AS THE United Party for National Development (UPND) and the Patriotic Front (PF) pact foray deepens, UPND spokesperson Charles Kakoma has dared vice-president Guy Scott to start campaigning for his party president Michael Sata.

Dr Scott declared yesterday that Mr Sata is the most suitable and widely accepted leader who should assume the presidential candidature of the PF-UPND pact.

Mr Kakoma, who is also Zambezi West member of Parliament, said Dr Scott must proceed and start campaigning just as other members of the pact who have their own candidates in mind will begin to campaign.

Mr Kakoma said this in an interview in Lusaka yesterday in response to yet another statement by Dr Scott that Mr Sata should be the pact presidential candidate.

Dr Scott was also quoted as saying the results of the recent opnion poll were consistent with the 2008 presidential results in which Mr Sata polled more votes than UPND president Hakainde Hichilema.

But Mr Kakoma said it is unfortunate Dr Scott has continued to issue statements that can cause instability in the pact.

He, however, said Dr Scott is entitled to his wish and opinion, adding that he can start campaigning for Mr Sata to be adopted as the pact’s presidential candidate as other members of the alliance will also campaign for a candidate of their choice.

Mr Kakoma said all members of the pact are free to start campaigning for the candidate of their choice. “But what I know is that both leaders of the pact are supposed to come together and negotiate who will stand as a candidate of the pact.

“So Dr Scott can start campaigning if he wants but what I know is what I have just mentioned,” Mr Kakoma said. Dr Scott said Mr Sata was clearly the most popular leader between the two pact leaders. He said such results will always reflect in any future election.

And Mr Kakoma said he will consult other UPND members on whether its national youth chairperson Joe Kalusa should be disciplined for issuing statements against the pact and exchanging bitter words with PF national youth chairperson Eric Chanda.

He said he has not been briefed or read the papers on the clash between the two youth leaders of the pact hence was unable to comment effectively on the matter.
Mr Chanda challenged Mr Kalusa to resign from his position following his prediction that the MMD is poised to win the 2011 general elections.

But Mr Kalusa has maintained his prediction that the MMD will scoop the 2011 Presidential poll. He charged that he will not be intimidated by any PF machinations to silence him because he is simply stating the truth.

And the Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolutions of Disputes (SACCORD) says the problems in the pact will continue to broaden if the internal management committee of the pact does not resolve the differences.
SACCORD executive director, Lee Habasonda said if the two parties in the pact have failed to resolve their challenges, they should involve a third party to assist them.

Mr Habasonda said it is important for members of the pact to follow the laid down channels in communicating their grievances as opposed to throwing tantrums in the media.
He said as long as members in the pact continue issuing statements against each other, the problems in the pact will not cease.

[Zambia Daily mail]

United Party for National Development, UPND, leader, Hakainde Hichilema, has said that there is nothing new in the way government handled the Chiluba case despite the London Judgment finding the former President liable of stealing $46 million from the Zambian people.

In an interview with QFM, Mr. Hichilema said it was clear from the time President Rupiah Banda assumed office that his government was not going to fight corruption in the country.

He said there was therefore no need for Zambians to be shocked or to cry foul because it was foreseen before that the Rupiah Banda led administration was coming with the intent of not being serious in the fight against corruption.

Mr Hichilema said it is sad that President Rupiah Banda’s government has taken the Chiluba regime system where corruption became so rampart to an extent of retarding the country’s development.

He said while it is a good thing for the government to defend Dr. Chiluba, it is painful to the majority Zambians to see criminals left scotfree despite the crimes they have committed.

QFM

LUAPULA Province Royal Foundation chairperson Chief Chisunka has said Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata cannot be entrusted with power because of his alleged inconsistencies on matters of national interest.

Chief Chisunka said yesterday his subjects were worried about Mr Sata’s constant shifting of positions and cited his changed stance on former president Fredrick Chiluba.

He said his subjects could not continue to listen to Mr Sata whom he described as a chameleon and wondered why he now called Dr Chiluba a thief.

Chief Chisunka said he was surprised why Mr Sata changed his stance after he promised to drop charges against Dr Chiluba when he supported him in 2006 elections.

“What has changed now that Dr Chiluba is called names, is it because he is supporting his political opponents. Mr Sata should be fair,” Chief Chisunka said.

The traditional leader also wondered why Dr Chiluba’s case was linked to President Banda who was neither judge nor lawyer in the case.
[pullquote]“What has changed now that Dr Chiluba is called names, is it because he is supporting his political opponents. Mr Sata should be fair,” Chief Chisunka said.[/pullquote]
Meanwhile, Bweengwa Member of Parliament (MP) Highvie Hamududu has said PF vice-president Guy Scott and the secretary general Winter Kabimba should be disciplined for issuing statements against Mr Hakainde Hichilema.

