By Isaac Zulu
Mwenya Musenge has said that the loss that the UPND has suffered on the hands of the Patriot Front in the Luangwa mayoral by-election is a protest vote against the UPND government, saying the ruling party needs to go back to the drawing board.
And UPND Lusaka district deputy information and publicity secretary Costain Chilikwazi has said that the win by the PF in the Luangwa mayoral by-election is a wake up call for the UPND and acknowledged that the ruling party needs to go to the drawing board.
Speaking in an interview, Musenge, who is former National Democratic Congress secretary general, explained that the loss that the UPND suffered in the Luangwa mayoral by-election is an indication that the people of Zambia are “not happy with the false promises by the UPND, hence this protest vote.”
He said that the Luangwa mayoral by-election outcome is an iceberg of the repurcations currently obtaining on the ground.
He noted that majority Zambians are now enlightened and no longer vote on impulse.
“The people are now tired of the false promises that the UPND made such as the reduction in fuel pump prices, reduction in the prices of fertiliser and assurances to lower the cost of living. But they are one year in government and the cost of living is still very high,” Musenge said. “If people along the line of rail are lamenting, what about the people living in rural communities? The loss by the UPND in the Luangwa mayoral by-election is an iceberg of the repurcations currently obtaining on the ground. This election outcome is a revolt…it is a protest vote.”
Musenge pointed out that the people surrounding President Hakainde Hichilema are not helping the Head of State because they are not telling him the truth.
“Like I said in another interview with you, the people surrounding the President have grown big headed, they are not willing to listen and analyse sentiments coming from non-aligned individuals like us and political opponents. They are behaving like the Patriot Front who were saying that the PF will rule for 50 years. They are not telling the President the truth! The sooner the President realises this, the sooner the commander, the captain of the ship realises this, the better,” Musenge said.
The former PF Chimwemwe member of parliament also said that had the Kabushi and Kwacha parliamentary by-elections gone ahead, the UPND would have lost to either independent or opposition candidates.
“I have said this before and I will say it again. If elections were called today, given the rate at which the UPND government is moving, they can easily lose such elections. And I am very confident that even in Kabushi and Kwacha parliamentary by-elections, with or without Bowman Lusambo and Joe Malanji, the UPND was going to lose to these young people that had filled in as independent or opposition candidates. Today winning an election is not about being popular. People are taking into consideration a number of things,” said Musenge.
And UPND Lusaka district deputy information and publicity secretary for mobilisation Costain Chilikwazi has said that the win by the PF in the Luangwa mayoral by-election is a wake up call for the UPND, and acknowledged that the ruling party needs to go back to the drawing board and do an introspection.
He said that the the ruling party has drawn lessons from the Luangwa mayoral by-election outcome, adding that the UPND will now work towards restrategising ahead of the pending Kabushi and Kwacha parliamentary by-elections.
“It is a wake up call for us… we have drawn lessons from this loss. And from the now on we will start restrategising for the upcoming by-elections on the Copperbelt which have been halted. In a democracy you need to accept defeat in an election,” Chilikwazi explained.
He implored his fellow UPND members not to be detracted “by this loss,” saying “this minor setback should in fact make us become more united than ever before.”
“I can only call for calm and unity of purpose among UPND members. We should come out of this defeat more united than ever before. This presents an opportunity for us to be rejuvenated and go in future elections as a united force,” said Chilikwazi.
Chilikwazi expressed optimism that the UPND will win both the Kabushi and Kwacha parliamentary by-elections.
