MMD acting national secretary ChembeNyangu says suspended chairman for elections Mike Mulongoti, Katubamember of Parliament Jonas Shakafuswa and Kafulafuta MP George Mpombo will not be allowed to attend the national convention set for next month in Kabwe.

Mr Nyangu said at a media briefing in Lusaka on yesterday that the three are not eligible to attend the convention because they are not in good standing with the ruling party.

And Mr Nyangu said the party cannot act on Mr Mulongoti’s exculpatory letter because the MMD secretariat only received a photocopy while the original was allegedly leaked to The Post.

Mr Mulongoti was asked to exculpate himself for allegedly bringing the MMD into ridicule by publicly attacking the MMD leadership.

But Mr Mulongoti denied ever leaking the letter to The Post and that someone from the MMD secretariat picked the original copy from him and delivered it to Mr Nyangu’s office.

He said he will do everything possible to push for his rights until he attends the national convention.

“Mr Mulongoti is not eligible to attend the convention. Mr Shakafuswa and Mr Mpombo will also not be allowed to attend the convention because they are not in good standing with the party,” he said.MrNyangu said the national executive committee suspended Mr Mulongoti on charges of bringing the name of the party into disrepute and he was given limited time to exculpate himself as stipulated by the MMD constitution.

He said he was surprised that the letter of exculpation was published in The Post edition of February 7 without his office receiving the original copy.

The same exculpatory letter was also copied to the party president and national chairman.

“Mr Mulongoti delivered a copy of the letter to the acting national secretary, not the original. If I may ask through you, where is the original copy?”

He refuted claims by The Post reporter that the letter the newspaper published was obtained from the MMD secretariat. Mr Nyangu said he believes Mr Mulongoti leaked the letter to the tabloid.

Mr Nyangu said the MMD secretariat and media experts have observed that The Post reporter who wrote the article based on the letter was the same one whose story contributed to Mr Mulongoti facing disciplinary charges.

“Anyone will therefore know that Mr Mulongoti leaked the exculpatory letter to The Post and connived to accuse members of the secretariat of leaking it,” he said.

Mr Nyangu said he is not in the habit of discussing internal party matters in the press but that the secretariat has been forced to clear the air and state categorically that it did not receive the original copy of Mr Mulongoti’s letter.

He said Mr Mulongoti is a senior member of the party who knows the right channels of communication on any party matter. Mr Nyangu said Mr Mulongoti has all along been observing such communication channels but it is surprising that of late, he has deliberately been using the press.

He said since Mr Mulongoti allegedly decided to leak the original copy of his exculpatory letter to The Post, the secretariat will consult with party chairman for legal affairs BwalyaChiti on the way forward.

But Mr Mulongoti said he sent the original letter to Mr Nyangu and that there is nothing wrong with the latter seeing a photocopied letter as long as he knows who the author is.

Mr Mulongoti accused Mr Nyangu of not addressing substantive issues contained in his exculpatory letter.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

MMD spokesperson Dora Siliya says the United Party for National Development (UPND) president HakaindeHichilema should consider contesting as a member of Parliament to gain experience on governance issues.

Meanwhile, Mr Hichilema has maintained that Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata is to blame for the demise of the pact between the two parties.

“It is good that Mr Hichilema has learnt a lesson, and should now consider running for a parliamentary seat,” Ms Siliya said.

She said at a press briefing in Lusaka on March 9 there have been MPs who were presidents and presidents who are now MPs.

Ms Siliya said it is for this reason MMD is encouraging Mr Hichilema to re-channel his energy.

She said the pact between the UPND and the PF died a long time ago.

Ms Siliya condemned PF president Michael Sata and his party members’ attacks on the media.

“You cannot have a leader who is violent, and he has started inciting his members to be attacking journalists,” she said.

Ms Siliya said it is for this reason that Mr Sata should stop using youths for his fight for the presidency.

She said youths have a right to say no to a wrong thing because leaders like Mr Sata are not building the nation, but destroying it.

She said even when the MMD has lost about four by-elections, it has increased President Banda’s popularity since 2008.

“This is so because we don’t work with emotions, but strive for national development,” Ms Siliya said.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

President Rupiah Banda has said this year’s general elections will be held before September.

President Banda also says the MMD and his expectations in the general elections are to win by a big margin.

According to the Reuters reports monitored in Lusaka, Mr Banda has not given a date for the polls but he says they are coming soon, however, indicating they would take place before September.

President Banda has also said that the MMD will score an easy victory this year in a general election.

Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) has charged that only desperate people with ill motives can be against a transparent system such as the Parallel Voter Tabulation system.

TIZ Executive Director Goodwell Lungu in a statement released to QFM today said it is extremely worrying that a wrong picture is being painted that a Parallel Voter Tabulation system in Zambia is illegal and can cause confusion, when the MMD used the same system during the 2008 presidential elections when it projected that president Rupiah Banda would win by 62,000 votes.

Mr Lungu said as far as TIZ is concerned the the system provided adequate checks,balances and promoted transparency ,and challenged Zambians not to allow a few selfish people to shoot down a tool that provides opportunities for greater transparency in the electoral process.

