UPND WIN FALSE – CK

By NATION REPORTER

THE Kabushi and Kwacha parliamentary by-elections results should be a wake-up call to the UPND and President Hakainde Hichilema that the people of Copperbelt do not tolerate impunity and arrogance from those in leadership.

Mr Kambwili who is Patriotic Front (PF) aspiring presidential candidate says those who were celebrating the victory in Kabushi and Kwacha could have elected to deceive themselves about their popularity because according him, numbers did not lie.

In the 2021 general elections, Bowman Lusambo of the Patriotic Front (PF) polled more than 18,000 votes while his closest rival Benard Kanengo amassed more than 12,000 votes.

In Kwacha, Joseph Malanji of the PF polled almost 30, 000 votes while his closest rival who is now the new Member of Parliament who has now polled a poultry 6,500 votes was given about 17,000 votes in the 2021 general elections. 

In the 2022 by-elections, Mr Kanengo, the new UPND MP amassed more than 12,000 votes but his numbers in the Friday by-elections had plummeted to no more than 6,000.

And now Mr Kambwili says the by-elections were so poorly attended that they were nothing but a sham and an embarrassment to the Electoral Commission of Zambia as well as the UPND because they had failed to meet the legitimacy threshold.

“Numbers do not lie. In Kabushi, there are more than 49,000 voters and Mr Benard Kanengo polled 12,000 votes. One year later, Mr Kanengo recontested the seat and now he has managed to a poultry 6,000 votes. In Kwacha, out of the more than 69, 000 registered voters, only 7,000 people voted and the winner got a poultry 6,000 votes. This is a huge embarrassment to the UPND and my brother President Hichilema. And anybody who is celebrating this victory is not serious because the people on the Copperbelt have shown that they cannot be intimidated. The on the Copperbelt have rejected the UPND and those with ears, let them hear,” Mr Kambwili said.

And Mr Kambwili has charged that the by-elections in Kabushi and Kwacha constituencies were a sham and an embarrassment to the UPND because the results have exposed how unipolar the governing party has become in the first year in government.

Mr Kambwili said the results of the Kabushi and Kwacha by-elections were a confirmation that Zambians have completely lost confidence in the UPND and that the numbers are showing that the ruling party is incapable of winning a fair and credible election.

Mr Kambwili has thanked the people on the Copperblet for boycotting the by-elections, stating that the UPND should learn from the results and begin to change their style of managing the affairs of the country.

Mr Kambwili said Vive-President Mutale Nalumango should have avoided discussing the Kabushi and Kwacha by-elections because it was clear that there had been connivance between the ECZ and the Executive.

He said the ECZ had completely lost its credibility beyond redemption and that the only way to restore the integrity of the Commission was to disband it.