Maravi

Milanzi voters feast at MMD camps after voting

Milanzi voters feast at MMD camps after voting
By Chibaula Silwamba and Christopher Miti in Milanzi
Fri 30 Apr. 2010, 04:00 CAT

SOME Milanzi voters yesterday had a feast at MMD camps after casting their vote. And voting in the by-election started at high note but the numbers dwindled as the day progressed.

Voters talked to at Kathumba village confirmed receiving buns and tea while others that were heading to the polling station said immediately after voting, they would rush to have the meals at MMD camps.

A man in his early 20s, found at one of the MMD camps but sought anonymity said he had just been given a bun to eat without tea because the distributor had run out of sugar.

“Andipatsa chabe banzi. Ati sugar yatha,” said the man while eating and showing off his inked thumbnail to prove that he had voted before getting his share of food.

His colleagues, who were also eating buns, said they all received the food from the MMD camp while groups of women and men gathered at MMD area leader Boxing Phiri’s home to eat.

Another resident, Lisa Banda said she was rushing to go and vote so that she could partake in the feast.

“We were told that after voting we go and eat from the home of the MMD chairman of Kathumba ward, Mr Boxing Phiri. But for me, I am going to another MMD camp being managed by Mr Misheck Banda at Kamuchunju village,” Banda explained.

Banda said everyone who had voted, regardless of the candidate they voted for, could go and eat from the MMD camp.

At Chamiwawa Basic School, police officers manning the polling station were allegedly checking voters’ cards and National Registration Cards (NRCs) before the electorate cast their vote.

UNIP elections chairman Chigaga Banda was found telling Chamiwawa polling station presiding officer Ndila Mwiinga that police officers must not be allowed to check voters’ cards and NRCs because that was not their mandate.

Banda said police officers’ checking of voters’ cards and NRCs was intimidating the voters. But in an interview, Mwiinga said police officers were not checking voters’ cards.

“We don’t have ushers so police officers are doing the job of ushering voters and providing security,” Mwiinga said.

A check in various polling stations showed that a lot of people turned up to cast their vote.

Around 06:11 hours eight people had voted at Mbinga polling station out of 687 registered voters.

Presiding officer Numero Banda said the polling station opened at exactly 06:00 hours but some people went to the polling station as early as 05:30 hours.

Fifteen people had voted at Kazala polling station at 06:45 hours.
Kazala has about 400 registered voters.

Katiula polling station had 93 registered voters at 07:31 hours out of 950 registered voters.
Presiding officer Margaret Chinzi Zulu said people started flocking in around 04:00 hours.

Over 335 people had voted at Dole out of 1,293 registered voters by 08:30 hours.
Presiding officer Obrien Musonda said people started queuing up around 05:00 hours.

At Kandiwo polling station presiding officer Joseph Mulenga said the turnout was good. He said between 06:00 hours when polling station opened and 07:48 hours, 83 people had voted. After voting, Thaulo Mwale said he was happy to elect a person that would lead him.

“But others are not coming to vote because even if we vote things don’t change; we still have problems,” said Mwale.

Anti-Voter Apathy Project (AVAP) executive director Bonnie Tembo said the turnout was good because the campaigns were peaceful.

Tembo who toured a number of polling stations said the turnout was very encouraging because of the peaceful campaigns.

“The campaigns were very peaceful despite some flashes of violence here and there but there was no serious violence that can deter people from going to the polling station.

You have seen peaceful campaigns and also the maturity of people of Milanzi constituency, you have seen that even the majority of the voters are old people meaning that the youths didn’t have voters’ cards,” Tembo said.

He said he was impressed with Kagoro and Dole polling stations where long queues formed up as early as 04:00 hours.

“It’s encouraging that even the police are also quite civil, I think they are proper police we are not getting stories like say ‘that police officer is a marketer, is a what what’ like what is happening in Mufumbwe because Mufumbwe is a different story,” Tembo said.

“We don’t seem to have genuine police there. As I am talking now, HH UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema is under siege they have surrounded where he is, surrounded the UPND camp saying that they have identified a police officer who is a cadre, he is not a police officer so when they told the police that angered the police, so there is no peace there. There are no long queues.”

He said a lot of people would vote this year compared to those who voted in 2008.
Tembo said Milanzi had 15,700 voters.

Labels: BY-ELECTIONS, MMD

posted by MrK @ 12:51 PM