their counterparts who were very brutal,” he said.
Mr Munkonge said that they were waiting to see what grounds the PeP would base their arguments on but maintained that they were not shaken.
PeP president , Sean Tembo, petitioned the results and cited violence and other forms of malpractices as the reason for taking such an action.
Meanwhile Zambia Republic Party (ZRP) president Wright Musoma said that the move by PeP was commendable and needed to be supported by any well-meaning Zambian.
He said that he hoped that the PF would also follow suit because there were too many discrepancies and that votes were allegedly stolen by the UPND.
Mr Musoma said that the UPND wanted to turn the country into a one party state which must be fought.
“I must commend PeP for taking this bold step. I just hope the PF would follow suit and ensure that they take legal action over the malpractices in the by election,” he said.
