{"id":49257,"date":"2023-09-25T22:01:11","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T22:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/over-500-opposition-members-defects-to-the-ruling-upnd"},"modified":"2023-09-25T22:15:24","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T22:15:24","slug":"over-500-opposition-members-defects-to-the-ruling-upnd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/over-500-opposition-members-defects-to-the-ruling-upnd","title":{"rendered":"OVER 500 OPPOSITION MEMBERS DEFECTS TO THE RULING UPND"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>Opposition political parties in Namwala Constituency have suffered a huge blow as over 500 members joined the Ruling United Party for National Development (UPND).<\/p>\n

Notable defectors included Mr Elimon Chilala Patriotic Front (PF) ward mobilization Chairperson and Esau Mutenga who was the Socialist Party Constituency Chairperson for mobilization.<\/p>\n

Speaking on behalf of defectors Elimon Chilala said that him and other members decided to join the ruling UPND government, because President Hakainde Hichilema has not only brought peace to the country but also awarded communities the much needed resources for their self development.<\/p>\n

He added that he was thrilled to witness how the Constituency Development Funds (CDF) has changed the outlook of Namwala Constituency in just two years of UPND being in government.<\/p>\n

\u201cI and other PF defectors are not ashamed of defecting to a political party that has a president who exhibits true leadership , President Hichilema has completely stopped all forms of violence and cadrelism in this country, oppositions are now living a free something that never happened in the past governments,\u201dsaid Chilala<\/p>\n

Another defector from Socialist Party ,Esau Mutenga who was the Constituency chairperson for mobilization said UPND party has no opposition because of what it has so far delivered to the Zambian people.<\/p>\n

He added that the increased funding of CDF from 1.6 million to k28.3 has made service delivery more responsive to the public needs through decentralization of local institutions which has promoted economic development.<\/p>\n

He further commended the UPND government for prioritizing skills development among youths something he said will make his fellow youths become more productive as well as self sustainable.<\/p>\n

Mr Munenga further thanked President Hichilema and his leadership for increasing job opportunities in all sectors.<\/p>\n

Defectors where received by the United Party for National Development UPND National Trustee Ms Grace Chivube,area member of Parliament Herbert M. Mapani , Namwala Districts mayor Mr Abel M. Moonga and other Constituency senior Party officials.<\/p>\n

While receiving defectors Ms Grace Chivube who graced the event as the guest of honor thanked all the defectors for making a right decision of joining the party that has brought economic transformation and development closer to the people.<\/p>\n

Ms Chivube said UPND is willing to work with anyone who supports the party\u2019s mandate.<\/p>\n

She said that UPND remains committed to safeguarding lives of every Zambian regardless of ones political affiliation.<\/p>\n

The National Trustee has further underscored the need of the Constituency top leadership to remain united in order to keep members glued together.<\/p>\n

She pointed out that the building for the political party requires a collective efforts from everyone.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. Opposition political parties in Namwala Constituency have suffered a huge blow as over 500 members joined the Ruling United Party for National Development (UPND). Notable defectors included Mr Elimon Chilala Patriotic Front (PF) ward mobilization Chairperson and Esau Mutenga who was the Socialist Party Constituency Chairperson for mobilization. Speaking on behalf of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":49255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-49257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-parties","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nOVER 500 OPPOSITION MEMBERS DEFECTS TO THE RULING UPND - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Opposition political parties in Namwala Constituency have suffered a huge blow as over 500 members joined the Ruling Uni ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/over-500-opposition-members-defects-to-the-ruling-upnd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"OVER 500 OPPOSITION MEMBERS DEFECTS TO THE RULING UPND\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Opposition political parties in Namwala Constituency have suffered a huge blow as over 500 members joined the Ruling Uni ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/over-500-opposition-members-defects-to-the-ruling-upnd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-25T22:01:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-25T22:15:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2023\/09\/sm_1695667536.30225.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"531\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/over-500-opposition-members-defects-to-the-ruling-upnd#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/over-500-opposition-members-defects-to-the-ruling-upnd\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"OVER 500 OPPOSITION MEMBERS DEFECTS TO THE RULING UPND\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-25T22:01:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-25T22:15:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/over-500-opposition-members-defects-to-the-ruling-upnd\"},\"wordCount\":448,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/over-500-opposition-members-defects-to-the-ruling-upnd#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2023\/09\/sm_1695667536.30225.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/over-500-opposition-members-defects-to-the-ruling-upnd#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/over-500-opposition-members-defects-to-the-ruling-upnd\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/over-500-opposition-members-defects-to-the-ruling-upnd\",\"name\":\"OVER 500 OPPOSITION MEMBERS DEFECTS TO THE RULING UPND - 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