Maravi

Ngondo goes for Kanyama seat

Ngondo goes for Kanyama seat
By Lambwe Kachali and Patson Chilemba
Wednesday January 30, 2008 [03:00]

All peoples Congress Party president Kenny Ngondo has adopted himself as candidate for the forthcoming Kanyama parliamentary by-elections. And Patriotic Front president Michael Sata has said he would rather lose the Kanyama by-election with a clean candidate than go with those who have ‘spots’. Meanwhile,opposition UPND candidate for Kanyama Consttuency Harrison Mukupa has said Zambians have lost confidence in the MMD and PF.

In an interview after he addressed the press at his office, Ngondo said Kanyama was very important. Ngondo said the national executive committee of his party had adopted him because the constituency needed representation from the highest level.

"Kanyama should not be narrowed down to Kanyama compound because it holds the whole industrial base and most industrial activities take place there, even Soweto market is in that constituency, so it is not a small election," Ngondo said.

He said the government had failed the people of Kanyama because there was nothing worth talking about that it had built there.

"There is only one clinic which they didn't even build and the people deserve better," he said.

Ngondo said he would ensure that he built three clinics in Linda, Simoson and Baghdad areas by the end of his term if elected member of parliament.
He said even if President Mwanawasa went to Kanyama to campaign for the MMD, the APC would carry the day.

And reacting to some aspiring candidates who have expressed disappointment for not being adopted, Sata said PF thoroughly scrutinised the aspirants and resolved that Colonel Gerry Chanda was the best one.

Sata said Col Chanda was a clean politician with a proven track record.
He said Elizabeth Phiri, Yelesani Nkondowe and Emmanuel Chomba were not the best candidates to adopt because they were not even the best-rated during the adoption process at constituency, district, provincial and national levels.

He admitted that Phiri had been a long-serving member of the party but that she should re-examine herself.

"Elizabeth Phiri was here yesterday protesting. She told me in the presence of the province, the constituency and the district plus the secretary general that she's now hunting for a party to adopt her...and she's a member of the central committee. We told her she's very free to look for a party to adopt her. We will not talk about her, but if she opens her mouth about us, we will have no choice but to reply," Sata said.

"I would rather go into Kanyama and lose elections with a clean candidate than with people with known skeletons, spots. I would love if they stood on another party because they would become mince-meat to me."

Sata urged Phiri to reflect seriously on why the central committee had not chosen her despite being a long-serving member of the party.

He said there was no need for Phiri to be disappointed and threaten to leave the party if she was a genuine member.
Sata said he believed that the people who were complaining just wanted to ride on the party's popularity to achieve their personal interests.
He said PF would not adopt imposters.

Phiri has since resigned as PF member of the central committee and has been adopted by the United Liberal Party (ULP) as candidate for the Kanyama by-election.
In a letter to Sata, Phiri thanked the PF for the opportunity given to her to serve the party at national level.

On Monday, some PF cadres protested against the decision by the party to adopt Col Chanda as candidate in the Kanyama by-elections.

Meanwhile, in an interview after being declared candidate, Mukupa said he still had confidence that he was the right person for Kanyama. Mukupa stood on the UPND ticket in 2006 but lost.

He said since he lost the seat two years ago, he had been in touch with the grassroots.
He said he made mistakes in the 2006 campaigns, which he said had now been sorted out.
"From the time I lost I have never sat down. I have been forming branches in Kanyama. I am therefore in good books with the people. What went wrong in 2006 is that there are some areas that we did not touch, like Makeni, Buseko and George compounds because some of the houses belong to Kanyama and some to Matero Constituency," Mukupa said.
Mukupa said if he were elected into office, he would ensure that sanitation and the road network was addressed once and for all.

He said he was a resident of Kanyama and therefore knew every problem people were facing.

Mukupa said unlike other candidates from some political parties who claim to be Kanyama residents, he had been assisting the community in various ways since he came into active politics.

He said Kanyama residents believed in action and not rhetoric because it had cost their lives for a long time.

And UPND chairman for elections Ackson Sejani said President Mwanawasa should be ashamed for the enormous problems the people there were facing.
"President Mwanawasa should be made to swim in the dirty floods of Kanyama because he has neglected the area for a long time," Sejani said. "If he doesn't know how to swim, he'll drown."

He said Zambians were tired of a government that had failed to deliver to their expectations.

Sejani said UPND adopted Mukupa because the people of Kanyama asked them to do so.
A UPND applicant who was not adopted, Chuula Mulilo said he would rally behind Mukupa. Another applicant Cornelius Mweetwa said although he had not been adopted, he was hopeful that Mukupa would carry the day.

Labels: ALL PEOPLES CONGRESS PARTY, BY-ELECTIONS, CHIBAMBA KANYAMA, KENNY NGONDO

posted by MrK @ 3:25 AM