SHELL SHOCKED PF TO IMPORT RENTED CROWDS TO TRY TO BEAT HH’S NORTHERN RALLIES
By Richard Aaron Ngoma
Impeccable sources within the Patriotic Front have revealed that the Party is in such a shock of UPND President Hakainde Hichilema’s grandiose entry into the Northern Regions, that President Edgar Lungu may do all within his executive powers to reverse his political archrival’s fortunes, including flying Airforce Jets to flaunt pomp and splendor, as a show of force.
The President has reportedly ordered the PF Secretary General to ensure they transport carders from the entire Northern and Luapula provinces to attend his rallies. K20 million Kwacha is said to have been released for the operation. The PF have also ordered for truckloads of beers to be ferried to Lukashya and Mwansabombwe to ‘liven’ up the mood.
“President Edgar Lungu is not exactly thrilled that Hichilema stole the national limelight often reserved for Presidents during the Parliamentary State of the Nation Address, by conducting highly successful campaign meetings in Luapula Province”.
“The noisy cadres all dressed up in PF colours, most of them high on ‘something’ have been put on long columns of buses and trucks headed for Kasama and Mwansabombwe. If you have never seen money rain like hailstorm from heaven, you must see Lungu’s campaign in Mwansabombwe and Lukasya”, said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Despite the vote buying and other corrupt practices by the PF on voters, social commentators however view the Northern region’s warming towards the UPND leader as problematic for the PF on many fronts.
This is because the PF ran on the narrative of the Deputy Mobilization Chairperson Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba, who declared what he termed as ‘all Bemba speaking Provinces’ as ‘no go areas’ for the UPND President.
With Hakainde Hichilema’s triumphant entry into the North and his surging popularity, the attempted balkanization of the Northern regions by the PF appear to have crumbled and is becoming a huge embarrassment for the ruling party which has persistently painted Hichilema’s UPND Party, a regional political organisation. The PF appear to be in a post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as a result of the North’s outpouring of solidarity and support of Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND, many commentators may observe.-Zambia Eagle