Lusaka – 13/01/21
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The UPND has adopted Given Sakala and Makasa Kamifungo as candidates in the Vubwi Town Council Chairmanship and Miputu Ward elections slated for February 4th,2021.
The by-elections have been necessitated by the death of Vubwi Town Council Chairperson Joshua Daka as well as the resignation of Masaiti’s Miputu ward Councillor, Mabetti Hosini.
The adoptions were announced by UPND Chairman for Elections Garry Nkombo this afternoon at the Party Secretariat in Lusaka.
Mr Nkombo said the UPND as a party is of the view that the staging of the two by-elections is merely a waste of national resources which should have gone towards the acquisition of drugs and test kits in the fight against COVID-19.
He said the elected officials will if lucky only attend one Council meeting before the dissolution of Parliament and subsequent staging of fresh elections in August hence the need for the election body to have foregone the poll which is unlikely to yield any positive community impact.
GEARS Zambia Executive Director Mcdonald Chipenzi has also condemned the staging of the February 4th election and called on the ECZ to cancel the poll and concentrate on other election related activities.
Nominations for the poll is slated for tomorrow Thursday January 14th,2021.
(C) UPND MEDIA TEAM
04/01/2021
_UPND President Hakainde Hichilema has asked the Human Rights Commission of Zambia to investigate the Extra-judicial killings and gross Human Rights Violations by the State police_.
_In his letter dated Monday, January 4th, 2021, delivered to the Commission and copied to The Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia, the Council of Churches in Zambia, the Law Association of Zambia and Non-governmental Gender Organisations Coordinating Council (NGOCC), Hichilema says the recent killing of two citizens when he appeared at police Force Headquarters must be a source of concern to all well meaning Zambians_.
_The Civil Society for Constitution Agenda (CiSCA), Chapter One Foundation, Our Civic Duty Association (OCIDA), the Public Protector, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Chief Justice, the Police IG, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Justice are among other institutions the UPND President has copied his letter to_.
_In the same letter, Hichilema states that neither him nor any other citizen will be showing up at police stations when summoned for fear of being killed as was the case on 23rd December, 2020 when a State Prosecutor Nsama Nsama and UPND supporter Joseph Kaunda were shot dead in cold blood by the police_.
_”Until the relevant authorities can guarantee our supporters’ safety while exercising their rights as enshrined in our Constitution, it is unreasonable for me or indeed anybody else who has been subjected to similar treatment I have received to respond to frivolous police callouts in future. This is necessary in order to avoid the needless loss of innocent live including the obvious attempts to assassinate me in the confusion that arise in such situations,” states Hichilema_.
_”This pattern of extra-judicial killings and gross violation of human rights by the Zambia Police is tarnishing the country’s image, which was once an oasis of peace in the African region, placing it on a path towards autocracy and lawlessness. This trend can only be arrested and stopped if institutions like the HRC play their Constitutional role effectively and stand up in favour of human rights, liberties and freedoms.”_
_The UPND leader further says his party is ready to assist the Commission with evidence of these extra-judicial killings as material is in abundance_.
_”We trust you will thoroughly investigate the extra-judicial killings and gross human rights violations that occurred on 23rd December 2020. The UPND and its leadership are available to provide evidence to the HRC to enable it to undertake this task smoothly.”_
-ENDS-
Lusaka – 23/12/20
Police have shot and killed two people which include a state prosecutor from the office of the national prosecution authority near Cabinet office in Lusaka.
The other one is an unidentified youth.
Hundreds of Police officers fired live ammunition at peaceful members of the public who had gathered near the High Court grounds to offer solidarity to UPND President Hakainde Hichilema who has been summoned to appear at force Headquarters for questioning.
Despite not being violent, some overzealous police officers which included the anti robbery squad popularly known as C5 went on rampage firing teargas cannisters and gun shots resulting into the death of two people.
Aboard the anti riot maverick police trucks, the police pursued the youths in the process arresting innocent members of the public who were caught up in the confusion as attempts to seek refugee in the High Court proved futile.
A ZAF helicopter was also seen hovering around the perimeter.
Meanwhile UPND President Hakainde Hichilema accompanied by his legal team has arrived at the police headquarters and is currently in the interrogation room.
The legal team includes Jack Mwiimbu, Xevianji Sinkala,Cornelius Mweetwa, Marshal Muchende,Nellie Mutti,Mulambo Haimbe and Chad Muleza.
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(C) UPND MEDIA TEAM
Lusaka-22nd December 2020.
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As National Management Committee, we take note of the political summon of our President Hakainde Hichilema by the Police, and wish to warn that, we shall not sit back and watch the Patriotic Front ( PF) destroy our democracy and further shrink our political space.
We shall not tolerate intimidation aimed at crippling our fundamental rights and freedoms.
We are aware that the police are being used to create flimsy grounds for imposing tramped up charges against President Hichilema as a way of intimidating him.
President Hichilema has not become a politician today that Edgar Lungu and his PF would think of creating offences which do not exist.
