MMD is now melting - Sata

MMD is now melting - Sata
By George Chellah in Kasama and Chibaula Silwamba in Mporokoso
Sat 05 Mar. 2011, 04:02 CAT

MMD is now melting, says Michael Sata. And Sata says the hour has come for the MMD to go. During a special progranmme on Kasama's Radio Mano yesterday, the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) leader said the MMD was involved in a lot of electoral malpractices in Mporokoso, but still lost the election.

“The MMD is now melting. Even if another by-election came up today, kuyabebele,” Sata said.

“After the Mporokoso by-election, we now know our strengths and weaknesses as a party.”

He thanked the people of Northern Province and Mporokoso district in particular, for the unity exhibited during the by-election.

“We even caught some women who were involved in malpractices and we handed them over to the police,” he said.

Sata urged Zambians to wake up ahead of the fourth coming general election.

“If we did not unite in Mporokoso, we would have failed. The MMD had deployed a government Land Cruiser per command post during the campaigns. I even saw one Land Cruiser with former local government minister in the Chiluba administration and former Northern Province MMD chairman Bernard Mpundu. They also killed buffaloes to give voters, mealie-meal, cooking oil and sugar,” Sata said.

Sata said the money President Banda spent in Mporokoso if properly utilised could have worked in the development of the road infrastructure in the Province.

“I have passed through Chambishi market, you can feel sorry because the neglect is as if the country is at war,” he said.

Sata said President Banda was destroying the MMD himself.

He said President Banda was selective in dealing with plunderers.

“Katele Kalumba has been thrown in the mud. According to Rupiah Banda there are even better plunderers to teach him dribbling tactics, but a thief is a thief,” he said.

He said President Banda and his political consultant Frederick Chiluba have no shame.

“If in 1991 Kaunda had wanted to dribble, would MMD have ruled? We know why he is close to Rupiah Banda. I've stayed in prison myself, he is afraid of going to jail with his wife. People now know that if you don't have 300 pairs of shoes or 150 suits, you can't be a consultant for MMD,” Sata said.

“Chiluba is trying to please Rupiah Banda. We have defeated them, both in Kawambwa and Samfya ward elections. So, we are waiting to hear what lies they will now tell Rupiah Banda about Luapula.”

And Sata urged people to go out and register as voters before the deadline.

“Zambians need to prepare themselves for change now. If people didn't prepare themselves for change in Mporokoso and Luapula we would not have won.”

On the latest Auditor General's report, Sata said people responsible for that mismanagement of public resources would have to account once there's a change of government.

“They won't manage to conceal the evidence as they leave office. Even the dribbler will be around, just wait. Batila 'don't kubeba'. Our plan is for resources to go to the poor,' Sata said.

“Michael Kaingu community development minister will account for the money he is distributing to women's clubs. We are just remaining with a few months. If not, those women he is giving money will explain, it is Kaingu and his permanent secretary who will account for the money.”

Sata also thanked the state media for the negative propaganda against him.

“Tell Mr Chanda Chimba that his message is going down very well with the people. And I want to thank him for advertising for me free of charge. He is proving to be a very effective campaign manager for me in 2011. In fact he should ask ZNBC Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation to double the frequency for the entire country to watch the programme, because even in Mporokoso they watch ZNBC; and people have acted in this manner because of the free publicity I'm enjoying,” he said.

When asked whether he was ready to be challenged at the PF general conference, Sata who began by praising party secretary general Wynter Kabimba's contribution to the democratisation process in the party said once PF is done with provincial conferences they would hold a general conference by the end of May.

“Nobody is stopping anybody from challenging me at the general conference. Let them come and challenge me because we have to select new leaders of the party including the president, since at the moment we are all interim leaders.”

And there was jubilation in Kasama as early as 06:00 hours yesterday when word filtered through that PF had grabbed the Mporokoso seat from MMD.

Scores of residents danced and cheered on the streets of Kasama as motorists honked for about an hour.

Meanwhile an elated Maynard Misapa said his victory as Mporokoso Constituency MP was an indication that Sata would win the presidential elections.

In an interview yesterday shortly after being declared winner of Thursday's parliamentary by-election following his polled 2, 844 votes against MMD candidate Dominic Musonda's 2, 217, Misapa said this was the year for the PF leader Sata to be in State House.

Misapa, who was MMD Mporokoso parliamentarian and sports deputy minister before he defected to the PF about three months ago, and his victory on an opposition party ticket signified that the PF's popularity was growing in Northern Province and countrywide.

“Mr Sata is definitely going to win and it will be a landslide victory. Come September 2011 or whenever the elections will be held, Michael Sata will be in State House. Everything has time, I am sure we are going to have a thunderous victory when presidential elections are held,” Misapa said.

He said despite the ruling MMD abusing public resources and distributing goods in the campaigns, they still lost, meaning that people did not want MMD.

He said he was happy with his victory which he attributed to his party's support.

“I am very happy indeed. I thank God for this. I am really humbled. I thank all the people who came to this place. Without them I wouldn't have done this,” Misapa said. “As PF, we are going to do wonders in this country; we are going to bring development which people have been crying for, for a long time since independence in 1964. We are really going to do it with Michael Sata.” When contacted for a comment, MMD candidate Dominic Musonda responded: “I will call you back, I am in a meeting.”

Returning officer, Felix Kaluba, announced that UNIP's candidate Anthony Nkonde got 71 votes, NAREP's Joyce Mukando got 435, Musonda 2217 and Misapa 2844 while 47 ballot papers were rejected as invalid.

“I, therefore, declare that the said Misapa Maynard to be this day duly elected as member of parliament for Mporokoso constituency,” announced Kaluba, re-igniting jubilation among PF supporters that gathered at the tally centre, singing and dancing, throughout the night.

Bonnie Tembo, executive director of Anti Voter Apathy Project (AVAP) which had election monitors in all the 33 polling stations, said the Mporokoso by-election outcome was very indicative of 2011 elections and had set precedence in the manner Zambians organise and conduct elections, and campaign.

“It shows that people can't be cheated anymore,” said Tembo. Fr Patrick Chibuye, director of Caritas Zambia for Mpika Diocese, the Catholic Church's wing involved in voter education, said the MMD had lost the Mporokoso elections because it had imposed a candidate on the people.

“The imposition of candidates is very costly and leads to losing elections. It's very undemocratic to impose a candidate on people. This is a lesson for all political parties,” said Fr Chibuye. “This will happen in 2011 where people want to impose themselves as sole candidates.” Several people - young and old - on foot, bicycles and in vehicles went round the market and townships dancing, ululating and chanting pro-PF slogans after Misapa was declared winner. And MMD acting national secretary Chembe Nyangu on Thursday, the voting day, went to Mporokoso Police station where he threatened cops after they temporarily detained suspected MMD cadres that were allegedly involved in electoral malpractices and dishing out money to would-be voters.

Nyangu demanded for the release of MMD cadres, who were later freed.