Zambia News Features

By ZAMBIA NEWS FEATURES CORRESPONDENTS

THE United Party for National Development (UPND) and the Patriotic Front (PF) officially launched their pact under which they have contested by-elections as a united force for the past one year and would contest the 2011 national elections, but were elusive as to who would lead it.

UPND president Hakainde Hichilema and his PF counterpart Michael Sata who addressed scores of their supporters at Lusaka’s Freedom Statue near Kamwala Shopping Centre kept on referring each other in their respective capacities as individual party presidents.

Sata claimed that MMD Cabinet Ministers were in talks with PF chairman for elections Geoffrey Mwamba and would soon defect to the Pact, a matter which was however dismissed by MMD spokesperson Dora Siliya who alleged that the Pact was facing a serious leadership crisis.

Sata admitted that the Pact had made several mistakes but thanked Zambians for tolerating it. He likened the bond between the two political parties to a marriage where couples do not divorce but choose to resolve their differences.

On his part, Hichilema urged voters in next year’s general elections to vote for wise leaders and not consider tribe.

“Do not vote on tribal grounds because languages only bring division instead of unity,” he said.

Siliya, who is also Education Minister, said the two political party leaders were loosing popularity within their parties creating a leadership vacuum charging that the two leaders were unreliable, lacking political maturity which has lost them popularity among young and exposed people in the country.

Siliya charged that the two were loosing popularity even in their own party because they failed to marshal leadership in this country, and that ichilema was losing grip in his Southern Province stronghold.

She said President Rupiah Banda has extended his popularity among young people in the country because of his dynamic understanding of their needs.

Siliya’s sentiments echo those of Vice President George Kunda who seizes every opportunity to denounce the Pact and portray it as crumbling whenever he addresses a crowd. (Read related story here)

A political observer who witnessed the launch of the Pact, however, noted that the two leaders have divided their roles giving Hichilema the economic portfolio where he would be talking about figures such as the maize marketing which is already in a shambles for this year.

He talked about their manifestos that basically talk about more money in people’s pockets and employment creation.

Some notable speakers were Change Life Zambia executive durector Father Frank Bwalya with his red card.

UPND’s Ackson Sejani said he had a brown envelope to deliver to President Rupiah Banda which had an eviction notice. A brown envelope in the Zambian context signifies the dishing out of money to the electorate by government officials such as the President and his Vice President.

(Edited by Gershom Ndhlovu)