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Centre for Elections and Good Governance (CEG) Trustee Gershom Musonda has welcomed the election of Patriotic Front (PF)/United Party for National Developmrnt(UPND)pact candidate Watson Lumba as new Member of Parliament for Solwezi Central.

Mr Lumba polled 5, 669 against his closest rival Albert Chifita for the MMD polled 4,457 in yesterday’s by-elections. Forum for Democratic Alternative (FDA) Muhammad Kalela got 189 while Thomas Kafula got 51 votes.

Mr Musonda said in a statement to ZANIS, today, said the out come of the elections shows that the violence and negative media reports against the ruling MMD in the urban areas is benefiting the opposition while the voters in rural areas seem to appreciate the MMD government’s efforts in improving their well being.

He maintained that the reported violence in the elections such as the Solwezi Central seat are perpetuated by cadres from Lusaka and the Copperbelt provinces whose campaign teams always hold feasts prior to field work.

He added that number of voters who participated in the elections is less than the registered voters saying for this reason , Mr. Lumba should bear in mind that he is not carrying a majority vote of the entire constituency.

On the violence and the shedding of blood witnessed during campaigns between UPND/PF and MMD cadres, Mr Musonda said this led to uneven ground for competition, increased apathy and a number of spoiled votes.

He added that this has definitely made Mr Lumba to find it difficult to walk the streets of Solwezi with his head high.

” We appeal to the newly elected MP to extend a hand of friendship to his closest rival, denounce and apologise for the chaos, and wash off the human blood on his ballot papers as he walks into Parliament to convince the general public that he is a democrat,” the CEG Trustee says in a statement.

Mr.Musonda has also advised Mr Lumba to depart from the language of violence and the Language of hatred preached by a named opposition MP whose statement he said have become contrary to what the electorate expect of him as a parliamentarian.

The CEG trustee added that it is happy with with the competition between the MMD and the PF/UPND he said is a clear testimony that the winner sweated for the votes as his closest rival gave him a good run for his money.
ZANIS

Vice President George Kunda has congratulated the United Party for National Development (UPND) for the scooping the Solwezi Central parliamentary by-elections.

Mr. Kunda said he has deliberately congratulated only the UPND as it was the party that had chosen a candidate and was recognised in parliament.

The UPND candidate Watson Lumba won the tightly contested polls after pouring 5669 against MMD‘s candidate Albert Chifita who got 4457 ,FDA’s Muhammad Kalela got 189, and Thomas Kafula an independent managed to get 51 votes

However, Mr. Kunda has condemned the recent violence that characterized the recent by-elections in the country.

He said government is concerned with the level of violence during by-elections but will leave everything to the law enforcers.

He said political parties who encourage their cadres to be violent should be ready to face the wrath of the law enforcement agencies.

Mr. Kunda said this in Parliament today during the Vice President question time.

This was after Luena MP Charles Milupi who asked the Vice President what government was doing to curb violence during elections.

Mr. Kunda said violence in any election should not be entertained and called on political parties to encourage their members to exercise peaceful campaigns.

He said political parties should condemn all its members who are practising violence during campaigns and election.

“It is the duty of political parties to encourage its members to be peaceful during election this is more important that the country has enjoyed peace since independence” he said.

ZANIS

SPECIAL assistant to the President for political affairs, Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika has said that he is not fighting the Litunga of the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) or blaming him for the alleged weakening of the MMD in Western Province.

Mr Mbikusita-Lewanika said in response to a Press query yesterday that he did not as alleged in the Post newspapers of November 18, 2009 speak against the Litunga and his leadership and that no one mentioned the name of the Litunga in the MMD meeting that was held on November 15 this year at Andrews Motel in Lusaka.

He said he did not, during the meeting, bring any person, name, title or authority of the Head of Barotse into disputable or contentious issues or any other traditional leadership during the meeting.

“To do otherwise is a taboo. I would not do it, even to save my life. Only an ill socialised and traditionally uncultured person can do that,” the statement reads in part.

Mr Mbikusita-Lewanika also said the meeting was not dominated by issues pertaining to one person or one part of the country and that the issues that were raised that related to the former Western Province chairperson Simasiku Namakando were the most marginal and least consequential.

He said the views that he expressed on the matter were not the ones that were ascribed to him in the Post newspaper.

He said of late, accusations bent on alienating him from the Barotse and Zambian leadership even those to divide his family had been based on inaccuracies and falsehoods.

“In decent times of fair and just media and decent honest politics, this statement would not be necessary, even in self defence. In the past, I have often not responded to outrageous accusations. I had hoped that the knowledge of, and respect for our customs and traditions would prevent such falsehoods being taken seriously. But these are not decent times,” Mr Mbikusita-Lewanika said.

He said people that fear him would continue attempting to assassinate him politically or otherwise.

He said the meeting referred to in the article was convened as a private party conversation facility by the MMD through the treasurer, Suresh Desai.

Mr Mbikusita-Lewanika said he did not officiate the meeting as alleged because he was not an office holder in the party.
He said there was no opinion or decision of the meeting that was made through him.

The Post newspapers of November 18 this year carried a story that said that Mr Lewanika officiated an MMD meeting that blamed the Litunga and Mr Namakando for the party’s recent fall out in Western Province.

[Times of Zambia]

By Lusakatimes staffer
The UPND/PF pact has scooped the highly contested parliamentary by-election in Solwezi in Noth-Western Province.

Official results from the Electoral commission of Zambia (ECZ) indicate that the PF/UPND Pact has beaten the ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) in its strong hold giving another upper hand to the pact that scooped the Kasama central seat last month.

PF/UPND Pact Candidate Watson Lumba got 5669 MMD ‘s candidate Albert Chifita got 4457 FDA’s Muhammad Kalela 189, and Thomas Kafula who stood as independent managed to get 51 votes.

On Thursday Vice President George Kunda said the MMD was confident of retaining the Solwezi central constituency parliamentary seat.

Mr Kunda said the MMD has done its best and accomplished its mission of convincing the electorates in Solwezi central constituency to vote for Albert Chifita as he was the only credible candidate who had a heart to save them.

The Solwezi central seat fell vacant following the death of the Member of Parliament Ben Tetamashimba who was also the Local Government and Housing Minister.

Political analyast says the Solwezi Central by-election was being used to determine the strength of the UPND/PF Pact in its readiness for the presidential and parliamentraly elections in 2011.