We are closely working together with UPND-Chituwo

MMD vice-president for administration Brian Chituwo has disclosed that his party’s leadership and that of the United Party for National Development (UPND) are closely working together ahead of the forthcoming Mufumbwe parliamentary by elections.

And MMD chairman for elections Gabriel Namulambe has accused the Patriotic Front (PF) of bribing voters with K5000 notes and planning to cause chaos in the area by dressing up their cadres in MMD regalia.

Responding media reports that the UPND was withdrawing its support from the MMD in the Mufumbwe by election, Dr Chituwo admitted that no Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two parties was signed, but that they had agreed to support each other owing their existing loose alliance.

Dr Chituwo disclosed that two opposition parties had agreed that should there be areas of concern, they needed to be discussed by senior members from both sides and wondered if there was need to state in the press even if there was no MoU existing between MMD and UPND.

“Indeed, there is no MoU as such. So that is true, but was there a need, therefore, to say that in the press?

”To counteract that I want to state that as far as Mufumbwe is concerned, MMD, UPND leadership is working side by side, supporting one another because we agreed that in Mufumbwe MMD and UPND will work together and that is positive. That is the situation at the moment,” he said.

And Mr Namulambe accused the PF of dishing out K5000 to individuals in Mufumbwe’s Yasonso area on Tuesday and that the MMD had evidence to that effect as some of its members were some of the beneficiaries and it would use that that as evidence “should the worse comes to the worst”.

“We are again aware of the fact that because of the diminishing popularity of PF despite being the ruling party and that they are not known in the area they intend to ferry some people to Mufumbwe with MMD party regalia so as to go and cause confusion. I don’t know where they will pick them from, but that’s the information we have,” he said.

Mr Namulambe appealed to the PF to observe the Electoral Code of Conduct and in a manner that befitted it as a ruling party, adding that Mufumbwe electorates should be left to vote peacefully without engaging in any form of violence.

Mr Namulambe said all political players participating in the November 8, 2012 by elections should preach a message of peace by focusing on issue-based campaigns as opposed to fighting, adding that acts of violence “are minds of primitive people”.

Mr Namulambe said the MMD had since been sensitizing its members to desist from acts of violence even when provoked and that electoral violence had a potential of tarnishing Zambia’s image of being a haven of peace.

He also expressed optimism that the MMD candidate, Stafford Mulusa would scoop the Mufumbwe seat as former area MP Steven Masumba was arrogant and disrespectful, the attributes the voters were no happy about and that his findings after being in Mufumbwe had revealed the former ruling party’s candidate was the favorite to win the seat.

Mr Namulambe added that it was a known fact that all along the battle in Mufumbwe had always been between MMD and UPND, hence his confidence as being the favorite to win the seat which was left vacant after the MMD expelled Mr Masumba from the party who later defected to PF.