Africa-Press – Zambia. THE United Party for National Development (UPND) Lusaka province chairperson, Obvious Mwaliteta, has challenged farmers who want empowerment through agriculture to vote for a fellow farmer.
Zambia goes to the polls on 12th August, 2021 – an election widely viewed as an opportunity for the opposition UPND to form government owing to the current economic challenges and deteriorating human rights and freedoms.
Speaking when he addressed villagers in Shampule village in Chinyanja ward of Chilanga constituency, the Lusaka province UPND chief cautioned farmers against voting for leaders who don’t have a farming background. He said the challenges facing the agricultural sector are due to the fact that the current Republican president has no farming background.
“The kind of empowerment that you need here lies in agriculture. You need deep tanks here, you need cattle for ploughing and enough fertilizer and the only person who can empower you is president Hakainde Hichilema because he’s a farmer. Mwanawasa [the late Republican president] managed to empower you because he ran a farm called Teka Farm,” said Mwaliteta. “So baakuza ba PF, mukaabambile ati kuno ku Shampule tulibalimi, Kamutwaambila munda wa president [Lungu], ulikuli?”
And Mwaliteta has instructed the UPND Chilanga district aspiring council chairperson, Champion Tembo and Chinyanja ward aspiring councillor, Chipo Mulubisha to ensure that they drill solar powered boreholes in the area when elected in office.
He said the solar-powered boreholes will make it easy for women to draw water and improve the farming activities in the area. Meanwhile, a PF chairlady in charge of women clubs for Chinyanja ward, Grace Munkasu has defected to UPND citing corruption in his former party. She said the PF in the area has been stealing from the poor through clubs and land grabbing.
The UPND Lusaka provincial chief, who began by attending the burial of a former Shampule Primary School headteacher was in the area to drum up support for the UPND presidential candidate, Hakainde Hichilema, Chilanga aspiring MP (Sipho Hlazo), council chairperson candidate (Champion Tembo) and Chinyanja ward aspiring councillor, Chipo Mulubisha.
He was accompanied by Lusaka province chairlady, Rosa Zulu, UPND Chilanga district chairperson (Chisambwe Chinyama) and district deputy chairperson for strategy and mobilisation (Juda Sikamikami).
Others were district chairlady (Lizzie Chanda), district IPS – in charge of media (Chrispine Chambwa) and deputy district chairlady in charge of mobilisation (Ebony Chuuka) among others.