Mr. Hichilema is not leading a small party which can be pushed anyhow and anywhere; we wish to warn that a further escalation of the scheme to arrest HH will be too costly for the whole country.
We are not going to watch the PF continue to persecute our President.
Further, we are aware, that the PF is so scared of facing President Hichilema in next year’s elections.
We urge President Edgar Lungu to concede that his party has no capacity to win through free, fair and credible 2021 polls.
Whether, PF wants it or not, President HH will be on the ballot paper, come next year August 2021.
We are ready to defend our democracy.
When the UPND takes over government after the 2021 general elections, we shall ensure that police work independently and professionally, devoid of political interference.
I thank you.
Issued by:
Hon. Mutale Nalumango
UPND National Chairperson.
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21.12.2020
We will petition the nomination of Edgar Lungu and file for an injunction to prevent him from filing in his presidential nomination papers for disregarding the August 8, 2016 ConCourt order for 63 former and current ministers to pay back the salaries and allowances they illegally accrued when they remained in office after Parliament was dissolved, says UPND Lusaka Province Chairperson, Obvious Mwaliteta.
In a short interview today, Mwaliteta observes that President Lungu was expected to uphold the Constitution and that failure to do so led to ministers undermining and aggregating its provisions.
“We are demanding for the Republican President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu to resign. He should resign because he has abrogated the Constitution of Zambia. Presidency is there to protect the Constitution but here is a President who abrogated the Constitution by allowing ministers to stay in office when they were not supposed to. And, if he is not going to resign, we will petition his nominations next year,” he said.
He says it’s laughable that the head of State, who is a pronounced legal practitioner could suddenly u-turn and order his ministers to pay back in excess of K4.2 million contrary to his earlier guidance.
“This is a president who allowed ministers not to pay back allowances and salaries illegally accrued when they stayed in office and later u-turned and told them to pay back,” he said.
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UPND MEDIA TEAM
Contact* : UPND Deputy Local Government Chairperson, Brian Ndumba.+260 97 8608170/0977780397
Lusaka – (20.12.2020).
The situation in Kalumbila District of NorthWestern Province where ECZ has not been able to capture a single voter during the infamous and illegal 4 days voter registration extension period that is set to come to an end today is a serious cause for concern.
Sadly, the happenings in Kalumbila where the district has to import machinery from Solwezi District is not unique to that area, but a pattern that has characterised the ECZ’s handling of this exercise in UPND strongholds.
It defies all logic that highly politicized ECZ and its commissioners have undoubtedly taken a partisan stance in support of the PF by continuing to shamelessly abrogate the law with impunity, so as to aid the ruling party to stay in power forever at the expense of the majority Zambians who must have a final say on who governs them-through the ballot.
Like we have already stated, it is very clear that ECZ has been working in collusion with the ruling PF to aid Edgar Lungu stay in power in perpetuity.
That stated, we will do everything possible in line with the laws of the land to pressure ECZ to respect the 2016 Electoral Processes Act , which mandates the Commission to carry out a continuous voter registration exercise.
In this vein, therefore, if Nshindano knows what’s good for the country, they must respect the constitutional provisions and do what is right: continuous voter registration!
In an event that the ECZ does not succumb to our pleas and calls, we will ask our members and the general citizenry across the country to take to the streets, because, evidently, that is the language they understand.
It seems ECZ has a huge appetite for fanning chaos and mayhem to the detriment of the greater good of Zambia and her people.
In an event that this country goes into flames due to the reckless behaviour of ECZ’s Judge Esau Chulu, Patrick Nshindano, Emily Sikazwe and other Commissioners thereof, the people of Zambia will hold you accountable.
UPND MEDIA TEAM
Lusaka – 16th December 2020.
UPND President, Hakainde Hichilema has told the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to abide by the legal provisions which allow it to conduct a continuous voter registration exercise so that it doesn’t leave out any eligible Zambian voter.
And Mr Hichilema says Zambian youths and the general citizenry have a collective responsibility to save the country each time danger looms.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka this morning, Mr Hichilema observed that the framers and designers of the Republic Constitution, in a quest to end reckless spending towards endless by elections and reduce panic ahead of general elections, opted to add suitable provisions in the Constitution that would ensure the sitting Government did not deplete the treasury through the creation of endless by elections.
“Electoral Commission of Zambia, register all the eligible Zambians. You saw the queues? You created that mess. The Electoral Processes Act of 2016 allows for a continuous voter registration exercise; that’s why the designers of the law put such measures so that there is no rush, there is no stampede which you’re creating now,” charged Mr Hichilema.
President Hichilema, questioned the criteria used to arrive at both the 30 days registration period for the exercise which came to an end last Saturday as well as the 4 days extension.
He accused the ECZ of continued abrogation of the laws of the land .
He said that it was public knowledge that ECZ Chief Electoral Officer, Patrick Nshindano was “confused” by the endless instructions from the ruling elite to ensure that the voter registration exercise was conducted in a manner that favoured the PF and increased their chances of clinging onto public office beyond 2021.
