United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema has called on politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties to put an end to political violence.
In a statement released to Zambian Eye, Hichilema also said the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), in its current configuration, could not adequately handle the inadequacies of the electoral system, hence the need for participants in elections to be disciplined.
Hichilema appealed to all parties taking part in the September 11 by-elections to work together to ensure that they brought credence to the country’s electoral system. “We have upcoming by-elections on September 11; I would like to ask everyone involved to please conduct ourselves in a manner befitting a civilised group of people.”
“The acquittal of Isaac Zulu, our member who was accused of having murdered Menyani Zulu in Rufunsa in 2012 is a lesson to us all. The family of the deceased has not recovered from their loss, yet we have had over 20 by-elections since then and the perpetrators have gone on like nothing happened.”
Hichilema also emphasized the need for healthy competition in which all political players played by the rules, adding that healthy competition would spur the country to growth and instill confidence in hardworking citizens.
“If we can achieve healthy competition on the electoral field, I can guarantee you, we shall build a better country. A country that believes in winning fairly, a country and people that believes in itself. What we do as politicians reflects on the nation as a whole. If we portray that winning is more important than playing by the rules, we are doomed to fail in other spheres of life where rules are strictly enforced, he said.”
“I call on all of us to reflect on ourselves as a country in a competitive global world. What are our chances of progress if we don’t embrace healthy competition?” He wondered.
The falling of the chief rufian should be a lesson to other rufians like mwaliteta that importing militia styles from sudan and zimbabwe is un-zambian.
Violence has ended with the end of Wynter’s political life. All his henchmen and women- Chuumbwe, Masebo, Mwaliteta etc should go if PF has to launder itself. It is an opportunity they have now.