Reacting to calls that the UPND should discipline the national youth chairperson Joe Kalusa for saying the pact has no action plan and that the MMD would win the 2011 elections, Mr Hamududu said PF officials were in the forefront of undermining the pact.

“What Kalusa is saying is that the pact needs a joint action plan. We need a proper joint manifesto. So if they want him (Mr Kalusa) punished Dr Guy Scott and Mr Kabimba must also be punished,” he said.

He said the pact needed a workable plan of action before a presidential candidate can be selected.

“That is the problem in Africa, we want to concentrate on the presidency. For now we must focus on developing a joint plan of action and strategy. Zambians want change and this can only be achieved through a united opposition.

“The issue of the presidency can be discussed later because either Mr Sata, Mr Hichilema or somebody else can be the pact president,” he said.

The Bweengwa MP maintained there was need for the PF to treat the UPND as an equal partner in the pact.

When contacted for comment Mr Kabimba refused to comment.

Mr Kalusa has been under fire for saying the MMD will win the 2011 election because it has a good working manifesto compared to that of the PF-UPND Pact, which has no clear set programmes.

PF national youth secretary Eric Chanda has called for the resignation of Mr Kalusa from the pact.

And UPND Copperbelt chairperson Elisha Matambo has said Mr Hichilema was promised votes for presidency by the people of Zambia for the 2011 general elections.

Mr Matambo said yesterday that Mr Hichilema was a better candidate to contest the 2011 presidential elections on the PF-UPND Pact because he was promised votes by the Zambians.

He said most people of North-Western, Western and the Copperbelt provinces promised Mr Hichilema of their votes in the 2011 elections and the promises had started bearing fruit.

Mr Matambo said this could be seen from the two constituencies in the North-Western Province that the UPND took from the MMD.

The UPND had scooped 20 of the 24 ward by-elections it contested in the three provinces.
[ Times Zambia ]

Mr Hikaumba said the congress does not negotiate for the workers’ conditions of service and salaries but it helped affiliate, unions to resolve such matters and only intervened when they reached a deadlock.

The ZCTU President was reacting to media reports that employees at a pharmaceutical company in Ndola have not been paying workers for months and workers have threatened to protest if the situation was not resolved.

He said the congress was waiting for the union which represents the workers to make attempts to negotiate for them or report to its mother body, which is ZCTU.

Mr. Hikaumba however wondered as to why the problem had been left unattended to for such a long time adding that the situation was abnormal and should be resolved urgently.

He described it as unusual for workers to remain silent when they were not being paid their dues for a long period of time adding that they should have protested when the problem started rather than doing so now.

He has since pledged to make a follow up with the union to get to the root cause of the problem in an effort to finding a lasting solution.

ZANIS

Police in Lusaka has arrested a named pastor’s wife from Chawama compound in connection with alleged food poisoning of 14 unsuspecting members of one family. Zambia Police Deputy Spokesperson, Ndandula Siamana has confirmed the development to ZANIS in Lusaka today.

According to a source who sought anonymity in an interview in Lusaka today the arrest of the woman follows an incident in which six members of one family were on August 17, 2010 rushed to University Teaching Hospital (UTH) filter clinic after suspected food poisoning. The source said other eight members were also taken to Chawama clinic the following day after eating the same food adding that this prompted hospital authorities to investigate the cause of sickness.

According to her, investigations revealed that the food and water had some poison and that an inquiry into the matter pointed to a named pastor’s wife of an identified local church. The source further disclosed that the identified woman between 15 and 17th August allegedly hired another female, a neighbour to the victims to lace their food with poison.

The Pastor’s wife is in custody and will according to the source appear in court on Monday while the husband is away in Kapiri Mposhi where he is said to have gone for two weeks to open new church branches.

According to the source, the Pastor’s wife was behind all this incident. She used a friend who is a neighbor to put poison in the food. This was known after a child in the house who is also a victim told the family that she saw the neighbour putting something in the food. After questioning, the neighbour revealed that it was the Pastor’s wife who sent her and she did not know that it was poison , the source said.

And one of the victims, Mrs. Carol Banda who also confirmed the incident wondered how the woman who is a pastor’s wife would want to kill them. Police Deputy Spokesperson, Ndandula Siamana who confirmed the development to ZANIS said the police received the information on Monday this week that the family was having their late launch when they stopped eating to welcome relatives who visited them.

Ms Siamana said after escorting the same visitors, the family members continued with their lunch and they complained of running stomachs in the evening and were immediately rushed to UTH.

Ms. Siamana said Police suspected foul play saying investigations into the issue to determine whether there was poisoning had continued.

And efforts to get UTH Public Relations Manager Pauline Mbangweta proved futile as her phone remained unanswered.

ZANIS

THE youth wings of the United Party for National Development (UPND) and the Patriotic Front (PF) have clashed, pushing the shaky pact into further disarray.

