MMD taught lesson in Msanzala - Muteteka

MMD taught lesson in Msanzala - Muteteka
By Ernest Chanda
Sun 19 Feb. 2012, 12:01 CAT

MOSES Muteteka says MMD has been taught a lesson in the Msanzala by-election for fielding a reject as its candidate. But MMD national chairman Michael Mabenga attributed the loss to what he termed intimidation from members of the ruling Patriotic Front party.

Reflecting on the party's loss in the Msanzala by-election, Muteteka who is the party's national youth chairman and Chisamba member of parliament, said the party candidate Peter Daka was imposed on the people.

He said the party leadership did not consult widely before adopting Daka.
"The loss in Msanzala is not a reflection of the weakness in the MMD; it's a reflection of the candidate who MMD fielded. Less than four months ago Peter Daka lost, and then some people nominated him and adopted him without consensus. Personally I was not part of that adoption, so I didn't even know who adopted Daka, but they went," Muteteka said.

"But they've taught MMD a lesson because of MMD trying to field a person who is a reject. So people of Msanzala have told the nation that they don't want Peter Daka, but they want MMD. Just like we lost at the national level, people didn't want RB Rupiah Banda. So it's the person; in Chisamba the people wanted me and they voted for me."

Asked who made the mistake of adopting Daka against the will of the constituents, Muteteka attributed it to some national executive committee members.

He said the NEC members knew that Daka was a weak candidate but they went ahead and adopted him.

"They went ahead and took him back there, as if Petauke has no credible people who can contest. So, that is the thing which has made us lose, not the party. The people of Msanzala constituency just don't want Peter Daka. He himself Peter Daka is the one who is not wanted, it's not MMD," he said.

"So whoever has won, people want him. Whoever has lost, people don't want him. So, the issue is that whoever adopted Peter Daka should bear the cost, should pay the price. I don't know who adopted him. I just heard that Peter Daka is the candidate, I don't know where they had the meeting and who contributed. They never consulted me. I'm a NEC member, I don't know where they sat and discussed that Peter Daka is a stable candidate. If I was present, I would have argued."

Asked what lessons the party leadership had learnt from the loss, Muteteka responded: "We need to reach consensus in whatever we are trying to do. The lesson we have learnt is that when you don't extensively consult then you crash. So, the lesson is that let's dialogue, let's promote consultation among members of the party."

And Mabenga said there was a bit of uncertainty in some of the MMD members.
"And secondly there was a lot of intimidation, so you can see that not even 50 per cent of the voters went to vote, they were intimidated. Now, this kind of politics is not good. So, this does not diminish the chances of the party going forward; we are still there," he said.

Asked if it was true that the party had picked on a rejected candidate, Mabenga said NEC picked on candidates given to it by lower organs of the party.

"And so, if the candidate was a wrong candidate then that's very unfortunate. Anyway it's a lesson to learn. We are going to have a clinical way of looking at our candidates. We're going to have a clinical assessment so that we don't have the kind of results we have gotten from Msanzala. The response we were getting while we were campaigning was very positive. But, anyway, what can we do? The results have come and we have to accept it," said Mabenga.

In Thursday's Msanzala parliamentary by-election, PF candidate Colonel Joseph Lungu scooped the seat after beating MMD's Peter Daka.

Col Lungu polled 7,172; Daka got 4,065; UNIP's Shadreck Banda got 201, while Usman Maumba, an independent candidate polled 355.

The seat fell vacant after Col Lungu, then independent member of parliament, resigned and joined the PF.