LOCAL government minister Charles Banda says there is no political party in Zambia that has brought development while in government than the Patriotic Front.
And Eastern Province UPND chairperson Johabie Mtonga says the country is now in dirty hands and therefore urged people of Vubwi district to make the right decision in the by-election.
Addressing party members after escorting PF candidate in filing nominations for the Vubwi council chairperson by-election on Thursday, Banda, who is the campaign manager, urged party members not to lose focus but to work hard.
“Nikhulupilira kuti ife tonse tidziwa chomwe tabwelera kuno, chilonda tamasula kale kuja, chomwe chakhalako tsopano nikusakila mankhwala kuti chilonda chipole. Obweletsa mankhwala ndani, PF! Tisakopele yai PF ndiye chipani chachitukuko muno mu Zambia, chikhalire kuchoka independence kufika lomba palibe chipani chinachitako chitukuko monga PF (I trust we all know why we have come here. We have already opened the wound there, what is remaining now is to find medicine so that the wound can be healed. Who is going to bring the medicine? It’s PF! We should not brink or we should not lose focus, PF is the party that is bringing development in Zambia. Since independence up to now, there is no political party that has brought development more than PF),” he said.
Banda said the first time when he went to Vubwi, the area looked deserted but that the place had now changed.
“I brought late president Michael Sata here and he asked whether Vubwi was in Zambia or not. I told him that yes, it is in Zambia and I told him that when you win, you should accord Vubwi district status. As I speak, once the meeting is over there will be nothing like rushing to Chipata but we’ll spend the night here because of the district status which has come with a lot of things. The district status has brought development and it will continue bringing development. These are the messages that you should be telling the people here,” he said.
Banda, who is also Kapoche member of parliament, said the people of Vubwi do not need to go to Chadiza to seek services of a district commissioner or district agricultural coordinator because they now have such officers.
And Mtonga pleaded with the people of Vubwi to make the right decision by voting for Sakala.
“The people of Vubwi are the ones who know the problems of Vubwi. As UPND, we shall work closely with the local people. As UPND, we are not going to impose anything on the people of Vubwi, we shall only do what the people of Vubwi want. This by-election should be violence free,” he said.
Mtonga said the by-election in Vubwi would signal the start of the change process that people are looking for.
“This is just a start, we are now prepared than before. They (PF) defeated us in Kamimba ward in Lumezi district but we learnt a lot of things and we will do the right thing and we are ready. We want to get back our country. This country is now in dirty hands. Please, please people of Vubwi, vote PF out on 4th February and bring UPND, it is you the people of Vubwi who should liberate yourselves from this brutal regime,” he said.
UPND campaign manager Jimmy Chella Mwelwa said his party had adopted Given Sakala, who was a youth with direction.
“Our group (UPND) is made up of focused adults and youths, we are ready to change government and we want to show that the people of Vubwi are ready for that change. What will happen here will be an example of what will happen in August. We want to send HH to State House, we want the people of Vubwi to stop suffering. We have got people here with good results but they can’t afford to go to school. We have got farmers here but they don’t get enough fertiliser, most fertilisers are given to PF cadres, so we want a government which is going to represent the people of Zambia,” Mwelwa said.
Meanwhile, Eastern Province MMD chairperson Yoramu Jere said the former ruling party was going to do scientific campaigns to ensure party candidate Faindani Mbewe wins the seat.
Jere thanked the Electoral Commission of Zambia for handling the nomination in a professional manner.