PF campaign Rallies in Pictures
PF Vows to Launch a Vigorous Nationwide Campaign to Retire HH after 2021 Elections
The Patriotic Front (PF) National Mobilization Committee has vowed to launch a vigorous nationwide campaign that will send UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema into retirement in 2021.
Committee Chairperson who is also Mines Minister Hon. Richard Musukwas has made it categorically clear that the ruling party is not swayed by Hichilema’s social media hullabaloo and innuendos as it is on the ground working.
He said while the perennial election loser is busy making memes on social media , PF is on the ground ensuring that Zambians receive their well deserved development.
“Again in 2021 we launching a serious robust campaign across the country and we will ensure that we provide an emphatic defeat to the opposition who are always postulating on social media while PF is busy working and the things that we have done in terms of infrastructure people are able to see .” Said Hon . Musukwa during a press briefing .
He added that Hakainde had no capacity to fix anything in the country especially when his track record reveals that he ruined everything when he was given an opportunity to handle national assets way back .
“What are you going to fix about climate change , which is not synonymous to Zambia only? what are you going to fix about COVID-19 which is not synonymous to Zambia only?what are you going to fix about commodity prices that happen at a global platform? What we would like to urge Zambians is that yes we are alive with the challenges that our people and country at large are facing in this global imbalance , but His Excellency the President Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu and PF have provided leadership.”Said Hon. Musukwa .
He emphasized that leading a country required longterm focus , and not a matter of people who were just excited about going to the statehouse.
“Colleagues leading the country at the level of President is not like changing our babies’ napkins every day. Leading a country requires consistency, leading a country requires longterm focus, it’s not just a matter of people who are excited about going to statehouse is not for experiments. The Zambian people have vested their trust in Edgar Chagwa Lungu as their President and their candidate for 2021.” Hon. Musukwa told Journalists.
And further, Hon. Musukwa said that PF was aware that the opposition has been propelling propaganda of all sorts together with foreign agents of the so-called regime change.
“Zambians can never be influenced by foreigners and foreign elements whose interests are to exploit our resources to the advantage of few individuals whom we have been able to see their track record when they had a little slot, an opportunity to manage some of our national affairs,” he stated.
He has also urged party members who left to return without hesitation.
“Some of the people who have gone are actually regretting their decisions so come back to your party, come back to PF because this is the party you founded and ensured that we drive our party to another level,” he stated.
Hon. Musukwa has also encouraged the student populace and technocrats who support the ruling party to continue doing so.
“I encourage our students and technocrats across the country who support PF and our values that you are the bedrock of our wisdom in terms of ensuring that we run and operate a government and a party on informed principles. He reiterated.
Meanwhile Hon. Musukwa remained unapologetic for the party’s call to ensure that all of its eligible supporters especially
Why Nawakwi and Tilyenji Should Give Way to Fresh Legs in 2021
By Parkie Mbozi
THE UNITED National Independence Party (UNIP), Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), United Party for National Development (UPND), Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) and the Patriotic Front (PF) are Zambia’s oldest political parties (in that order) from the pack of parties that have been competing for power in the last 20 years. And Tilyenji Kaunda of UNIP and Edith Nawakwi of FDD are the longest serving opposition leaders, having been the helm of their parties since 2001 and 2005 respectively.
The political fortunes of the PF and UPND have been on the rise in the last 10 years to the extent that PF is now in power and UPND as its closest and fiercest rival. MMD ruled until 2011. The opposite can be about UNIP and FDD. They are parties that have progressively been on the downhill with miserable performances during the last four elections.Collectively their leaders– Tilyenji, son of first republican President Dr Kenneth Kaunda, and Nawakwi – amassed a paltry 33,077 votes during the 2016 general elections. Contrast to 1,860,877 votes polled by Edgar Lungu of the PF and 1,760,347 for Hakainde Hichilema of the UPND.
Going by their downward fortunes and miserable performances in four presidential elections in succession, it can be logically argued that it is time Tilyenji and Nawakwi gave chance to new and emerging political opportunists to try their luck in the already crowded presidential field. In this article I highlight the dwindling political fortunes of the FDD and UNIP and their presidential candidates to buttress the argument. Some observers say that Nawakwi’s recent attacks on fellow opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema are her strategy to repackage herself for the attention of other takers, especially the PF. However, I will stick to my lane as a researcher: numbers. They say, “numbers don’t lie.”
