Maravi

Kapijimpanga links PF MPs’ popularity to Sata

Kapijimpanga links PF MPs’ popularity to Sata
Written by Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Thursday, November 13, 2008 8:20:49 AM

MMD chairperson for lands Judith Kapijimpanga has observed that 90 per cent of Patriotic Front (PF) parliamentarians are in their positions because of people's liking for PF leader Michael Sata.
And Kapijimpanga has said the MMD needs to work extra hard in reconstituting its grassroots in places such as Northern Province because they have lost grip there.

In an interview on Wednesday, Kapijimpanga, who recently lost the Kanchibiya Constituency seat in Mpika district to PF's Davies Mwango, said the popularity of most PF parliamentarians could be attributed to Sata and not necessarily themselves.

"For example, you will find that there are certain areas where the person who won never even campaigned but he still won because of Sata. So it was like I was contesting against Sata and not the parliamentarian," she said.

And Kapijimpanga said the MMD had lost grip in Northern Province and needed to seriously reconstitute its grassroots.

She said the party needed to have sincere members who would honestly represent it.

"My observation was that you would find members in some branches purporting to be MMD but meanwhile they were also supporting PF. We need to revamp the entire grassroots, not just in Northern but also on the Copperbelt and Lusaka as well because the voting patterns were not different from 2006," said Kapijimpanga.

Meanwhile, Kapijimpanga said it would be good for Zambia to have a female Vice-President.

Commenting on calls by some sections of society for President Rupiah Banda to appoint a woman as his Vice-President, Kapijimpanga said there were a lot of capable women both within the party's hierarchy and other inactive but fully paid-up members who could be looked at for the position.

She said there were many intelligent women that could take good ideas and drive the party forward.

On her future plans, Kapijimpanga said she was still actively involved in politics and may consider contesting Kanchibiya Constituency in future but that would depend on the people's decision.

Labels: JUDITH KAPIJIMPANGA, PF, SATA

posted by MrK @ 8:22 AM