Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) president Charles Milupi has won his Luena Constituency seat contested by five other candidates yesterday.

Returning Office for Luena by elections , Chrispin Kalihonga declared Mr. Milupi as a duly elected member of parliament for Luena Constituency at 10:30hrs this morning.

Mr. Milupi scored 3, 688 against ruling MMD’s Mwangala Maopu who scored 2,800 votes while UPND’s Muyunda Ililonga came in the third with 1,806.

UNIP’s Mutakela Mutakela was fourth with 115 votes while Musole Sikatala from ULP scored 116 votes.

The total number of voters in the Luena by election stood at 8, 630 and the rejected ballot papers where 115.

And Charles Milupi who was present when results where been announced thanked the people of Luena for giving him votes and also voting in a peaceful manner.

Mr. Milupi said his party will concentrate in mobilizing itself throughout the country adding that it will field candidates in both parliamentary and ward seats in next year’s general elections.

Meanwhile, the ruling MMD has retained both the Mpima Ward in Kabwe and Mailo Ward in Serenje respectively, after beating the UPND/PF pact candidates in by-elections held yesterday.

In Mpima Ward, the MMD candidate Christine Mutale Chilufya got 304 votes, beating the UPND/PF candidate Dorcas Munansangu Miyanda, who got 299 votes out of a total of 3, 723 votes cast.

The Returning Officer, Andrew Bwali who announced the results at the Kabwe Civic Centre last evening, declared Mrs. Chilufya as the duly elected councillor for Mpima Ward. 10 votes were rejected.

And speaking later, MMD national Youth chairperson, Patrick Musonda, commended Mrs. Chilufya and all the MMD party officials and caders who campaigned vigorously for the winner, adding that the going was not easy, as the opposition campaigned viciously.

Mr. Musonda said it was disappointing that the MMD appeared like orphans as they campaigned on foot, adding that, the fact that the people of Mpima still voted for the ruling party was an indication enough that Zambians still wanted the MMD to continue ruling the country.

He said it was going to be a shameful thing if the ruling party lost, especially that the UPND president Hakainde Hichilema, campaigned for Mrs. Miyanda.

Mr. Musonda urged the MMD party to ensure that campaign logistics were available next time there would an election, and that the party should reorganize itself, having members who should be sincere and truthful to one another.

“MMD is still the only party that is democratic and the only party the people want to continue ruling this country. Mrs. Chilufya you have brought pride to the party and therefore we congratulate you for your victory,’ He said.

Earlier, Central Province MMD Chairperson Boyd Mutonka said the victory was just one of the many more coming and urged all the party members not to start organizing themselves only when there was another election, but be well organized at all times.

In Serenje District, the Returning Officer Milton Sakala, declared the MMD candidate Douglas Mukosha as the winner, beating the PF candidate Morison Mwape Mukando.

Mr. Sakala announced that the MMD’s Mukosha got 401 votes, against Mukando’s 378, out of the 788 votes cast.

Mailo Ward had 1, 995 registered voters.

ZANIS

The Patriotic Front, PF, has retained the Chifubu parliamentary seat.

Announcing the election results around 00:30 hours this morning, Returning Officer, Roy Kuseka, declared Susan Kawandami of the Patriotic Front as winner after she polled 6, 976 votes, beating MMD’s Frank Ng’ambi who polled 4, 539 votes.

Alliance for Democracy and Development, ADD’s Brian Banda emerged third after polling 412 votes, while UNIP’s Poko Mambwe trailed with 221 votes.

148 votes were rejected after 12, 296 out of 29, 000 registered voters cast their votes in the constituency’s 39 polling stations, representing about 42 percent of all the registered voters in Chifubu.

And Foundation for Democratic Process, FODEP, has said there was a lot of voter apathy in Chifubu.

FODEP Information Officer, McDonald Chipenzi, told QFM in a telephone interview from Chifubu that recording only 12, 296 out 29, 000 registered voters as having cast their vote is a big sign of voter apathy.

Opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) has ‘ cracked’ in Mwembeshi Constituency in Central Province on alleged tribal grounds.

Concerned UPND cadres in the area told ZANIS in an interview today, that one of the country’s main opposition parties has cracked in the area after two senior officials Ekrol Mungo and Abel Makala (who are both Tongas) , UPND District Chairman and Constituency Chairman respectively had allegedly in recent times been de-campaigning area MP Edward Kasoko .

They went on to say that they would be forced to take the law in their own hands unless the two leaders , Mr. Mungo and Mr. Makala respectively step down and leave the constituency peacefully.

“ Having given them ( Mr Mungo an d Mr Makala )the chairmanship for our party does not mean we are short of people eligible to lead us in Mwembeshi. If they feel they are bulls in Sala land, they are overrating themselves,” the party cadres said.

Efforts to get the two leaders for a comment proved futile by press time as their phones where out of coverage. So was the area MP Mr. Kasoko, the party Secretary general Witson Chibwe, and the party leader Hakainde Hichilema were also unreachable as the duo were reported away in Luena constituency.

However the concerned cadres who asked not to be named, told ZANIS that the duo ( Mr. Mungo and Mr. Makala) have already started campaigning on tribal lines saying they wanted the political life in the area to be led by Tongas.

They duo are alleged to have started campaigning for two named prominent Lusaka businessmen for the two constituencies in readiness for the 2011 elections. This is despite a recent circular from the UPND secretariat barring campaigns until further notice.

However the cadres have warned that if the two named leaders wanted to take the UPND as a family club, they should not have wasted our time by involving the local Sala speaking people.

“ We would like to make it clear that we have only two constituencies for Salas, Kaonde Ilas and the Tonga Ilas respectfully and their children. Mr Mungo and his colleague do not belong to either of the group. They must step down, immediately,” the cadres demanded.

“ It is surprising us that nearly the entire number of headmen posts have been taken over by the Tonga instead of us the Salas. They just want to ensure that the Tongas are elected as MPs in Nangoma and Mwembeshi constituencies,” they said.

The duo , according to the party membership, had openly declared during a recent political rally led Mr. Hakainde in Shibuyunji that Southern Province and parts of Central Province was for Tongas. “ This was during the rally and surprisingly Mr. Hakainde did not intervene,” said the concerned members .

The cadres also told ZANIS that it was quite shocking to them when the two leaders forcefully presented a bull to Mr Hakainde during the recent rally in Shibuyunji pretending it was bought by them when in fact it was not so. The duo are alleged to have exhibited disrespect for the party leadership in the area.

The development has Traditional leaders in the area who are reported to be have already advanced their discussions to find the way forward concerning the security and the way forward for the party.

[ZANIS]

Government says efforts in social service delivery and infrastructure development in health, education, roads and other sectors are being frustrated by Zambian nationals through misapplication of scarce resources.

Finance and National Planning Deputy Minister Chileshe said as such, corporate failure and auditing change was a critical area that needed to be addressed if enormous public and private sector resources were to be used efficiently for set objectives

Ms Kapwepwe charged that the Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS) would be used as a tool to strengthen the quality of decision making and monitoring on utilization of funds for development in the public sector.

She said this yesterday when she officially opened the 2010 Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA) Annual Business Conference at Zambezi Sun Hotel in Livingstone under the theme: Change and Paradigm Shift for the Accountancy Profession.

Ms Kapwepwe also stated that the launch of audit committees in government in the recent past was meant to improve corporate governance structures in the public sector.

“The launch of audit committees in government in the recent past is premised on improving the corporate governance structures in the public sector to match best practice measures in leading private sector entities,” she said.

She said for the country to develop, a complete shift in how people managed resources including time, attitude towards work and enthusiasm to act as agents of value-adding change at all levels was needed.

