Maravi

PF people are thieves - Daka

PF people are thieves - Daka
By Patson Chilemba
Saturday November 10, 2007 [03:00]

Patriotic Front (PF) people are thieves because they stole food from other people’s camps during the Nchanga by-election, science and technology minister Peter Daka has charged. Meanwhile, PF spokesperson Given Lubinda said members of parliament were not indispensable.

Reacting to reports that he together with Luapula Province minister Chrispin Musosha were on Wednesday night found at Nchanga police station giving mealie meal and chickens to police officers, Daka said he was not that cheap to be distributing food to police officers because he was government and police officers salute him.

Daka, who was MMD’s campaign manager in the Nchanga by-election, said he went to the police station to check on the food, which was allegedly stolen by PF cadres from other political parties’ camps.

“Are policemen voters? Let me tell you something. I cannot go to a police station. You should report correctly. How do I go and distribute food to the people who work for me? I am government. The police officers salute to me,” Daka said. “Police had food which the PF people had stolen and we went to look at it.

That is the correct version. We went to look at the recovered food that was stolen. They are thieves. They stole the food from the camps of other people. Do you think I am that cheap to be distributing food?”

And Daka said it was regrettable that his party lost the by-election in Nchanga Constituency.
And commenting on the victory by PF in the Nchanga parliamentary by-election as well as the ward elections in Chawama and Mandevu, Lubinda urged other parliamentarians to reflect seriously on the embarrassing defeat of MMD’s Charles Chimumbwa by PF candidate Wylbur Simuusa.

He said opposition members of parliament should learn to serve the people who elected them rather than focusing on their personal interests.

“This is a very good message to all of us that we are not indispensable…and those standing on the fence in the opposition, this must serve as a good lesson. We cannot cheat people by defecting from the opposition to the ruling party,” Lubinda said.

“This entails that we as the opposition should work together to offer checks and balances. Clamouring around President Mwanawasa when you are in the opposition in the aim that ‘I shall be adopted as presidential candidate’ does not pay dividends. I would urge members of parliament to reflect seriously upon the very embarrassing defeat of Chimumbwa.”

Lubinda said Vice-President Rupiah Banda had swallowed his own words when he said that the PF boat would soon be empty.

“In fact, the boat is swelling. The people of Zambia through the noble people in Nchanga are saying no to MMD’s habit of buying opposition MPs and councillors.

The Zambian people will never again condone the archaic political strategy of using state resources to weaken the opposition. No amount of fertiliser shall force them to vote for MMD,” Lubinda said.

“Rupiah Banda went to campaign his lungs out and he started using abusive language against PF and its president Michael Sata. He called us unreasonable but people have finally determined who is unreasonable.”

Lubinda said the MMD, as it currently stood, was a very weakened party.
“They have now vindicated us that actually the trick masters in MMD have run away. I’m sure they are missing the services of Vernon Mwaanga and Major Richard Kachingwe,” he said.
PF’s Francis Mwenya and Robert Chikwelete also won the ward by-elections in Mandevu and Chawama, respectively.
In the Mufulira ward election, MMD won the seat while in Kalulushi MMD won in one ward and lost to PF in the other ward.

Labels: BY-ELECTIONS, GIVEN LUBINDA, PF

posted by MrK @ 5:58 AM