Kapelwa Astley Mbangweta questions PF’s double standard
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By Ashton Kelly Bunda
A UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) Member of Parliament (MP) in the Western Province has questioned the motive behind the ruling Patriotic Front’s call on the Electoral Commission of Zambia – ECZ- to postpone all by elections scheduled to take place in the near future till the country is declared Coronavirus Disease (COVID 19) free.
UPND Nkyeyema Member of Parliament (MP)Kapelwa Astley Mbangweta has wondered why the Party did not call for the postponement of the Nangula Ward by elections in Limulunga district of Western Province, which its candidate Thabo Kayando won with 868 votes while UPND candidate Wasamunu Yamboto earned 341 votes.
Mr. Mwila equally congratulated Edmond Mpongwe for being unopposed in Chumbwe Ward in Lunga district in Luapula Province after the opposition failed to file a nomination.
Mr. Mbangweta protested in an interview in Lusaka that the ruling party should be serious in its dealings especially on issues to do with electoral system, as a consistent approach must always be taken not one based on a partisan line.
Mr. Mbangweta was making an apparent reference to PF Secretary General (SG) Mr. Davies Mwila Mwila who called on the Electoral Commission of Zambia Chairperson Justice Essau Chulu to postpone all future by elections in order to safeguard the lives of Zambians and curtail possible transmission of the virus amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
And Mr. Mbangweta says the Nangula Ward by elections has exposed how moribund the Electoral Commission of Zambia is as it did not conduct the poll in a transparent manner.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mbangweta has alleged that Civil Servants in the Western Province were actively involved in politics instead of delivering development to the people of Zambia regardless of political preferences.
Still on elections, Governance, Elections Advocacy and Research Services (GEARS Initiative Zambia) Executive Director Macdonald Chipenzi commended the ECZ Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Patrick Nshindano for conducting the first-ever elections amidst a dreaded pandemic that has killed thousands across the globe.
