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Voting in Luena by-elections charcterised by tribalism and bribery – Ililonga

Voting in Luena by-elections charcterised by tribalism and bribery – Ililonga
By Florence Bupe
Tue 10 Aug. 2010, 14:00 CAT

LOSING UPND candidate in the just ended Luena by- elections Muyunda Ililonga says that the voting process was influenced by tribalism and bribery. In an interview, Ililonga said the campaign process was characterized by bribery and malicious campaign methods shortly before the polling day.

“The general campaign process was going well until two days before voting. My campaign team established that the MMD was offering the electorate cash even on the polling day,” Ililonga said. “If it was not for the rampant bribery, the MMD could not have performed better than UPND.”

He complained that it was easy for the MMD to win votes from the electorate, most of who are poor and unable to analyse the effects of selling their votes.

Ililonga said such practices had the potential to undermine the country’s democratic efforts.

“Such dirty schemes should be avoided because they are affecting the democratic process of the country. We are talking about rural voters who are not analytical, and some of them are poor and were willing to vote for the MMD in return for the money they had received,” he said.

Ililonga charged that the United Liberal Party (ULP) was also de- campaigning the UPND by distributing literature urging the electorate not to vote for a candidate who was standing on the ticket of a party led by a non- Lozi (in reference to the Hakainde Hichilema led UPND).

“The ULP was distributing malicious literature against the UPND and turned the campaign into a tribal one, calling on the electorate to vote for a political party led by a fellow Lozi. I’d like to call on the ULP and ADD (Alliance for Democracy and Development) to have the whole country in mind because we cannot develop the nation on tribal affiliation,” he said.

Ililonga further called on the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to strengthen monitoring measures on the ground to minimise electoral malpractices.

Labels: BY-ELECTIONS, MUYUNDA ILILONGA

posted by MrK @ 5:36 PM