THE stakes for these coming elections are extremely high, says MMD presidential candidate Nevers Mumba.
Speaking on KBN TV, Mumba said young people were very eager and anxious to know who their next President would be.
“In a situation where life has become unbearable, Zambians are almost in the deep waters of poverty, deep waters of want, deep waters of lack, deep waters of desperation and they want to find out, ‘who is going to help us get out of this crisis? So the stakes for this election are extremely high and that is why the talk about violence seems to be coming into play,” he said in response to interviewer Kennedy Mambwe’s question on rising political violence.
Mumba said there was desperation by Patriotic Front and UPND to win the election.
He said the PF understand that the political history of the country had not been kind to a political party in government that messes with mealie-meal, high poverty levels, that is accused of corruption. The Zambian people are unforgiving when it comes to corruption,” he said.
Mumba said UNIP was removed from government because they messed with mealie-meal, which was a political asset and barometer for whether a party remains in government or would be removed.
He said the second aspect was corruption.
Mumba said MMD was removed from office on accusation that the party was corrupt.
“And Michael Sata of PF, May his soul rest in peace, preached that message so effectively that it sunk in the minds of Zambians that MMD was corrupt and because Zambians are very unforgiving for corruption, they could not keep MMD in power,” Mumba said.
He said the PF understand this history.
“Not only have they messed with mealie-meal which we left at K25 per 25kg breakfast meal, it is now above K150 which is totally unreasonable for an ordinary Zambian. So they understand they have triggered the thermometer that triggers that this political party may not make it. The second thing is corruption. There is a perception that the Patriotic Front has demonstrated high levels of corruption, perceived or not perceived.”
Mumba said this was not just perceived in Zambia but was an international phenomenon where the country had been listed as one of the countries not doing well in corruption fight.
He said if PF were to win the election then it would be assumed Zambians had changed.
“Zambians punished UNIP and MMD and now PF which has two sins, the other political parties had one sin each, so the PF understand that this will be a difficult election for them. So in order to safeguard what they have violence becomes the natural reaction to intimidate, to cow and pull down opponent,” he said.
On UPND, Mumba said the party had been attempting to form government a number of times but could not.
“Now this time around, there is a very high level of desperation, it’s now or never! In other words they are not listening to any restrictions that anybody is putting there,” Mumba said. “If they are hit here (right cheek, they will give the other side) because it is a desperate moment for the UPND. What I have painted for you is what characterises the violence that you (Mambwe) are talked about.”
The former Republican vice-president said if Zambians make the mistake to vote for one of the two political parties, violence would spiral in dynamics never known.
“Let us say UPND wins, PF is not gonna let them have it easy because UPND have not made it easy for them, so they are going to say ok this time we are going to show you and then if UPND is in government they are going to say we have the guns, we have the police, we will sort you out. That could result in some violence that we may not manage,” Mumba said.
He emphasised that the violence was coming out of the desperation of the two parties.
“I think that they (PF and UPND) are desperate and this is what should scare the Zambians. The levels of desperation by the two parties is now beyond the desire to govern, it’s now ‘I have more power to show you and once I win I will teach you a lesson’, it’s no longer about the Zambian people and I hope Zambian people can read this. And this is where MMD comes in,” Mumba said.
He said MMD was known as a political party that concentrated on building the economy and empowering Zambians.
He said MMD ensured Zambian houses were satisfied with essential commodities that were affordable.
Mumba said violence would be cut if MMD is voted into power.
Asked why hatred was endemic only in politics, Mumba said on his way back from a campaign trail in Chisamba last week he saw something he had never imagined.
“As we were entering Lusaka, we were seeing vehicles turning around, coming back and we asked and we were told to turn around because the PF had blocked the road. I was thinking it was a joke and we drove on and we found the whole road was filled with PF young men and women with big stones, machetes. I only see these machetes on television. I saw these young men with bandanas around their heads and the vehicles were off the road. They were looking for UPND, vehicles that looked like they belong to the opposition party and they were throwing stones to break the windscreens,” Mumba said. “When I saw that I realised that I need to speak to the nation, that we are not cursed to only be left with two options for government.”
Mumba said MMD was on the ballot to give Zambians a break from the violent type of politics.
He said it was not right to be restricted to two choices only.
“And these two choices are engaged in a fight that even if UPND won tomorrow, this fight will never end and the only way to get Zambia back to be the peace-loving nation, and a nation that concentrates on making sure that we deliver goods and services to Zambian, we need to have a level minded government,” Mumba said.
He said there was nothing Christian about the behaviour of the PF and UPND.
Mumba said giving the two parties votes was perpetuating the status quo of politics in the country.
He also noted that some churches had take sides with political parties, who when they misbehave the church was silent.
He said PF and UPND were doing a disservice to the country and were becoming a danger to the country’s future.
Mumba also noted that some church leaders were unable to speak against the PF, which butter their bread.
He urged bishops and pastors to begin to guide the politics away from violence.
However, Mumba singled out the Catholic Church who he said had been consistent in challenging the government when need arose and speaking for Zambians.
Asked if he was ready for the election, Mumba said the election was in the hands of God and Zambians.
He advised Zambians to listen to the campaign messages of political parties.
“I was listening to a campaign song of the Patriotic Front saying alebwelelapo, aleteka, alebwela whether you like it or not and I said what type of campaigning is that? It sounds like arrogance,” Mumba said. “When we have money we even sing songs that should never be sung in a democracy. Democracy is an art of persuasion; you persuade people by virtue of what you are going to do for them, not the arrogance of saying whether you like it or not we are going to come back and govern. Once a political party gets to that level, they now become a danger to the development of the country,” he said.
Mumba said MMD stands a very good chance in the election.
He said in 2011 MMD had a lot of money than PF has and even braded trees but Zambians kept quiet only to shock them in the booth.
“The best shock moving forward it to get a totally new approach as we move to 2022 by putting MMD under our leadership which new hope and has repented of its sins of yesterday and has a new leader who believes in justice, equity and the fear of God,” he said.
He said there was a moral majority in the country that would vote for what was right.