It can also be argued that MMD’s Nervous Mumba has likewise miserably failed two elections (2015 and 2016). To his favour, a counter argument can be proffered that on both occasions he had internal detractors in Rupiah Banda in 2015 and Felix Mutati in 2016. So, 2021 will be the first time he will enter the race with a united (whatever is left of) MMD. I agree 100%.
UNIP is Zambia’s oldest surviving political party. I say surviving because the oldest political party in the history of this country was the Africa National Congress (ANC), which closed shop after the signing of the unity accord in 1972. The accord heralded the one-party participatory ‘democracy’. UNIP is also the oldest existing opposition party and Tilyengi is the longest serving opposition leader, having been at the helm since 2001, following the death of Francis Nkoma.
UNIP governed the country from 1964 to 1991 and Kaunda had been at its helm since its founding in 1960. It ceded power in 1991 to the newly launched MMD, whose candidate Chiluba polled whooping 76% to Kaunda’s 24%. The MMD won 125 of the 150 elected seats in the National Assembly. Eighteen of UNIP’s 25 were in the Eastern Province where UNIP retained all the seats. The result effectively consigned UNIP as a regional party and reconfirmed the Eastern province as the most conservative, having done the same in 1963.
Kaunda stepped down as President of the party in 1992, following the party’s famous Namayani congress during which Kebby Sililo Kambu Musokotwane was elected President of the party, with Kaunda’s support. In 1993 Musokotwane and Kaunda differed after the former admitted that a radical faction of the party was conspiring to topple the new government of Chiluba. Kaunda and UNIP viewed this as a betrayal of the party and its ‘comrades’. For the next two years Musokotwane led a shaky and divided UNIP such that when Kaunda announced plans for a political comeback, Musokotwane was shunned by Kaunda’s loyalists and party elders. He was forced to step down in 1993 as Kaunda retook the leadership with Chief Inyambo Yeta as his vice, when the logical thing would have been for him support another young leader. Kaunda was hoping to bounce back to power during the 1996 election. Big mistake.
Sensing ‘danger’ ‘political engineer’ Chiluba used MMD’s overwhelming majority in parliament, in May 1996, to push through controversial constitutional amendments, specifically the parentage clause and the provision that prohibited traditional chiefs from participating in active politics. The parentage clause effectively eliminated Kaunda, whose parents hailed from Nyasaland (Malawi), from the 1996 general elections. Yeta was equally also barred by the traditional leaders’ clause. As a result, UNIP boycotted the elections, allowing Chiluba to be easily re-elected with 73% of the vote. This was a tactical miscalculation on UNIP’s part as it allowed MMD, which did not win a single seat in the Eastern province in 1991, to enter its ‘bedroom’ unchallenged.
As Elias Munshya writes, “With the loss of that Eastern region came the rapid fall of a party that once led Zambia into independence. Ironically, the same man who built UNIP to its climax in the 1960s also presided over its downfall in the 1990s. With that 1996 boycott, Kenneth Kaunda hammered the last nail in UNIP’s coffin.”
The party returned to contest the 2001 elections with Tilyenji as its presidential candidate; he received 10% of the vote, finishing fourth out of the eleven candidates. In the National Assembly the party won 13 seats, majority in the Eastern Province, and 10.6% of the popular vote. That was the last time it ever had seats in Parliament as a single entity. Prior to the 2006 elections the party joined the United Democratic Alliance alongside the other two largest opposition parties, FDD and UPND. Hakainde Hichilema of the UPND was the alliance’s presidential candidate, finishing third with 25% of the vote. The alliance won just 26 seats in the National Assembly. The vast majority were contributed by UPND, with UNIP contributing only Mkhondo Lungu of Lundazi.
Tilyenji and UNIP did not contest the 2008 presidential by–election, but he was nominated as UNIP’s presidential candidate for the 2011 elections. Since then Tilyenji has contested the republican presidency three times (2011, 2015 and 2016) but each time losing miserably with less than 1% of the total vote (0.36% in 2011; 0.58% in 2015; and 0.24% in 2016). In both 2011 and 2016 UNIP failed to win a single seat in the National Assembly.
