Opposition leaders’ Chilubi stunt provocative

IT was provocative for UPND and NDC leaders to get into Chilubi when the Head of State was in the area, Zambian Youths Against Corruption Executive Director Maurice Malambo has said.

Mr Malambo told the Daily Nation in an interview in Chilubi that it was wrong for Mr Hakainde Hichilema and Mr Chishimba Kambwili to be in the district at the time President Lungu was also in the area.

“We find the move by UPND president Hakainde Hichilema and his NDC counterpart very provocative. Why should they only decide to come here when they are fully aware that the Head of State is here,” Mr Malambo wondered.

He charged that the move by the two opposition leaders was aimed at disturbing presidential security detail and cause confusion ahead of the by-election.

Mr Malambo said it was unwise for the opposition to continue causing confusion instead of meeting the electorate.

He said President Lungu has a tradition of campaigning four days before the election and that opposition was aware of it.

He said the growing trend of opposition trying to create unnecessary show down like what happened in Mongu was worrying.

“It is very bad strategy. Instead of meeting electorate, the opposition leaders are busy generating confusion in the electoral process,” he said.

Mr Malambo advised the opposition to come up with better ways of campaigning instead of creating unnecessary confusion.

Meanwhile, the NGO leader has described the just-ended Chilubi Parliamentary by-election campaign as peaceful.

He said there was need for the country to use the Chilubi Parliamentary by-election as a model for violence free polls.

Mr Malambo said his organisation had deployed over 124 monitors to all the polling stations across the constituency.