He added that it is not enough for Zambians to cast their vote, but that they should protect their vote and ensure that their choice is protected.

Mr Lungu has since declared that Transparency International Zambia is seriously considering looking at the possibility of undertaking a Parallel Voter Tabulation Exercise.

He added that they have already scheduled activities to train and deploy election monitors in most of the polling stations in Zambia and that working together with other CSOs, they intend to place monitors in all polling stations.

He further stated that they will consider the option of conducting a PVT to complement the work of the election monitors.

Mr Lungu challenged the Electoral Commission of Zambia to tell the nation which law disqualifies citizens from adding up declared results by presiding officers to compare with officially announced results.

He noted that the Electoral Code of Conduct, Statutory Instrument No.90 of 2006, the Electoral Regulations of 2006, Regulation 14 already provides for media to disclose election results.

QFM

Former Nchanga Member of Parliament Charles Chimumbwa has called on UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema to convince his party to join the MMD.

He said that if Mr. Hichilema hopes to become President one day he needs to partner and work with the able leadership of President Rupiah Banda.

Mr.Chimumbwa has also called on Home Affairs Minister Mhkondo Lungu to summon Colonel Panji Kaunda to explain his statements on violence in the forth coming elections.

Mr. Chimumbwa said there is need for a commission of inquiry to probe Col. Kaunda’s sentiments on violence.

He said this in a statement to ZNBC news in Lusaka.

Mr.Chimumbwa said Colonel Kaunda will be held responsible should there be violence in the country during and after the elections.

[ZNBC]

The MMD secretariat says it has not received the original exculpatory letter written by its suspended senior member Mike Mulongoti.

MMD Acting National Secretary Chembe Nyangu said the MMD secretariat has only received a photocopy of Mr. Mulongoti’ss exculpatory letter.

Mr Nyangu told a media briefing that the secretariat suspects that Mr. Mulongoti could have given the exculpatory letter to the Post newspaper.

He explained that the MMD secretariat will not act on photocopied letters and is currently consulting its legal department on how to proceed on the matter.

Mr Nyangu has advised Mr Mulongoti whom he said is a senior party member to follow the correct channels of communication, when aggrieved.

He explained that it is wrong for Mr Mulongoti to attack the party through the media.

Mr Nyangu said Mr Mulongoti,Katuba MP Jonas Shakafuswa and Kafulafuta MP George Mpombo are not eligible to attend the forth coming MMD national convention next month.

He said this is because the trio are not in good standing with the party.

[ZNBC]

GOVERNMENT has warned that individuals or members of civil society organisations who will try to carry out parallel vote tabulation in this year’s tripartite elections will be arrested and prosecuted.

Chief government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha said there is no law in the country that allows an individual or organisation to conduct parallel vote tabulation.

He said any individual or group of people that will go against the law during the elections will face arrest.

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha said the Electoral Commission of Zambia is the only institution mandated by law to announce results during elections.

“The only institution that has the mandate and authority over all elections in Zambia is the Electoral Commission of Zambia.

“So, civil society organisations have no right to do so as there is no such law in our Constitution,” he said.

Gen Shikapwasha was speaking in an interview on March 8 in reaction to pronouncements by the Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) and other civil society organisations that they will apply parallel vote tabulation during the elections.

It also caused unrest in 2001 when the United Party for National Development members and supporters took to the streets to celebrate the party’s then president Anderson Mazoka’s unofficially announced victory in that year’s presidential election.

The official results showed that Mr Mazoka’s rival Levy Mwanawasa was the winner.

But Gen Shikapwasha said Government will not tolerate non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that want to fuel violence in the country.

He also said the parallel vote tabulation has proved to be a recipe for violence in countries where it has been applied.

“Just in Zimbabwe, there was confusion during the elections because some NGOs applied parallel vote tabulation, and so at the end of the day, there was confusion after the electoral body announced the official results.

“And if you also remember during the 2001 general elections, violence almost broke out in this country because the European Union and other NGOs applied the parallel vote tabulation and had announced that late UPND president, Anderson Mazoka, had won the elections when in fact it was late President Mwanawasa. So, people should desist from activities that can cause civil war in this country,” he said.

Gen Shikapwasha said it is also surprising that United States Ambassador Mark Storella is in support of the system when it does not exist in his own country.

“This system does not apply in America or any other country that I’m aware of. So, it is disappointing the ambassador can be in support of such a system.

“Let all those that have intentions of sponsoring NGOs to apply the parallel vote tabulation instead direct those funds to the Electoral Commission of Zambia so that we can strengthen this institution,” Gen Shikapwasha said.

Mr Storella was quoted by the media at the weekend as saying there is nothing wrong with the parallel system.

But Gen Shikapwasha said NGOs that want to implement the system have intentions of rigging elections.
“These institutions just want to cause confusion in this country because they want to come up with their own results and dispute official results of the Electoral Commission of Zambia,” he said.

The ECZ last week rejected the parallel vote tabulation, stating that it would cause confusion in the management of elections in the country.

[Zambia Daily Mail]