“The ECZ has been abrogating the law because they should have been doing voter registration since 2016 because that’s what the law states. But, now they create these illegal provisions of 30 days…7 days per polling station and now the 4 days extension which is illegal. Now, if those in the ECZ and Government are ignoring the rule of law, how is this country to be governed legally? ,” he wondered.
The ECZ made an announcement that it had extended the voter registration exercise from the initial 30 days which ended on Saturday with an extra 4 “questionable” days against the law which allows it to conduct an ongoing voters registration exercise.
Many stakeholders have since condemned the move and have called for the Commission to revert to the provisions of the Electoral Process Act of 2016 so that eligible citizens are not disenfranchised.
UPND MEDIA TEAM
Contact: Charles Kakoma,
UPND Spokesperson
+260977780397
We have learnt with disbelief the announcement by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) that it has increased the period of voter registration by 4 days.
The UPND finds this as a mockery and a dark day for Zambia’s democracy and the electoral process.
For the Commission to state that it has so far captured 6.4 million voters is difficult to believe because the pace at which the first phase was conducted left much to be desired.
If it took one month to register 6.4 million voters out of 9 million, how can ECZ manage to register the remainder of 2.6 million voters in 4 days?
From broken down machines; slow or lack of internet connectivity to lack of manpower, it beats both scientific formulae and logic that the ECZ has been able to hit such figures.
Indeed, we can now safely assert that there is an invisible hand that is pulling the strings behind the curtains in favour of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) through unorthodox methods including issuing voters’ cards to foreigners and under age children.
This is laughable as the Commission’s projections do not add up in any logical way.
This is also an indication that the ECZ has been, under the tutelage and instigation of the PF by issuing voters cards to underage children and foreign nationals.
What formula does the ECZ intend to use in order to capture the remainder of the targeted 9 million voters since most eligible voters have continued to be disenfranchised owing to the Commission’s incompetence and partisan stance?
We wish to appeal to the ECZ to stop playing games with Zambians and ensure that it conducts the exercise in line with the Electoral Processes Act of 2016 which allows the Commission to conduct an on-going voter registration exercise.
Also, the decision by the ECZ to conduct the exercise in correctional facilities which has resulted in 11, 000 inmates being registered as voters without either consensus from stakeholders or a legal framework is a desperate ploy by ECZ to try and aid the PF to remain in power beyond 2021.
If the ECZ remains adamant and refuse to conduct an ongoing voter registration exercise, the people of Zambia will hold them accountable for any damage that would be done to this country and her people.
(C) UPND MEDIA TEAM
Lusaka – 12/12/20
Leader of the opposition and Monze Central Member of Parliament Jack Mwiimbu has questioned the moral and legal reasoning behind the issuance of national registration cards and voters cards to prisoners on death roll at the time when most eligible Zambians have been disfranchised.
And UPND parliamentary whip Situmbeko Musokotwane has appealed to traditional leaders in especially Western province to search their conscience and state whether they are satisfied with the ended issuance of NRCs as well as the voter registration exercise.
Addressing the media this morning, Mr Mwiimbu said the UPND is extremely shocked and disappointed at the decision by the Ministry of Home affairs as well as the ECZ to start registering prisoners some of whom are on the death roll.
He said a number of eligible Zambians especially in Western, Southern, North Western and parts of Central provinces were left out of the NRC exercise and are likely to be left out in the voters card acquisition with government opting to instead give prisoners the documents meant for Zambians with full liberties and freedoms under the laws of Zambia.
He has since demanded for the immediate extension of the voting registration period so as to capture all eligible Zambians by 2015.
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(C) UPND MEDIA TEAM
11.12.2020
Lusaka:
United Party for National Development (UPND) has demanded for the immediate resignation of Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) Chairperson, Essau Chulu and his team at the Commission.
UPND Chairman Mutale Nalumango told the press that the demand for Judge Essau Chulu and his team at ECZ to step down had been necessitated by the electoral body’s failure to provide fair administration of the elections among other concerns.
She said the ECZ’s failure to provide segregated numbers of registered voters and the planned closure of the voter registration exercise tomorrow, which she said would disenfranchise millions of eligible citizens especially in perceived UPND strongholds was reason enough for the ECZ leadership to step down.
“We demand that Justice Essau Chulu and Patrick Nshindano together with their team resign from the ECZ as their actions have the potential to plunge the country into chaos. We also demand for the registration period to be extended until the targeted number of voters is captured and also that the ECZ provide segregated numbers of registered voters,” she demanded.
Mrs Nalumango also demanded for an end to the alleged registration of foreigners and underage children, warning that failure to do so would attract a serious backlash from the general public.
She also demanded for the immediate end to the registration of inmates citing a lack of legal framework that supports the registration of prisoners.
“We also demand that the ECZ stop registering foreigners. ECZ should also give those areas with faulty registration equipment more days and, also, immediately stop the registration of inmates until a legal framework is provided. Failure to do so will receive a serious backlash,” she warned.
The voter registration exercise, set to come to end tomorrow has seen a number of stakeholders calling for the extension of the exercise.
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UPND MEDIA TEAM