With these dwindling fortunes, Tilyenji’s continued participation in elections cannot be justifiable anymore. What is worse the party does not seem to be in politics for the business of politics. Tilyenji and UNIP are hardly heard commenting on national matters in between elections. Analysts have argued that UNIP exists simply for the sake of its business interests that its leaders hold under Zambia National Holdings Limited. That explains the current court wrangles between 11 members and four of Tilyenji’s cohorts over lack of intraparty elections since 2005 and alleged sale of named party assets without membership approvals.
Nawakwi’s and her FDD are in the same place as UNIP and barely racing for relevance amid declining political fortunes and miserable performances over the last series of elections. The FDD was founded in 2001 by former MMD members disaffected by Chiluba’s efforts to change the constitution to allow him to stand for a third term. In the 2001 general elections it nominated Christon Tembo as its presidential candidate; Tembo finished third in a field of eleven candidates with 13% of the vote. In the National Assembly elections the party won 12 seats. The FDD remarkably took control of Lusaka council between 2001 and 2006.
Nawakwi took over the FDD in 2005 after Tembo left politics. However, in 2006 the government de-registered the FDD on the grounds that it had failed to submit an annual report. The FDD subsequently joined the UDA, which put forward UPND’s Hichilema as its presidential candidate for the 2006 general elections. As reported earlier, the UDA and Hichilema finished third with 26 seats in the National Assembly. The FDD contributed only three seats.
The FDD did not nominate a candidate for the 2008 presidential by–election, but put forward Nawakwi for the 2011 general elections. She received 0.2% of the vote, finishing seventh out of the nine candidates. The party won a single seat in the National Assembly, Chifumu Banda in Chasefu. Nawakwi ran for the presidency again in the 2015 presidential by–election, finishing third with 0.9% of the vote. She ran again for the presidency at the 2016 general election where she came third, receiving a total of 24,149 votes. Nawakwi’s vote translates to 2,415 votes per province and 161 per constituency. The FDD currently holds one seat in the National Assembly. Surely the writing is on the wall, madam Nawakwi (my former boss at Agriculture). Please read!
I end with some comments from readers of some of my published articles.
Dear Sir,
Greetings. I have read your wonderful article from start to finish. I must say it is one of the articles that has interested me to the point were not only did I read it from beginning to end but re-read it several times. It is succinct, clear and breaks down the flow into a manner that anyone can relate to. Well done. I would like to establish contact with you so that I can have further cooperation in some activities that I am involved in on corporate governance and research. You vivid excellent writing skills and clear thought-pattern has attracted my attention. You may kindly get back to me on this email address for further conversation. I await to hear from you. Kind regards, Edward
Good morning Mr.Mbozi,
I did enjoy reading your article ” MMD at 30, A Once Mighty Party Ruined by Lust for Power” this evening before going to bed. It reminded me of back in the days at Co-operative College. I now stay in California, Riverside about 2 hours drive from Los Angeles though ofcourse I do maintain a home in Lusaka. I am scheduled to return to Zambia in few days. Have a nice day. Francis.
Dear Prof,
Thank you Parkie for taking us through this important lane. I fully agree that MMD is where it is today because of the lust for power, unfortunately this has become the reality for most political parties in Zambia. My question to you and others including myself, how do we reconstruct accountable leadership that places people at the centre or the nation before profit? The power of the President can make or break #Zambia – how can we deal with this within the current constitution and placing 2021 as an opportunity for electing the leaders we deserve. Regards. Henry
The author is a media, governance and health communication researcher and scholar with the Institute of Economic and Social Research (INESOR), University of Zambia. Post comments to our online version of article or send to: pmbozi5ATyahooDOTcom.
Mwense District Commissioner dies in a Road Traffic Accident
MWENSE District Commissioner Edward Mumbuluma has died.
Mr. Mumbuluma 46, died in the early hours of today in a Road Traffic Accident (RTA) at Toka area in Nchelenge District along the Mansa-Nchelenge road.
Confirming the matter to ZANIS in Mansa, Luapula Province Permanent Secretary Charles Mushota says the province has received the news of the demise of the District Commissioner with shock.
