Ruling Patriotic Front Luapula Constituency Candidate Chanda Katotobwe has handed over a BMW motor vehicle to a PF supporter who had his vehicle damaged by opposition UPND supporters in Lusaka last month.
The motor vehicle valued at K95,000 and fuel worth K5,000 was handed over to Mr Michael Mali, aged 34, a resident of Lusaka as a replacement after UPND cadres damaged his vehicle during their road show along Zambezi Road in Roma Township.
Mr Katotobwe has since appealed for peace as the country heads to the August 12th general elections adding that the PF has no appetite for violence.
He further called for tolerance and maximum restraint among PF supporters even in the face of provocation from opposition supporters.
Speaking during a brief handover ceremony of the vehicle, Mr Katotobwe advised PF supporters not to apply any physical revenge when attacked by opposition members.
He stated that the best form of revenge should be in the Ballot Box on election day by electing President Edgar Lungu and all the other candidates standing on the PF ticket.
“Our gesture today is meant to demonstrate that as the PF, we stand for peace always. We have replaced the damaged BMW with this new one because we do not believe in retribution. Our message to our members is that we only revenge on election day in the Ballot Box by ticking on PF candidates,” Mr Katotobwe stressed.
He added, “We only have one Zambia and we should do everything to safeguard the peace that we enjoy in this country. Political violence is a vice that should be condemned by all and we hope that this gesture will be used to promote a culture of tolerance and co-existence among political party supporters.”
The PF Luapula Constituency Candidate also commended President Edgar Lungu for signing a peace pledge ahead of the election which he said is a clear demonstration of the Head of State’s commitment to peace building.
“We are the ruling and winning party hence we have the responsibility to safeguard peace and property. This is the main objective of this gesture because we want to quench violence. As the ruling party, we don’t envy violence and we have the mandate to protect all before and after August 12th,” Mr Katotobwe said.
He added, “President Lungu is the ruler of this country and all the people of Zambia including opposition people are under his rule and as a party President Lungu has won elections using the ballot paper in 2015, 2016 and even this year, we will use the ballot paper to win.”
The vehicle handover ceremony which took place near the PF office on the scene of the attack on Zambezi Road was attended by PF Member of the Central Committee Paul Moonga, Lusaka PF Mayoral Candidate Chilando Chitangala and senior PF officials from Mandevu Constituency.
And receiving the vehicle, Mr Mali thanked Mr Katotobwe and the PF for the gesture lamenting that his movements were severely affected after his vehicle was damaged.
He pledged to promote and advocate for a spirit of tolerance among political supporters in an effort to maintain peace ahead of the August 12th polls.
Wow that’s great . I will vote
Just replacing another campaign vehicle with the one damaged. They are part of one-team kikikikikiki. .. how do you over-brand one’s personal and private vehicle like that?
The truth is UPND Alliance never had a Road Show in Roma Township and ECL didn’t sign the Peace and Non-Violent Pact becoz he snubbed the Meeting of Political Leaders at Mulungushi Conference Centre. It was SG Mwila who insencerely signed the Accord.