PF reveals more details of MMD, UPND collusion

PF reveals more details of MMD, UPND collusion
By Patson Chilemba
Sun 04 Sep. 2011, 14:50 CAT

THE PF has revealed more details of the collusion between MMD and UPND, saying a government vehicle, registration number GRZ 852BX was found recently in Lusaka's Libala township ferrying UPND campaign materials. And the PF has asked the ECZ to clean up the voters' register because they have information that it is carrying more than 200,000 names of dead registered voters.

Addressing the press at the PF secretariat yesterday, PF general secretary Wynter Kabimba, who is also the party's spokesperson, said when the PF-UPND political pact broke up, PF informed the people of Zambia that its pact partner UPND was engaged in talks with MMD and that the talks were going on during the subsistence of the pact.

He said despite the fact that UPND knew this was true, they lied to the people of Zambia and denied they were holding meetings with MMD up to the level of President Banda and Hakainde Hichilema at State House.

Kabimba said PF was now in possession of irrefutable evidence that MMD and UPND were closely collaborating and campaigning together in some areas against PF. He said like MMD, UPND was also now involved in the abuse of government motor vehicles.

"One of the motor vehicles used in this abuse of government resources is GRZ 852BX which was found collecting UPND campaign material from a house used as the UPND campaign centre in Libala Stage 4A along Chembe Street in Lusaka," Kabimba said.

"This is the same UPND with its Mr ‘Clean' HH who over the years has condemned the MMD for corruption and abuse of government resources. This is the same UPND whose leaders would swear on the Bible during the reign of the pact that they would have nothing to do with MMD because it has betrayed the people of Zambia with its corruption."

Kabimba said PF would continue to stand by the people of God who continued to suffer at the hands of the MMD and its collaborators, saying the party shall never betray them for any business or personal interests because theirs was a calling to a cause which transcended personal interests.

"We would like you to repose your confidence in the Patriotic Front and Michael Sata as its president for the redemption of this country and the restoration of our people's dignity. Together we shall defeat the MMD and UPND," said Kabimba.

And the PF has reaffirmed its commitment to peaceful and violence free campaigns which would lead to a peaceful voting day and the announcement of the winner by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ).

Kabimba, at the same briefing, said President Banda had over the last few weeks been preaching to PF to make a public statement that they would accept the outcome of the results.

He said PF found this solicitation strange and uncalled for as President Banda had not made the undertaking himself to the people of Zambia.

Kabimba said it was PF's belief that their participation in the election was itself an undertaking of the outcome.

However, Kabimba said a peaceful and violence-free election was not the same as a fraudulent free election, saying the election held in Egypt in November 2009, under dictator Hosni Mubarak was peaceful but later turned out to have been fraudulent after he was ousted from power.

He said President Banda should make a public statement to the Zambian people and the international community that the ECZ shall be allowed to run a free and fair election which is not tainted with any elements of fraud or any undue influence by the MMD.

"We also want him to make the same statement or undertaking that he is demanding of us that when, not if, but when he loses this election he is going to accept the results, otherwise we do not want to have another version of Gbagbo (disposed Ivorian leader) in Zambia, because going by his panicking he might just himself reject the results when he loses," Kabimba said.

"We want him to say ‘as Rupiah Bwezani Banda when I lose these elections I am going back to my farm in Chipata peacefully and the person that is going to win the elections will take over as President'."

Kabimba had also demanded that the ECZ make an undertaking to exhibit its autonomy provided for under the Republican Constitution, saying they should clean up the voters' register for 2011 by removing all registered deceased voters.

"We have information that the current voters' register is carrying more than 200,000 of dead registered voters. So we want these to be removed from the register," Kabimba said.

"Secondly, clean up the voters' register by removing all duplicated entries or double entries. We have information that there are people whose names appear more than once on the same register. We would like ECZ to clean up the register and remove these people so that each one of us has only one entry in the register."

Kabimba said ECZ should advertise the voters' register in the press to enable voters know their polling centres and avoid the fiasco the nation experienced during the voter verification exercise.

"We shall be writing to the election observation to ask them to finance this exercise if ECZ has no money because that may be their excuse," Kabimba said. "Advertise all tallying centres in the press in all polling districts. We want to know; where is the tallying of results going to take place?"