Eng. Mushota discloses that the District Commissioner died on the way to Mansa General Hospital where he was being rushed for medical attention after the accident.
He describes the late District Commissioner as a hardworking man who fought hard for the wellbeing of the people, not only in Mwense where he also saved as Patriotic Front District Chairperson but the province as a whole.
The Permanent Secretary has since wished the family and the entire province God’s strength in this trying moment and burial arrangements will be communicated soon.
Mr. Mumbuluma was appointed Mwense District Commissioner in July this year. He is survived by a wife and 7 children.
Lusambo condemns the violent attacks on PF supporters by UPND carders in Lufwanyama
Patriotic Front Copperbelt Provincial Mobilization coordinator Hon Bowman Lusambo has condemned the violent attacks on PF supporters by UPND carders in Lufwanyama.
Hon Lusambo who is also Kabushi MP has since called on the police to bring to book the culprits behind the attacks saying such acts are retrogressive and goes against the tenets of national development and peacebuilding.
Speaking during a rally in Lufwanyama to drum up support for the PF ward by-election candidate Evans Chipupu, Hon Lusambo called for issue-based campaigns as opposed to the violent ones being practiced by the UPND.
He said such provocative campaigns will not be tolerated and warned that days are numbered for all those behind the attacks emphasizing that the law will catch up with them.
“President Edgar Lungu is interested in taking development to all parts of the country and fulfilling his desire for a better Zambia,” he said and encouraged the electorate to vote for Evans Chipupu in order to have rounded development in the area.
Hon Lusambo also expressed disappointment at the failure by the incumbent UPND MP for Lufwanyama Leonard Fungulwe to deliver development as evidenced by the deplorable state of the roads in the area but said such underdevelopment will be a thing of the past once Lufwanyama gives the PF a representative at ward and Parliamentary levels.
“Time has come for Lufwanyama to have passionate leaders who care about your welfare. How can you have an MP who stays in Luanshya while this place is so underdeveloped” Hon Lusambo said and expressed confidence however that the people will vote for the PF candidate in order to accelerate development.
And Hon. Lusambo has promised the people of Lufwanyama a community hearse that will ease movements during bereavements adding that cries by community members of lacking a community hearse have been heard.
And speaking at the same event, Ndola Central Member of Parliament Hon Emmanuel Mulenga said the people of Lufwanyama should also take advantage of the various empowerment programs which President Edgar Lungu has facilitated in order for them to be part of the empowerment agenda which the PF has rolled out to all parts of the country.
UPND Muchinga ward 24 Trustee’s Petrol Bombed House in Pictures
Lufwanyama Chiefs endorse President Edgar Lungu for 2021
Senior Chief Nkana, Chief Lumpuma and Chieftainess Shimukunami of Lufwanyama district on the Copperbelt Province have endorsed President Edgar Lungu for the 2021 elections.
The Chiefs said they want President Lungu’s leadership to continue because they have seen the numerous developments that his administration has scored in the District.
The three traditional leaders have also observed that the PF will now penetrate in Lufwanyama because of massive development.
The Chiefs were speaking separately on Saturday when PF Copperbelt Province Mobilisation Chairman Bowman Lusambo led his team in paying courtesy calls on them at their respective palaces.
Senior Chief Nkana says he no longer trusts the promises from the opposition but rather believes in the developments he has already and continues to see under the PF government.
“The animal in your hand is better than the one in the wild” Chief Nkana told Mr Lusambo.
Chief Nkana said the opposition will not lie about roads,hospitals, clinics, communication towers and any other development because the PF government has already delivered adding that Lufwanyama has rejected politics of mere promises.
The traditional leader encouraged the PF to base their campaigns on the tangible development which they have done in the country to ensure that they win the forthcoming Lufwanyama ward by-elections.
He said time has come for the PF to have representation both at ward and Parliamentary levels in the area in order to accelerate development in Lufwanyama which has stalled due to lack of commitment from the opposition.
“This is smart campaign. Lies will not prevail in Lufwanyama because we want politics of fulfillment and not promises” he said.
And Chief Lumpuma said President Lungu has delivered massive development in the shortest period of time which other governments never managed.
He cited distribution of farming inputs which has already been delivered to the district and a bumper harvest during the 2019/20 farming season as evidence of good and caring leadership under President Lungu who he described as being humble and wholehearted.
