37 dump UPND for PF in Mwinilunga

THRITY seven opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) members in Mulumbi ward in Mwinilunga district have defected and joined the ruling Patriotic Front (PF).

Leading the defectors, Mulumbi Ward chairperson Happy Hukengi said belonging to the opposition party was not benefiting them at all.

He said the opposition party had no future because it had visionless and selfish leaders. He described his stay in the opposition party as a shear waste of time.

"I and these people with me here have today decided to dump the UPND and join the ruling party because we tired of supporting a party that has no future,” Mr Hukengi said.

He said opposition party leaders both at district and provincial levels had been giving false hope to the people in the district that their leader would soon be form government. "But to our surprise, nothing is happening and the year is coming to an end,” he said. He pledged to work closely with the party structures and ensure that the party grows in the district and the province as a whole.

And receiving the defectors, provincial chairperson Jackson Kungo said he was glad that the ruling party was slowly destroying what is perceived to be a UPND stronghold.

He said he was determined to work together with the entire provincial executive to change the perception that the province is the stronghold of the opposition.

"I am fully aware that our colleagues in the UPND have been boasting that this is their bedroom, but I can assure you that not anymore,” Mr Kungo said.

He urged the old party members to embrace newcomers because modern politics was dynamic and about numbers.