The MMD has denied sentiments expressed by late President Levy Mwnawasa’s nephew Peter Shakafuswa that there was disunity in the party.

Masaiti Member of Parliament George Mpombo said currently all members were fully united and were on the ground mounting door to door campaigns.

He said the party on the Copperbelt was fully geared to face the opposition and was confidence that it would emerge victorious.

He urged Zambians not to gamble on leadership but allow MMD to continue with the good polices it had initiated.

Briefing the press at Sherbourne Guest House in Kitwe today, Mr. Mpombo also rebuked Patriotic Front Leader Micheal Sata for alleging that he would scrap-off the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission, saying this was an important tool to empower Zambians.

Mr. Mpombo, who is also the Campaign Manager for the Copperbelt said Mr. Sata was practising politics of destruction.

He explained that the Citizens Economic Empoerment  Commission was wholly supported by all Members of Parliament adding that there was no way it could be scrapped off.

He warned Zambians to be wary of some politicians who were only interested in turning the clock-backwards.

Mr. Mpombo who is also Defence Minister, NGO’s and some politicians and ordinary Zambians who were condemning the Electoral Commission of Zambia (E.C.Z.).

He said the E.C.Z. should be left alone to operate independently without any interference.

ENDS/PK/PK/ZANIS.

Attorney General Mumba Malila has described a statement stating that a presidential candidate to be elected in this month’s by-election would not be subjected to the 2011 elections as legally incorrect and misleading.

Mr. Malila said the person to be elected in the presidential by- election would have to serve the remaining three year in accordance with the constitution.

He told ZANIS in a press statement that the current national assembly which is five years from 2006 will come to end in 2011.

Article 88 (6) of the constitution states that the National Assembly stands dissolved at the end of five years from the date of its sitting .

In view of that provision, he said the new president to be elected will in fact join an existing National assembly to make parliament.

He said the new president will not affect the term of the National Assembly .

“ The constitution does not say a person who has served two terms will not be eligle for re-election. he determining words are twice been elected for purposes of limitation,’ he added.

The Attorney General was reacting to Patriotic Front (PF) Leader Michael Sata statement that there will be no presidential election in 2011.

He said whoever will be elected president this month end is supposed to rule for the term of five years.

Mr. Malila has since implored political leaders to seek the advice of their advisers on the constitutional issues provisions before making statements on legal issues which could be totally misleading to the public.

ENDS/MK/PK/ZANIS.

The National Constitutional Conference (NCC) chairman Mr Chifumu Banda has announced that NCC will soon launch its website to provide downloadable information on anything concerning the NCC including its mandate, composition and verbatim debates in order to enhance public participation

“Through this website, stakeholders including members of the public will be able to make their views and demands known through the ‘have your say’ window.

He was speaking at Kozo lodge in Choma, when he opened a four days workshop for the private and public the media personnel drawn from Lusaka, Southern and Western province.

NCC chairperson also said that there is need for the media to understand the process of constitution making, in order to report on them with accurate precision because the media has an
important role to play in the constitution making process.

Mr Banda said from the inception of the NCC, it has extensively involved the media to disseminate proceedings.

He said the NCC is obliged by law to open all its deliberations to the public in order to remain transparent and accountable to the people of Zambia.

Mr Banda also said that he is happy that three of the four aspiring Presidential candidates have pledged to continue with the constitution making process once elected.

He disclosed that Acting President Rupiah Banda, PF President Michael Sata and UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema have all committed themselves to support the NCC.

He said Mr. Sata was recently quoted in the media, saying he will continue with NCC but would ensure the three church mother bodies and the Non governmental Organisation Coordinating Council are brought on board. And the NCC say’s the door is still open for the three church mother bodies and other stakeholders who have boycotted the process to get on board.

Mr. Banda said Mr. Hichilema has also pledged to continue with the process but will give it a specific time frame within which to conclude its mandate.

And Mr. Banda said the Secretariat is devising ways and means of having live NCC deliberations transmitted on all community radio stations countrywide.

ENDS/CM/PK/ZANIS.

UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema has appealed to the people of Zambia to give him a mandate to rule them on 30th October so that he brings economic and social change, fights poverty and brings jobs to the youths.

He said this in Kabwe yesterday when he was addressing scores of people at a rally that was held at the Lukanga grounds.

Mr. Hichilema charged that Zambia needed a strong, healthy young man who understood economics.

“A lot of youths who are graduates are roaming the streets because there are no jobs for them, I want to ask you the people to give me a chance so that I bring about jobs for the youths,” he said.

The UPND president said he would bring about jobs because he was an employer and he new just how to bring economic change to the country of Zambia.

The opposition leader further said electricity would be given to the town through the Lunsemfwa Hydro Power Company .

He added that Zambia China Mulungushi Textiles which has since been closed would be revived because it not only created for employment for the people of Kabwe but also contributed to the economy of Zambia.

On health, he said that the best medical services would be brought to the town of Kabwe and Zambia as a whole as opposed to now were only rich people and politicians had access to best medical services.

And Siavonga Member of Parliament (MP) Douglas Syakalima urged the people of Zambia not to over burden old men by putting them in the office of presidency.

He said the office of the president was a very sensitive office that needed strong and energetic people .

Speaking at the same rally, Moomba MP Fidelis Mooya said that UPND was interested in punitive measures to fight corruption and not preventive measures that the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) was talking about.