Meanwhile, Chieftainess Shimukunami said Lufwanyama has changed in favour of the PF and expressed hope that the party will scoop all the ward by-elections.
Mr. Lusambo is in Lufwanyama to spearhead mobilisation activities and drum up support for PF candidates in Thursday’s Local Government by-elections.
Members when they paid a courtesy call on Chief Lumpuma at his palace on Saturday.
Mbesuma Hires His Ex-Roan United Coach to Run His Academy
Collins Mbesuma has hired his former coach Paul Mulenga to take charge of the newly formed Mbesuma Football Academy in Luanshya.
Mulenga, an experienced coach, was part of the Roan United bench that drilled Mbesuma before he moved to South Africa seventeen years ago.
He has coached several teams among them Kitwe United and Mufulira Blackpool.
Mbesuma Foundation project manager Charity Munthali announced in a statement that Mulenga will be assisted by Adrian Mubanga, Frank Changwe and Passmore Kunda.
The academy is already holding trials at Luanshya’s Kafubu Stadium.
“Collins Mbesuma is overjoyed that his dream of forming an academy to help the youths of Luanshya is finally coming to life and he is looking forward to the day,” Munthali said.
The foundation and academy were launched in June.
UPND demands Police action after member’s house in Matero is petrol bombed
UPND Secretary General Stephen Katuka has demanded for the conclusion of police investigations in which suspected PF cadres on Tuesday night petrol bombed a house belonging to UPND Muchinga ward 24 Trustee Peter Kalyata.
Mr. Katuka who visited and donated assorted items to Mr Kalyata Saturday morning said it was sad that politics had become a risky and dangerous activity leading to the injuring of political opponents.
He said he never thought he would live to see a day when a Zambian would be petrol bombed for merely expressing a difference in opinion hence the need for the police to quickly bring the culprits to book.
And Mr Kalyata explains that he had to pass through the window when the house was on fire as he could not access the passage through the living room which was ablaze.
Displaying his burns on his back and hands,Mr Kalyata whose wife and three other children which include his granddaughters said it was a miracle that he managed to rescue his family in the inferno.
Meanwhile,Lusaka Provincial Chairlady Rosa Zulu wondered how medical practitioners at Matero level one hospital could discharge the family from hospital with heavy and visible burns.
Two of the victims are admitted to the University Teaching Hospital while the other one is at Matero level one hospital.
Mr and Mrs Kalyata have been discharged despite being in a bad shape.
The Secretary General was accompanied by National Women Chairlady, Namakau Kabwiku and Matero Constituency and Muchinga ward 24 officials.
A Treble For Mweene, Musonda Gives Leopards Hope
Striker Mwape Musonda and goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene Saturday’s went according to plan with a delivery of hope and glory in their respective weekend engagements with their South African clubs.
On Saturday night at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, Mamelodi Sundowns completed a treble with victory in the Nedbank Cup final following a 1-0 victory over Bloemfontein Celtic.
Mweene was an unused substitute in that match following the return of Denis Onyango after a three week injury layoff.
The result sees Mweene end the season with a gold medal in league championship, the Telkom Cup and now the Nedbank Cup.
And earlier in the afternoon in the league playoffs at Bidvest Stadium, Mwape Musonda inspirational form for relegation-battling Black Leopards continued with a first half goal in a 3-1 away win over promotion-chasing TTM.
It was Musonda’s second goal in as many matches after scoring in the 1-0 game one win over Ajax Cape Town on September 9.
But the Chipolopolo striker was denied a brace when his effort just before halftime was ruled out for offside.
With maximum 6 points from two games, Leopards need a win with a match to spare against second placed Ajax Cape Town on September 18 to secure their top-flight safety.
Ajax Cape Town, who have midfielder Roderick Kabwe in their ranks, have 3 points after two games played heading into their penultimate fixture against fellow promotion prospects TTM on September 15.
Government to revise incentives for investors in the Multi Facility Economic Zones
The government says it is revising incentives for investors in the Multi-Facility Economic Zones to make the hubs more attractive and updated to global trends.
Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister, Christopher Yaluma says Government wants to come up with a set of incentives that will stand the test of time and create an enabling environment for local and foreign investors.