UPND national youth chairman Joe Kalusa, in an apparent response to a scathing attack by PF youth national secretary Eric Chanda yesterday, has maintained that the MMD is poised to scoop the 2011 general elections because it has a good working manifesto compared to the PF-UPND pact which has no clear set programmes.

Mr Kalusa charged that he will not be intimidated by any PF machinations to silence him because he is simply stating the truth.

[pullquote]“ I cannot resign from the pact or UPND and if these people want, let them take me to a disciplinary committee that is if there is a disciplinary committee in the pact. If there is one then, I am ready to appear on that committee together with the likes of Mwenya Musenge (Copperbelt PF provincial chairperson), Guy Scott (PF vice-president) and Wynter Kabimba (PF secretary general) for issuing unwarranted remarks against the pact,” he said.[/pullquote]

Mr Chanda, in an angry response yesterday, called for Mr Kalusa’s resignation after he made his controversial prediction. However, in an apparent departure from his seemingly unflinching support to the pact, Mr Chanda told the PF-UPND leadership to step aside and allow the youth wings to take over the reigns of power because they have allegedly failed to steady the shaky pact.

Mr Kalusa said in an interview yesterday in Ndola that he does not regret his remarks at a press briefing on Sunday in Kitwe and dared pact officials to drag him to any disciplinary committee and wondered whether the pact has such a committee to deal with offenders.

“Let me tell these people in the pact that I am a fearless man and I cannot be bought by anyone. I stand by what I said during the press briefing in Kitwe because I believe that only the truth can set me free. I cannot resign from the pact or UPND and if these people want, let them take me to a disciplinary committee that is if there is a disciplinary committee in the pact. If there is one then, I am ready to appear on that committee together with the likes of Mwenya Musenge (Copperbelt PF provincial chairperson), Guy Scott (PF vice-president) and Wynter Kabimba (PF secretary general) for issuing unwarranted remarks against the pact,” he said.

Mr Kalusa said those calling for his ‘blood’ are wasting their time and warned that if the pact does not heed to his one-month ultimatum of coming up with a clear manifesto and a working programme, he will announce the next course of action against the alliance.

He said unlike the MMD which is effectively campaigning at grass root level countrywide, the pact is using radio stations and the press without the leaders explaining what they will do if elected into office.

“Our colleagues, the MMD are campaigning by holding huge rallies countrywide, they are telling people what they have done and what they intend to do for them but the PF-UPND pact is busy campaigning through some radio stations and the press without a manifesto. When the MMD wins the presidential elections next year, these are the same people who are going to be crying that the elections have been rigged,” Mr Kalusa said.

He charged that the pact only becomes active when the country has a by-election in a particular constituency.

[pullquote] “As PF youths we are challenging him to resign from the pact because he is acting like one who has been bought,” Mr Chanda said.[/pullquote]

Mr Kalusa said the pact does not have a working programme and wondered why PF leader Michael Sata and his UPND counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema have allegedly failed to hold a rally together to thank the electorates in Chifubu for voting for the pact’s candidate, Susan Kawandami.

“People must not pretend. There are problems in the pact. Currently, the PF is carrying an advertisement saying they are holding a rally on the Copperbelt, why can’t they hold a rally together with the UPND.

The same PF has already declared that they will contest the Mpulungu by-election without consulting the pact members in the UPND. These are some of the things that show that there are problems in the pact,” Mr Kalusa said.

He said he consulted widely before holding the press briefing in Kitwe and urged pact officials who are calling for his resignation to address the concerns he raised instead of calling him names.

[pullquote] “This young man has gone too far and I think there is need for us in the UPND to deal with him. I am going to phone him so that I talk to him,” he said. [/pullquote]

But Mr Chanda urged Mr Kalusa to resign from the pact instead of causing confusion in the alliance. “As PF youths we are challenging him to resign from the pact because he is acting like one who has been bought,” Mr Chanda said.

Mr Chanda on Monday appealed to PF-UPND pact leaders to allow their youth wings to take over the running of the alliance until all the pending issues surrounding the partnership are resolved.

He urged Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema to hand over the management of the pact to the youth wings so that other leaders who issue unwarranted statements can be disciplined.

And UPND chairman for education science and technology Luxon Kazabu has urged Mr Kalusa to stop misleading the youths and called on his party to discipline him for allegedly ‘insulting’ the alliance leaders.

Mr Kazabu said there is need for Mr Hichilema to discipline Mr Kalusa for issuing disparaging remarks. He said in an interview in Kitwe yesterday that Mr Kalusa is causing unnecessary confusion in the pact. “This young man has gone too far and I think there is need for us in the UPND to deal with him. I am going to phone him so that I talk to him,” he said.

[Zambia Daily mail]