PF boat is sailing on dry land in E/Province, boasts Chenda

PF boat is sailing on dry land in E/Province, boasts Chenda
Written by Maluba Jere, Mutale Kapekele, George Zulu and Christopher Miti
Saturday, October 25, 2008 10:10:31 PM

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) Member of the Central Committee Emmanuel Chenda has said the boat is sailing on dry land in Eastern Province but it is unstoppable. And Choma PF district chairperson Golden Nyambe has said Vice-President Rupiah Banda has lost steam and is going into the wilderness alone. Chenda said there was an invisible flood in Eastern Province and that the PF boat was sailing on dry land.

He said his party was concerned with the high poverty levels in most parts of the country and accused the MMD government of failing to address real issues affecting people.

"They should not take advantage of the poor whose needs they have failed to address for so many years. The PF is concerned with uplifting the people's lives," he said.

Chenda said the PF was not bothered by, paramount chief of the Ngoni, Mpezeni's directive that his subjects should vote for Vice-President Banda in next Thursday's presidential election.

Chenda said PF would emerge victorious in the Eastern Province as well as other parts of the country even without Mpezeni's support.

He said the results in the recently held Kanchibiya by-election where PF won the parliamentary seat was an indication that the party was stronger and had tremendous support from people.

"If you remember, some chiefs in Northern Province in the run-up to the Kanchibiya by-election endorsed the MMD but we still beat them by a very wide margin so, we are not moved by those announcements. We will still carry the day," Chenda said.

And in Choma in an interview on Thursday evening, Nyambe said it was unfortunate that Vice-President Banda was surrounded by people that were fired by late president Levy Mwanawasa.

"He [Vice-President Banda] has lost steam and he is going into the wilderness alone, what a pity!" Nyambe said. "A person's success is determined by people he surrounds himself with. He is carrying all the rotten eggs of the MMD hoping that they will be fresh by the time he cooks them. There is no better way to fail than having such a crowd surrounding you."

Nyambe also said Vice-President Banda should account for the public funds he was using on non-government officials accompanying him on his campaigns.

He said the PF, if elected into government, would request Vice-President Banda to account for the public funds.
"When we form government on November 1, we will need answers as to where the MMD and [Vice-President] Banda in particular, got the money to cater for non-government officials who are accompanying him," Nyambe said.

"We can't have people like [FDD leader] Edith Nawakwi, [former works and supply minister] Ludwig Sondashi and [ULP leader] Sakwiba Sikota using our public resources. That is immoral and we are not going to tolerate it. He [Vice-President Banda] will have to answer for that. "

And Southern Province PF campaign manager, Wilbur Simuusa, called on the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to be more professional and pro-active in resolving electoral concerns raised by stakeholders.

In an interview in Monze, Simuusa said the spirit of not taking Zambians seriously on matters of elections was a source of concern in the nation.

Simusa said there was need for ECZ to dispel all the concerns raised before the election day to guarantee the electorate an atmosphere that would allow for free, fair and transparent and accommodative polls.

Simuusa, who is also PF Nchanga member of parliament, said it was unfortunate that chiefs in Eastern and Southern provinces had abandoned their position of advisers and opted to be partisan.

He said it was sad that some traditional leaders and associations in Southern and Eastern provinces had abandoned their traditional role of helping their subjects to make informed decisions.

In Chipata, former Chipangali UNIP member of parliament Lucas Phiri, who is now campaigning for Sata, warned MMD election agent Benny Tetamashimba not to play with Easterners because they were not his tribal cousins.

"I want to warn Teta... that he is not supposed to take people for granted. He is not our cousin, he is our brother so he should stop doing that. Secondly, in politics, we don't say that because this person comes from this region then you expect hundred per cent vote.

Rupiah Banda should not expect hundred per cent because if there are people who know Rupiah Banda very well it's us Easterners. We know his weaknesses. We know where he can't deliver," Phiri said.

Phiri said Easterners had already made an independent decision to vote for an action-oriented man, Sata, who could deliver. Tetamashimba, during a campaign trail in Eastern Province, urged Easterners to vote for Vice-President Banda, their son, adding that they would be beaten and regarded useless if they did not do so.