Losing MDC Alliance presidential candidate Newton Chamisa should be magnanimous enough to accept defeat, says Green Party president Peter Sinkamba.
Commenting on the just ended parliamentary and presidential elections in Zimbabwe, Mr. Sinkamba said whilst it is true that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) did not address concerns raised by stakeholders with regards to the design, printing, and dispatch of ballot papers as well as not permitting meaningful observation of the production of ballot papers or testing of indelible ink, including State media and other state resources which were abused throughout the pre-election period to the advantage the ruling party, however, voters did cast their votes freely and enmass.
Mr. Sinkamba said for the first time in many years, election environment on voting day was more peaceful and open than in previous elections including the presence of international observers.
He singled out the signing of the National Peace Pledge and the Code of Conduct by the political parties as having helped reduce tension during the campaign period. He however condemned the MDC Alliance for failing to prevail over their cadres whilst votes verification was underway resulting in widespread chaos and tragic loss of 6 lives.
Mr. Sinkamba said that voters roll had improved from 2013. He however noted that urban registration lagged behind rural registration with 73% of voters in urban areas registering to vote compared to 82% in rural areas.
He said the MDC Alliance lost because less people registered to vote in urban areas where it had strong support whilst ZANU-PF won due to strong support in rural areas where more people registered to vote.
“At 98% of polling stations, all polling agents present were given an official copy of the V11 results forms, and the official results were immediately posted for all interested parties to examine. It was only at 2% of polling stations were official copies of the V11 results forms not provided to all polling agents and the official results not immediately posted. However, aggregation by independent election monitors and observers of all V11 results forms posted confirm the results which were announced by ZEC were correct,” he said.
“Therefore, losing MDC Alliance presidential candidate Chamisa should just be magnanimous enough to accept defeat. It will be more honourable of him if he accepts the invitation extended to him by the president-elect Mnangagwa to work together in the interest of the nation,” he said.
Who is Newton Chamisa? Only heard of Nelson Chamisa.
Whatever the first name is, Nelson, Newton, Newtown, Nestead, that is irrelevant. The chap should grow up and know there is life after elections. There are other equally important tasks one can do in the service of the Nation
Zambians….he is not Newton please. …his name is Nelson Chamisa…..soon you will be saying he is Zambian
What does Peter Sinkamba know about how the elections in Zimbabwe were conducted? Did he have monitors who observed the polls. It’s better to shut up sometimes. What if Chamisa goes to court and wins? Didn’t that sort of thing happen in Kenya? If he needed to comment on our neighbour’s elections, he should have wished them well and hoped that those who did not accept the results would adduce evidence. Sinkamba’s in no position to judge the fairness or unfairness of the polls.
Green Party when off the green stuff is wiser than the the reject of Zambia who doesn’t want to go away, far away in spite of a chain of losses.
With that comment, you might be on that Mary Jane too kikikiki.
I totally agree with Sinkamba. Chamisa is an excited, know-it-all self-centred chap who needs serious counselling. His conduct before, during voting and counting, and after declaration of results could have easily set Zimbabwe into flames.
Accept and move on Chamisa because Zimbabwe is bigger than you.
This boy will never have a chance like this again as rural areas are not hard to impress just a tarred road and good maize buying price is all it takes….Zimbabwe will soon be offered loans!!
This boy stands a better chance next election than u5
Change starts in urban cosmopolitan areas
What’s worrying is that he’s very childish just like u5
He lost. Period¡!
iwe peter chlKAMBA just learn to mind your own business. When in zambia you cannot hold free and fair elections who are you to take a the high moral ground to comment on another country’s internal issues. How can this guy become president of zambia when he does not know the simply rule of international relations and diplomacy? Never comment on such contentious issues until they have been resolved legally. You are embarrasing zambians please
Zimbabwe issues are Zambia issues. We provided refuge to Zimbabweans during the liberation war. That was an internal issue for Zimbabwe. Post independence, we kept economic refugees from Zimbabwe during Mugabe reign. There are over 1 million Zimbabwe economic refugees in Zambia. Thus, only a foolish political leader is disinterested in Zimbabwe politics as politics of that country has a bearing on Zambia economically, socially and politically
He’s the HH of Zimbabwe never accept defeat unless he wins.
Nelson Chamisa lost that election fair and square and there are no 2 ways about it. There is no shame in accepting defeat. MDC was very disorganised and plagued with in fighting after the death of Tshangarai. Chamisa himself dubiously assumed leadership of MDC without following procedure so had little support from most of the members who were still mourning their dear leader when he unlawfully assumed the MDC presidency!
There is little or no criticism of the electoral process even after Mnangagwa just escaped the bombing earlier in Bulawayo – and you can imagine the out cry it was Chamisa that narrowly escaped death.
People trust the Crocodile and cant just Trust this little Chamisa who never even fought the war that ushered the Zimbabwean independence. Chamisa is just a joker and a…
from comments above, zambia is now a stronghold for ZANU-PF
Sinkamba: My advice to you is please leave the Zimbabweans to sort out their politics. Don’t play the peace maker while you are completely ignorant of what actually happened. Don’t be fooled by election monitors who, in my opinion, can be likened to corrupt referees who, against all evidence, spoil the game, by helping the losing team to win. Can you explain why election results were ‘deliberately delayed’ while the monitors were mum. Remember: silence is golden, speech is silver.
My fellow Zambians u don’t know what is on tht ground thts why u saying wht ever u ar saying. Media is nt showing you everything tht is happening so it’s better u keep quiet sort out your own issues. We ar suffering us Zimbabweans bcz of these same guys our families ar nt at peace bcz of them so plz leave us we sort it ourselves thnk u.
Comment: you don’t know anything about Zimbabwe politics.chamisa won the elections
If the elections were rigged how come he even managed to reap some 44 parliamentary seats. Anyway it’s not my business to poke my flat nose in their affairs.
Nelson Chamisa should not have made the remarks he made even before full counting of votes was completed. He also made the same mistake that “öur own”made by declaring that he was not going to accept the outcome if he does not win the election. The reports by “Observers” were correct. They reported on what they observed on the ground. We should never mistake “Observers”for “Investigators” Their (observers) job is just to observe and report. If there are issues of vote disputes every country has their own systems to investigate and present evidence in their courts. The size of campaign rallies are just indicative of your potential votes Mr Chamisa. Some of those on your rallies where just inquisitive and not effective supporters.