Concede defeat, Sata tells Rupiah

Concede defeat, Sata tells Rupiah
Written by Patson Chilemba
Friday, October 31, 2008 3:47:50 PM

RUPIAH Banda should just concede defeat because it is clear that he has been rejected across the country, Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata said yesterday.

In an interview after he voted at Jacaranda Basic School in Lusaka, Sata said it was clear that Vice-President Banda has been rejected and the only thing which had kept him in the race was the attempt to rig the election.

“The people of Zambia rejected Rupiah way before today's elections. He should just concede defeat because it is very clear that he has been rejected in all the provinces,” Sata said. “The whole country has rejected him and the only way they are in this war is through dubious means. That's why Dan Kalale [Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) director] has refused to give accreditation to Anti-Rigging. ”

Sata urged Vice-President Banda and MMD to 'throw in the towel' rather than trying to use underhand methods. He said he believed that he had defeated Vice-President Banda in the October 30 presidential elections.

And Sata criticised the statements made by Zambia Army Commander Gen Isaac Chisuzi.

“We have had elections at every five-year interval and we have had inspector generals of police and army commanders. There has never been any time the people of Zambia have been intimidated by the army commander and IG of police and given full publicity by ZNBC. Now Zambia Army Commander Gen Chisuzi and Inspector General of Police were given prominence on TV on the eve of elections predicting violence after elections. Chisuzi's statement was a mark of panic. We know that these people are on contracts so they are trying to protect their contracts. They are panicking.”

Sata said heads of security wings were frustrating junior officers because they were on contract.

Sata also said former president Frederick Chiluba was not an issue because he moved with the wind. He said Vice-President Banda had probably promised to rescue Chiluba from the corruption cases he was facing.

On Neo Simutany's statement that whoever is elected president will need to deal with The Post, Sata said it is Simutanyi who should be dealt with.

“I was in power before. The Post was not very friendly and I used their criticism to improve,” said Sata. “He has attacked me in his column and I have not wasted time to bring private litigation against Neo Simutanyi because he is not worth it. Why isn't he complaining about the government media?”

And Sata yesterday opposed and rejected ECZ’s decision to transmit the results electronically.

“As the Patriotic Front presidential candidate and one of the major stakeholders I totally disagree with this position. In 2006, your predecessor justice Ireen Mambilima attempted to use this system but had to abandon it half way through the process because the physical/manual results from polling districts/stations proved different from the electronic results,” Sata’s letter to the chairperson of ECZ read in part.

Sata further stated that the electronic system can be subject to manipulation and interference depending on the software installed.

“At the last stakeholders meeting with the ECZ, it was agreed that results from the polling stations will be counter signed by all election agents and monitors, and were posible observers and finally the poresiding officer. It was also agreed that this result copy will be given to all agents, monitors and observers. We would be confortable if the ECZ could use these copies talling poll results before announcement as opposed to the electronocally tranmitted results. We propose therfore that the ECZ uses mere faxing system of results announced at respective polling stations and endorsed by all officials,” Sata stated.

He reminded the ECZ chairperson that she was on record as having agreed to the resuts transmitted from the district centres in the presence of political agents to the commission headquarters in Lusaka both electronically and by fax.

“Our concern with this electronic method is that the results which will be transmitted electronically will not be counter signed by election agents and monitors. This is because this aggregate district result is transmitted as a block figure by the returning officer using a special method only known by the transmitting official at the district tallying centre. It is worth noting that this electronic system does not provide for correction of errors once it has hit the national tallying centre at Mulungushi.

As a party with the experience alluded to we reject the use of this electronic transmission system and demand that even if we have to wait for a few more days to collect faxed results we are more than ready to wait so that we get original unadulterated results,” read in part Sata’s letter. “In conclusion we demand an immediate meeting between all the stakeholders and the chairperson before close of polling today and before any results are announed.”