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Signs of losing Mufumbwe seat are clear for MMD, says Mpombo

Signs of losing Mufumbwe seat are clear for MMD, says Mpombo
By Moses Kuwema in Lusaka and Speedwell Mupuchi in Kitwe
Mon 12 Apr. 2010, 04:01 CAT

MMD Kafulafuta member of parliament George Mpombo yesterday said signs of losing the Mufumbwe parliamentary by-election are clear for the MMD.

And MMD chairman for elections Mike Mulongoti said he could not comment on the statement by Misheck Bonshe’s brother Willies Apoloso that the government had condemned Bonshe to death because that was an emotional issue.

Meanwhile, UPND vice-president Richard Kapita yesterday complained that chief Chizela of Mufumbwe has threatened to ensure that people who will support the UPND candidate go back to Angola where they came from.

In an interview, Mpombo said the MMD machinery had not been active in organising the party.

“I have been closer to people in Mufumbwe. The position is very, very shaky. I have not yet been briefed about the situation in Milanzi,” Mpombo said. “We have lost that skill of organisation. That is the biggest problem and also having incompetent political organisers, that’s what makes the position very shaky. The party machinery is not very active. The party leadership is just busy issuing statements. They are not being quite well organised as a party. We are just dragging behind. We have no sharp shooters in terms of political organisation.”

Mpombo said the tendency of going back to constituencies only when there was a by-election was costly.

“You see, when you just spring up at the time of an election, people think you are just taking them for a ride…people are supposed to be in the field all the time and sell the manifesto. This is what party organisation is all about,” said Mpombo.

And Mulongoti said he could not comment on the statement by Willies Apoloso, that the government had condemned Misheck Bonshe to death because that was an emotional issue.

“I don’t want to comment on that because that is an emotional issue. Let the man rest,” Mulongoti said.

And in an interview from Mufumbwe, Kapita appealed to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to take action against chief Chizela because he was violating the electoral code of conduct.

“The chief has gone ahead and even demoted one headman from Matushi for supporting the UPND candidate (Elliot Kamondo). I have been reliably told he is going round villages to threaten headmen and threatening them that if Kamondo wins, he will chase them to go to Angola where they came from,” said Kapita. “I don’t know who he is to threaten people like this. For villagers, this is too much of a threat. We want to respect him because he is our chief but if he is blatantly going to intimidate our people, we will take him on and he should not complain.”

Kapita said UPND respects chiefs and their choices of who to support, but asked chief Chizela to stop intimidating people in Mufumbwe who were geared to give Kamondo a vote.

He said the campaign for the April 29 parliamentary by-election had started on a high note and that almost everybody was ready to give Kamondo a vote.

“They (Mufumbwe residents) are saying that if Kamondo loses this election, it’s because the MMD had stolen the vote. As of Saturday, the MMD employed 50 youths with instruction from minister (Daniel) Kalenga to go and disrupt our camps. MMD should know we are capable of defending ourselves. We will act if we are pushed against the wall,” he said.

When contacted for comment, chief Chizela said he does not entertain lies. He said Zambia was a democracy and people should be free to choose anybody they wanted.

“I have no right to threaten anybody. Those are my subjects. Those are the people who increase the population of my area. It’s that headman in Matushi who is threatening to chase the Lundas if they don’t support Kamondo,” chief Chizela said. “I have never threatened anybody, people should come out with the truth.”

Chief Chizela said he had even stopped moving because people would fabricate stories about him.

“There is also a story that I am using a government vehicle, no! I am at church now and I am using my own vehicle,” he said.

And chief Chizela said he merely suspended the headman in Matushi area because he was allegedly holding meetings to destabilise his chieftaincy.

“This man was having meetings. He has been campaigning to cut the area. I have not demoted him, he is suspended pending investigations,” he said.

Meanwhile, chief Chizela’s spokesperson Jones Mulusa said reports by the UPND were malicious.

“Chief Chizela has allowed Chokwes to stay in Mufumbwe. I know Kamondo is Chokwe. If he has failed to campaign, let him not drag the chief in this. He is a chief for all tribes,” he said.

Mulusa advised the UPND to campaign on issues and what they would do for the people of Mufumbwe and not engage in lies.

“He (chief Chizela) is an honest man and has accommodated Chokwes for a long time. It’s the Chokwes who are ganging up to say they want a chiefdom within our chiefdom. Mufumbwe is for Kaondes and all these others are there because of one Zambia, one nation,” Mulusa said.

“The other issue, the K1.5 billion is also lies. He is not given any money by government. It is our company that applied for CEEC (Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission). Our equipment is in and we applied for funds (K1.2 billion), which is not even given out yet. It’s me who even applied for that money so that we start operations.”

Mulusa also said MMD had worked in Mufumbwe, having done the tarmac and was building a hospital in the area.

“If a chief says ‘I will support the ruling party’, what is wrong with that?’ UPND should tell people what they will do,” he said. “We don’t want violence because it will not help UPND. In Mufumbwe we want peaceful campaigns. I am pretty sure MMD will retain the seat.”

Labels: GEORGE MPOMBO, MMD

posted by MrK @ 4:15 AM