Lungu dates East PF

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu is today expected in Chipata to officially open the Patriotic Front provincial conference. And all is set for the conference where new provincial executive office bearers are expected to be ushered into office. Meanwhile PF Provincial chairman Andrew Lubusha is disappointed with elements sowing seeds of disunity by claiming that constituency and district elections were marred with irregularities and violence. PF Elections chairperson Yamfwa Mukanga confirmed to the Daily Nation in an interview yesterday that the president is expected to officially open the provincial conference.

"The conference will be officially opened by the president and later closed by the secretary general. We are already here and we are doing registration of delegates," Mr. Mukanga said. Mr. Mukanga also said all the logistics and preparations for the conference went as planned. Meanwhile Mr. Lubusha has rubbished claims by the Elias Daka camp that constituency and district elections where marred by irregularities. Mr. Daka, a popularly known as ELIBOMA who chickened out of intra-party elections, said his camp decided to withdraw due to irregularities in grassroots polls.

But Mr. Lubusha told the Daily Nation in an interview yesterday that the ELIBOMA camp were not prepared for elections. He said intraparty elections should be a celebration for democracy and not a platform of dividing the party. Mr. Lubusha said the intra-party polls signify growth and stability of the ruling party. He stated that elections allow for continuity in renewing party leadership at the same time rooting out non patriots. "Elections are a celebration of democracy and unity of the party. As a ruling party it is very good for us to set precedents by upholding our party constitution, he said