By Mubanga Mubanga
UPND chairperson for elections Garry Nkombo says the process to choose the candidate for the Lumezi by-elections, was tedious and complicated, because of the number of candidates that showed interest to contest under the UPND ticket.
And UPND has adopted Lufayo Ngoma as candidate for the Lumezi seat and pledged to deliver the seat to the ruling party.
Speaking at a press briefing, Nkombo said the process to choose a candidate was tedious and complicated due to the many people who applied to stand on the UPND ticket.
“I must say that of the 14 candidates that were trimmed to seven, all of them are of high quality in terms of personnel, and this is why in the history of our party UPND, we found this remarkable challenge in the process of adoption for this Lumezi by-elections,” Nkombo said.
Nkombo said the party would strive to have a peaceful campaign in Lumez by following the electoral code of conduct.
He added that the electoral stakeholders who included the opposition, Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and the police also had to do the same.
And Ngoma said he was greatly humbled to be adopted as the candidate for the UPND.
He appealed to UPND members to ensure that they deliver the seat to the party.
“I am greatly humbled today, to have been preferred. I am not the best to have been preferred as a candidate for the by-election in Lumezi,” Ngoma said. “It is not about me, it is about the party, it is about the President. Our call is to make sure we deliver the seat to the UPND.”
UPND Secretary General Betuka lmenda said the UPND were making inroads in Eastern Province.
He attributed this to the development he said the party had brought to the province.
