Reject UPND, says KEL2016

. Kaunda

By JULIUS PHIRI –
A PATRIOTIC Front (PF) group calling itself ‘Kum’mawa for Edgar Lungu 2016’ (KEL 2016) has appealed to people in Eastern Province to reject the United Party for National Development (UPND) by voting for President Edgar Lungu in the August 11 general elections.
KEL 2016 team leader Panji Kaunda said in a statement yesterday that giving a vote to UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema and his running mate Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba, commonly known as GBM, would be the worst mistake of the generation as the country would never develop.
“We don’t need to be spiritual to know that the combination of the two business executives is not only unholy but is meant to say that there will be no room for poor people in the country if the two became leaders of our country.
“I am sure we all witnessed the way the UPND leader humiliated his other vice-president Canisius Banda  who was left out as a running mate in preference for GBM because he did not have money to fly Mr Hichilema around the country,” Colonel Kaunda said.
Col Kaunda, who is Home Affairs deputy minister, said the country had seen how the core founding members of UPND had been sidelined a few days into the campaigns.
“You can hardly hear or see Mr Garry Nkombo, Mr Jack Mwiimbu and many other party stewards during the countrywide campaign tours of the UPND.
“This speaks volumes for all of us. In fact there are many UPND figures that were not present on the nomination day,” he said.
Col Kaunda said voting for the UPND would in itself be endorsing rulership of people who would take all the businesses to themselves.
“They both claim to be rich people but why do they want to rule this country?.As for the UPND leader himself, there are many unanswered questions about his wealth as it is completely shrouded in many myths because how could he be the auctioneer during the day and in the night he turns out to be the owner of the property he was selling,” he said.
Col Kaunda said the sidelining of Dr Banda in the UPND was not different from the story of Esau and Jacob in the Bible where GBM takes the role of Jacob because of his wealth to take the birth right of Esau, in this case Dr Banda.
He said those who left PF like Guy Scott and others never meant well for the country.
Col Kaunda said Dr Scott was fired as Agriculture minister in the Chiluba regime because of the way he handled the swine fever outbreak.
He said this sent him into forming the failed Lima Party before joining PF.
Col Kaunda said it was by the grace of God that late president Michael Sata kept him to the position of vice-president but Zambians saw his true colours how he almost put the country into flames after the death of Mr Sata.
He said it was his humble appeal to the people in the province to denounce the unholy union of people who did not mean well for the people of the nation by not voting them into power.
Col Kaunda also appealed to the PF leadership in the province to bring unity of purpose in the party and support officially adopted candidates as directed by President Lungu.
He said supporting independent candidates was not a guarantee that they would be loyal to the party when elected.
“Let us make sure the votes for President Lungu remain undisturbed,” he said.
Col Kaunda also urged the women in the province and the country at large to guard their votes by voting for President Lungu because he meant well for the nation.
He said some opposition leaders were self-confessed women batterers which they claimed was part of love.
“And from the composition of the UPND team, it is clear there is no space for women in their leadership, which is archaic and old fashioned,” Col Kaunda said.
He said on August 11, Zambians must endorse President Lungu who had kept the nation far even in the event of economic hardships.
He said Zambia was now feeding Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).