The filing in of nominations by candidates for the Livingstone parliamentary by-elections have started at the Livingstone City Council.
Opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy’s (MMD) Fred Siasuntwe was the first candidate to file his nominations at 10:00 hours.
Mr. Siasuntwe was flanked by nine supporters who were led by the party’s Vice President Michael Kaingu.
He was also accompanied by overzealous party cadres who waited outside council chambers as he (Mr. Siasuntwe) filed in his nominations.
Two other candidates, United Party for National Development’s (UPND) Regina Musokotwane and Patriotic Front’s Lawrence Evans are yet to file in their nominations.
The filing in of nominations is expected to end at about 15:00 hours today.
The Livingstone by-election, which is scheduled to take place on 28th February 2013, fell vacant after former UPND MP Howard Sikwela resigned from the opposition party due to alleged hostility from the party members.
Ballot papers for the forthcoming Mpongwe and Livingstone parliamentary by-elections will be printed in the United Kingdom-UK-.
Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) senior Public relations Officer, Sylvia Bwalya has told ZNBC news that ballot papers will be printed by a firm known as Smith and Ouznam.
Ms. Bwalya has also disclosed that ballot papers for the 36 ward local Government elections will also be printed in the UK by smith and ouznam.
Ms. Bwalya says this is not the first time that ECZ has used the UK based printing firm for ballot papers.
She says ballots papers for the Mufumbwe by election were printed by the same company.
She explained that ECZ has not used government printers to print ballot papers for the Livingstone and Mpongwe by-elections because government printers are not ready to undertake such an exercise.
But the Government printers recently told ZNBC news that the department has the capacity and is ready to print ballots papers.
Meanwhile, the ECZ have reminded media houses to give free and fair coverage to all political parties that will contest the forthcoming Mpongwe and Livingstone parliamentary by-elections.
ECZ commissioner, Fredrick Ngandu made the call when he addressed stakeholders at Mpongwe city centre on Wednesday.
ZANIS
Chiwamina galu kuluma mbuzi
UPND will win the Seat because PF has not achieved anything and most Zambians are getting frustrated. Even ka constitution fye pf has failed
Kodi mbuzi siyingalume galu?
Whatever happened to ballot papers being printed in Zambia by Government Printers? Yeze boza niave?
Those printers are so manipulable they can easily be bribed. However I dont think we enrich our former colonial masters
Those printers are so manipulable they can easily be bribed. However I dont think we should be enriching our former colonial masters
Livingstone needs a l/stone resident not this musokotwane who resides in lusaka was mp for katombora for 2 terms and yet cant point at any thing to say thats what she did,she was left in the 2011 adoptions by upnd,only to be picked now becoz they dont have anyone else to pick and she accepted becoz despite many atempts of pleading for a job from sata nothing has been forth coming.what development ll she bring now which she failed to bring in two terms??NO THIRD TERM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
True, I agree totally with you. HH is now recycling his MP’s how can he pick Regina whom he shunned in the 2011 elections. Lets hope she LOSES
THE END OF A TRIBAL, REGIONAL PARTY IN LIVINGSTONE HAS COME. THIS IS GOOD. THE PEOPLE OF LIVINGSTONE ARE PROGRESSIVE. THEY DONT WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE.
@chisenga tell me a place which has been developed by pf since they came into power?
iwe chimbwi..PF will not win ..watch the space..no matter how you bribe the people.your brian Hapunda chap should be honest with you..
“He was also accompanied by overzealous party cadres ” …. What was the zealousness about, for them to be referred to as such? Some descriptions shouldn’t stand on their own. Terrible journalism!
They are now competing with the watch mbwa ku bukopo;
He was also accompanied by overzealous party cadres who waited outside council chambers as he (Mr. Siasuntwe) filed in his nominations.
Actually the fact that these cadres stayed outside while he was filing shows they are not very zealous!
PF will scoop this seat
Zambians in Diaspora continue to be frustrated by the PF government lack of efforts to meet not even a simple promise they made during the campaign. As much as providing more money in the pocket and providing employment to the youths looks a little complicated and requires more time, printing ballot papers , should be a non brainier.
We are afraid that if the PF gvt can not meet that simple promise of printing the ballots by government printers, we are afraid they will not meet any. Therefore we feel that PF duped the citizens and continue to do so.
Could some truth for once be told about the motive of having these ballot papers printed in the UK. Already there is a discrepancy in the stories from ECZ and Government Printers. The former says Government printers has no capacity while Government Printers say they do have capacity and are ready to do the job. This leaves one to either a) suspect someone is benefiting financially or b) someone is going to have an advantage in the electral process. Now that the two institutions realise that they aren’t singing from the same hymn, we will be fed a different story. Just for arguments sake, if there are ghost voters, isn’t it just possible that whoever the beneficiary is can have these voters papers maked in their candidates name and added to the rest on the substative day (vote rigging)?