Mr. Yaluma says investors will be engaged for input in the incentives review process to ensure that the best decisions that suit all parties are made.
The Minister says once views and consultations from stakeholders are consolidated, a proposal will be presented to the Ministry of Finance, Cabinet and Parliament for subsequent approvals.
Mr. Yaluma said this in an exclusive interview with ZNBC News in Lusaka when he visited the Lusaka South Multi Facility Economic Zone where he also checked on operations at Big Tree Limited, a Trade Kings subsidiary which manufactures beverages.
Decision to reopen further due to reduced positive recorded cases in the recent past.
Health Minister Dr. Chitalu Chilufya has said that the decision to reopen schools, higher learning institutions, and partial operation of bars and nightclubs was due to a reduced number of recorded positive cases in the recent past.
Speaking during the COVID-19 update, the Health Minister reminded Zambians that should there be complacency on health guidelines the Head of State might tighten restrictions on the patronage of bars and nightclubs.
Zambia has in the last 24 hours recorded 143 new COVID-19 cases out of 1,390 tests, with 6 BID cases reported in Ndola and Chingola districts, bringing the toll to 312.
The Minister further announced that 108 people have recovered bringing the total number of recoveries to 12,007 with 13,466 as a cumulative number of cases.
Yesterday President Lungu relaxed some COVID-19 measures, but was also quick to mention that complacency against health guidelines could prompt government to reverse the relaxed measures.
meanwhile, Chilubi Constituency Member of Parliament Mulenga Fube has hailed President Edgar Lungu for the decision to re-open schools.
Mr. Fube noted that the decision to allow pupils to resume learning under the new normal, will save girls especially in rural areas like Chilubi from social threats such as teenage pregnancy and early marriages.
He says a number of girls had already fallen prey to the vices as a result of having been away from school for a long time.
Speaking to ZANIS in Kasama, Mr. Fube said the move to re-open schools is welcome as it will help learners at all levels to continue with their education and prevent a crisis in the education system.
The Chilubi lawmaker has since urged education authorities to ensure the safety of both learners and the teaching fraternity.
During the official opening of the 5th session of the 12th national Assembly, President Lungu announced the reopening of all schools, colleges and universities under the new normal.
The Head of State however said the reopening of learning institutions at all levels is subject to the strict adherence to the covid-19 regulations.
The reopening will take place between September 14 and 28, 2020.
President Edgar Lungu heads to Luapula Province for By- Elections Campaigns
President Edgar Lungu is tomorrow expected in Luapula Province for a two-day working visit.
Luapula Province Minister, Nickson Chilangwa has told ZANIS in Mansa that President Lungu will land at Mansa Airport at 13:00 hours and thereafter, connect to Mwansabombwe District on the same day.
Mr. Chilangwa says while in Mwansabombwe, the Head of State will pay a courtesy call on Senior Chief Mwata Kazembe of the Lunda people.
He said the President will later engage village Head persons in Mwansabombwe District before addressing public rallies to drum up support for Patriotic Front -PF- candidate in the Mwansabombwe Parliamentary by-election, Kabaso Kampampi.
Mr. Chilangwa said President Lungu will also visit Kawambwa District during his two-day stay in the Province.
Mr. Chilangwa has since called on the people of Luapula Province to give solidarity to President Lungu during his stay in the province.
Promoted Kitwe United Plots Financial Strategy
The newly constituted Kitwe United executive committee wants to make Chingalika financially stable ahead of the 2020/21 FAZ Super Division season.
Kitwe last season overcame financial woes to win promotion back to the top league.
Club President Emmanuel Numwa said his committee is engaging potential sponsors besides club owners Kitwe City Council.
“Our vision as a club is to sustain our stay in the Super League and be able to create a memorable foot print,” Numwa said.
“Indeed the past season was very harsh to the club financially but we are preparing to change all that,” he said.
‘In addition to the commitment that was made by the main sponsor Kitwe City Council, we are engaging supportive sponsors in order to put in place a predictable funding in environment for the club. So far so good we are having favourable response in that regard,” Numwa said.
The Buchi Boys have bounced back to the top league after spending one season in Division 1.
UPND’s HH in Luapula Province in Pictures
