By BARNABAS ZULU
THE UPND in its current state is incapable of winning any election in Zambia and the ruling party shall be taught its biggest lesson in Petauke because the people are angry with the ruling party that they cannot wait for 2026 to have the governing party out of power, Brenda Nyirenda has said.
According to Nyirenda, the UPND has become so unpopular that its only modus operandi of grabbing seats from the PF was to employ brutal violence and other electoral frauds.
The Petauke by-election, set for this Thursday, has heightened political stakes for the ruling UPND and its biggest rival, the Tonse Alliance.
The seat fell vacant after former lawmaker, Emmanuel Jay Banda, mysteriously disappeared from Chipata Central Hospital after surviving an abduction but only to be arrested for aggravated robbery and attempted murder, the cases that were settled about a decade ago.
In an interview, yesterday, Ms Nyirenda alleged that the UPND was enjoying the use of intimidation tactics against the opposition, stating; “What we saw yesterday is proof indeed that our lives are at crossroads. I don’t know how far it will go.”
Ms Nyirenda also accused the police of infringing on the rights of other political parties, claiming that their actions were aiding the UPND in committing electoral wrongdoings.
“What the police was doing was infringing the rights of other political parties to associate. They were not supposed to be in that ward. But the police allowed the UPND to go in and block the Tonse Alliance. That is unfair for democracy,” she said.
Ms Nyirenda further criticized the conduct of the police, suggesting that they were acting more like political cadres rather than professionals.
“The police should act professionally. They should not play to the gallery. There is no one to please. Zambians must be allowed to choose freely a leader that they want,” she asserted.
She also pointed out that the police’s actions had undermined the Tonse Alliance’s rights in a particular ward, stating that the police were supposed to protect the Tonse Alliance leaders and chase the people who went into another ward, which was allocated to Tonse.
“I watched the video and the police demanded for the schedule. For me, that is becoming cadres; they know very well the schedule but they are aiding the UPND to have the time when they were not supposed to have it. It is very unfair,” she said.
Ms Nyirenda stated that the UPND’s election prospects in Petauke were bleak without the use of police force and intimidation.
“The UPND cannot win elections without using the police and brutality. If they leave it just plain for anyone to have a field’s day, you will discover that they can’t win any elections. This is why we are saying the issue of cadreism so that they can have their chance to win,” she said.
“But in Petauke, they have lost that election. That is why they are trying to use the police but they can’t manage,” she said.