“Two other candidates, ………………………………..and Patriotic Front’s Lawrence Evans are yet to file in their nominations”
Good the documented crook alobelyauma? Good lesson. My brother you ve been rebased.
PF should be ashamed..people vote wisely..no achievements by PF..UPND is the way to go..sexy sikwela is useless..
stop living in the past no one is talking about sikwela here,romour has it sikwela is at his farm in zimba and you re there still yaping about him
as usual UPND was playing Mashombe Blue jeans while all cadres where chanting ‘kumbele’ when going to the Civic centre. some of these things can be avoided. does it have to be so obvious that its a regional one tribe party. Livingstone has since changed from the usual tonga & lozi, most people now speak bemba & nyanja; UPND should try to move away from their usual tonga thoughts.
how do you want them to pay kolwestan songs full of insults..?
CNP-4U that’s the kind of reasong that will never see us tongas in state house. most of us are as bitter as you are. shame
This Bemba and Nyanja hegemony is not good and is unacceptable. Did you want them to sing Bemba and Nyanja songs? For what? What is wrong with a Tonga song? Can PF cadres in Kasama, Mansa or Mpika sing a Tonga, Kaonde or Lozi song?
M.oro.n! People should be able to sing in whatever language they want to! It is these kind of stu.pid comments that give credence to people who are calling for the country to go its separate ways so that people like M’make Mpundu would not feel threatened by people speaking other languages! They will be surrounded only by people of their ethnicity who speak their language. Luvale, Kaonde, Lunda, Bemba, Tonga Lozi and Nyanja are the local languages that have a semi official status as they are taught in schools and broadcast on national radio! So live with it or go jump into the Mosi O Tunya gorge!
What about the parallel mmd led by Cathy and Dick?
How about Mojor Kachingwe and Namugala did they even go there? ha ha
The die is cast! Arise L/stonians to show how civilized we have become as the most cosmopolitan city in Zambia where all tribes and ethinic groupings, indigenous and settlers have peacefully enjoyed to live in harmony. Let reason and logic prevail upon empty campaigns. All parties promise lies, but we have to pick one of the best liars. Bye-election does not change Govt, so the way go is to follow your heart and vote for a suitable local/resident MP, not talkative absentee MP, once voted for make Lusaka their base. God open our hearts and eyes to vote for the one you have already anointed as our MP. Ignore campaign messages just vote wisely and prayerfully.Amen.
I agree with you. The only disappointing factor is that essentially Zambian MPs, whether residents of the constituencies or not, just work for their bellies and their families. The voters are just like ladders to help these MPs climb to the top.
@4.1 ftj. HOW DO YOU DEFINE DEVELOPMENT? PLEASE LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE. UPND HAS BEEN CLINGING TO LIVINGSTONE OR SP. WHAT DEVELOPMENT HAVE THEY BROUHT TO L/STONE OR SP? THE PF GOVERNMENT HAS AN ELABORATE PLAN TO DEVELOP THE NATION. THE NEW DISTRICTS CREATED ARE EARMARKED FOR DEVELOPMENT. THEY HAVE AN ELABORATE PLAN OF BUILDING ROADS. BIG INVESTMENT IN BUILDING HEALTH CENTRES AND POSTS. A MUCH MORE PROGRESSIVE WAY OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS. THE ANTICORRUPTION DRIVE IS GOOD AND PRAISED BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL STABILITY ETC. ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY. AND THE PEOPLE OF ZAMBIA WILL SPEAK IN THE FORTH-COMING TWO NOW FOUR BYE ELECTIONS. WE ALL KNOW THAT BITTER PEOPLE ALWAYS WANT TO THROW MUD AT SATA. BUT ONCE THE MUD DRIES. IT FALLS OFF ON ITS OWN.
Ba Chisenga ama elaborate plans mulelandapo yabakwisa. We just here someone waking up and declaring a new district here and a new province. I foyu show me the plans I will be the first to support the effecting of these.
Ba Chisenga ama elaborate plans mulelandapo yabakwisa? We just hear someone waking up and declaring a new district here and a new province there. I f you show me the plans I will be the first to support the effecting of these.
In bye-elections,the trend has been that the Party in government usually has an upper hand due to huge resources at their disposal.The real test of popularity is a general election and the margins by which they win seats in a bye-election.
Koma Livingstone looks dusty and archaic in that pix. Can’t we spruce up our tourism capital or is it all about being the real Africa?
I remember Presido Sata Promising that the Chongwe and Nakonde bye – elections ballot papers will be the last to be printed outside Zambia at a Church Service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in 2011.
PROMISE MADE IN CHURCH.
Politics is all about baba tone. Shakulya uwujenjele.