And Ms Kapwepwe revealed that government had made enormous strides in attracting Foreign Direct Investments with over US$ 1.3 billion being recorded in the first quarter of 2010 unlike last year when only US$ 195 million was recorded during the same period.

She urged commercial banks to reduce their lending rates as doing so would enable the private and household sectors respectively, borrow and participate in sustainable economic development.

“By failing to reduce lending rates, commercial banks are making it difficult for the private sector and household sector to borrow and participate in sustainable economic development,” she said.

Ms Kapwepwe further said government welcomed any interventions in the education system by the private sector aimed at making high quality education available to disadvantaged children.

She said education was a key factor in any meaningful change and emphasized the need for young people to be guided into seeking education that would help them compete on the international labour market.

ZANIS

Kabwe magistrate today jailed Barry Chibale 36, for 21 months imprisonment with hard labour after he pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding contrary to section 232 (a) chapter 87 of the penal code of the laws of Zambia.

As the Principal Resident Magistrate Joushua Banda pronounced the verdict, Chibale broke down and wept uncontrollably, as he was led to the cells. Chibale is a government driver at Nkrumah University in Kabwe.

Facts before the court were that, in the first count, on 18th July this year Chibale of house number 91 Chowa compound, unlawfully wounded his wife Rutendo Bobo 28 during a marital wrangle and sliced off part of her nose using a castle broken bottle.

In the second count on the same date, Chibale unlawfully wounded Harriet Mutale 28 of house number 45 New Chirwa railways compound in Kabwe.

Passing judgement in respect of the first count, Principal Resident Magistrate Banda said the offence committed by Chibale was a serious one.

Magistrate Banda said though Chibale showed remorse and was a first offender, his action was unforgivable. In mitigation earlier, Chibale’s lawyer, Mwiinga Cheelo, pleaded with the court to exercise leniency on him since he showed remorse and regretted the action he took.

Mr. Cheelo said Chibale had learnt a lesson and would desist from being violent and using force to resolve matrimonial issues.

The court set August 16 and 20 for continued trial in respect of the second count in which Chibale unlawfully wounded Harriet Mutale contrary to section 232 (a) of the laws of Zambia.

And Yong Women Christian Association (YWCA) in Kabwe commended the outcome of the case saying people should believe in justice if they were to learn how to respect the law.

YWCA central province officer Juliet Kawanda said this should be a learning process for would be offenders.

She said people should not take the law into their own hands and they should learn that gender was real.

ZANIS

The Committee of Citizens has urged losing candidates in the Chifubu and Luena parliamentary and local government by elections to graciously accept the outcomes of the elections.

Committee Executive Director Gregory Chifire says this is because the elections were held in a peaceful and transparent manner, adding that issues of mal-practices were almost nonexistent.

Mr Chifire told ZANIS in a telephone interview that there is no need for any political party to cry foul after the results have been announced because the playing field was leveled.

He further stressed that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) made every effort to ensure that the electoral code of conduct was respected by all the participating political parties in the two constituencies.

Mr Chifire has since dismissed accusations by a named opposition political party leader that the ruling MMD were collecting national registration cards and voter cards details from some electorates in Chifubu, saying the allegations were baseless.

“We have been here in Chifubu monitoring how all the political parties are conducting their campaigns and I can tell you that none of our monitors have witnessed any incident of that nature. I can safely say that those accusations are unfounded”, he stated.

And Mr Chifire says it is regrettable that some politicians can take advantage of the poverty that people are facing in the country to use them to commit criminal acts.

The Committee Executive Director was referring to an incident that happened in Ndola where some people were hired to block Vice President George Kunda’s motorcade.

Mr Chifire said it was appalling to note that there are some leaders that were so selfish as to hire innocent people to do acts that were detrimental to the development of the country’s young democracy.

He has however praised Republican President Rupiah Banda for ordering the police on the Copperbelt to release the ten PF cadres saying the President showed that he truly was a matured and tolerant leader.

ZANIS