He said that Zambia did not need people who had stolen and added to the suffering of the people but rather needed change.

And Mazabuka MP Garry Nkombo appealed to the Zambian people not to vote for a presidential candidate that was unpredictable by changing their minds on particular issues.

He said that Zambia was a poor country because it has been managed poorly and hence needed change to bring about riches in the country.

The Ruling MMD has urged the opposition parties taking part in the forthcoming presidential by-elections to desist from accusing the party of a ploy to rig the elections.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka today Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande said all opposition accusing the ruling party of conniving with the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to rig the election are wrong .

He said such political parties are trying to give excuses of not accepting the party’s victory in the October 30 presidential Election.

Mr. Pande who is also Kasempa MP said MMD is the mother of democracy in Zambia .

He said such allegations being leveled are affecting the functioning of the party.

He said the MMD is happy with the work of the ECZ of which the party was not involved.

Mr. Pande said like any other political party was equally affected by the decisions made by the commission.

Mr. Pande said the Acting President Rupiah Banda is entitled to use government property sating that the use of the helicopter and some government vehicles should not be viewed as abuse of government resources.

He however urged the opposition to concentrate on campaigning and take a part in improving Zambian politics and not politics based on personal matters.

Mr. Pande also urged the rest of the nation to vote wisely in the October 30 presidential elections.

Earlier in the day , the Opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) had accused the MMD’s presidential candidate Ruphia Banda of engineering the attempts to steal the ballots at the Airport.

And MMD Spokesperson and Acting President Rupiah Banda’s Elections agent Benny Tetamashimba yesterday challenged Patriotic Front’s Given Lubinda to go to the Ministry of Finance and National Planning to verify whether the MMD was using public funds in hiring planes for its campaign rallies.

He queried why the MMD shouldn’t hire planes when it is something Mr. Sata has also done.

Mr. Tetamashimba further asked the Patriotic Front to stop causing confusion for political mileage and appealed to the party’s President Michael Sata to accept defeat honourably after losing the presidential by-election set for 30th October, 2008.

ZANIS/GP /MK/ENDS.

The opposition United Party for National Development(UPND) and Patriotic Front (PF) have rescinded their earlier decision that the extra ballot papers be sent to various districts.

UPND president Hakainde Hichilema said his party has lost confidence in the manner Electoral Commission of Zambia(ECZ) is handling the ballot.

Speaking at press briefing in Lusaka today, Mr. Hichilema demanded that the extra ballot papers should be destroyed or burnt without any negotiations.

“we demand that the 600,000 ballot papers be destroyed or burnt forthwith without any further negotiations,” he said.

He charged that the conduct in which the ECZ has been handling the ballot papers is not only disappointing but also provocative and annoying.

He said the recent alleged attempts by the driver at the airport to steal ballot papers are a clear and damning indictment on the part of the ECZ as an institution.

Mr. Hakainde said his party is prepared to defend its victory saying no amount of threat will make him resign or surrender.

He added that UPND is putting up measures to ensure that the political machinations by the ruling party are stopped.

And the Patriotic Front (PF) has demanded that the extra six hundred thousand ballot papers be destroyed in the presence of all political stakeholders.

PF member of Central Committee, Samuel Mukupa said the interception of ballot papers in the Kalabo vehicle has cast doubts.

Mr. Mukupa told ZNBC news in Lusaka, that everything possible should be done to ensure free and fair elections.

He said also said the inclusion of 4 hundred thousand voters who were not reflected in the 2006 voters’ register raises suspicions.

Earlier, this week, the PF was part of the four political parties which had agreed that the extra ballot papers should be sent to districts but not polling stations.

Candidates from the four political parties contesting the October 30 presidential poll, agreed to the arrangement through their representatives during a meeting with ECZ officials in Lusaka.

The meeting was called by the Electoral Commission of Zambia to resolve the issue surrounding the extra ballot papers.

ZANIS/MM/MK/ENDS

The Opposition Patriotic Front (PF) has says it is now receiving overwhelming support in eastern province in the areas that it has held campaign rallies .

Party chairperson for Community Development and Primary Health, Bernadette Mvula told ZANIS in an interview that the people of Eastern Province have switched their support from the ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) to the PF .

Ms Mvula who is also a PF Member of the Central Committee (MCC) said the party yesterday held a rally in Nyimba where people from all walks of life attended and brought out issues that affect them.

She charged that her party observed that this time around there is a political wind of change just like the 1991 general elections where the opposition MMD emerged victorious due to the bad economic policies implemented by the then ruling party, United National Independence Party (UNIP).

Ms Mvula alleged that her party was aware that the ruling MMD wants to rig the October 30 Presidential election.

She warned that the Taskforce that is probing former government officials for corruption charges would be extended to the current government officers.

“They will be sorted out for corruption when PF comes into office because we can clearly see that things are not going the way they should,” she said.

Ms Mvula charged that the reduction on the price of farming inputs from K200,000-00 to K50,000-00 under government’s Fertilizer Support Program (FSP) is a gimmick meant to gain political mileage for the ruling party.

She also said that it will be ideal for the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to be buying maize from farmers on cash basis if farmers are to be motivated.

And Ms Mvula says the PF once elected into office will improve the key sectors of the economy by broadening the tax base in order to reduce it further.

She explained that the broadening of the tax base will enable the party to reduce taxes , thereby encouraging investments which would mean more money in the pocket for Zambians.

ZANIS/HN/SM/MK/ENDS