By Mubanga Mubanga
UPND deputy spokesperson Elvis Nkandu says Socialist party leader Fred M’membe is running a one man political party.
Reacting to Dr M’membe’s assertions on his facebook page that the UPND had lost popularity, in an interview with Daily Revelation yesterday, Nkandu said it was in fact the Socialist Party which was losing ground.
“We are adding more numbers to UPND, and l want to appreciate the people of Zambia. The growth of the party is very unprecedented. We have grown in terms of numbers, we have grown in terms of where we didn’t have a presence. So what is he talking about? It is in fact, the Socialist Party which is going down every day,” Nkandu said. “Look at his membership, who are the people that are joining him? No one. So, he should not just bury his head in the sand and think that the UPND is not gaining ground. We are gaining ground on a daily basis because of what we have delivered so far.”
Nkandu also said the best Dr M’membe could have done was to wait for today’s by-election in Chushi ward to know if indeed the UPND has lost popularity.
“The best M’membe can do is to wait for the by-election that he is participating in. Indeed the by-election will be able to tell us if we have lost ground or not. People should not just make insinuations. You know people are in Lusaka, in their own comfort zones, and making statements, which is not a true reflection of what is obtaining on the ground,” Nkandu said.
“Where l am, I am in Nsama district. Where we had PF’s stronghold, and it was the PF councilor that resigned. So let us see, let him wait and see if indeed we are losing ground or not. But, the fact is, we are gaining ground because, in all the by-elections that we have had, we have won and this is in their strong holds.”
On the issue of load shedding that the country is grappling with, Nkandu said people needed to understand that the previous government failed to invest in energy.
“We have not failed, in fact people should even appreciate this government that we are facing the issue head-on. You know people need to understand that we didn’t invest in energy and this is the government that has now thought of investing in energy,” said Nkandu. “Especially we are now becoming a manufacturing country where energy will be very needed, so definitely, if it wasn’t for this government maybe people wouldn’t have known that we are getting power on credit. We are not investing in energy. Us we have been transparent from the word go, that we have a big problem that needs solution.”
