THE MMD says its lawyers have established overwhelming evidence of electoral malpractice in the Mufumbwe parliamentary by-election and that the party is going ahead with its petition.
And MMD chairman for legal affairs, Bwalya Chiti says the lawyers went through the evidence and are ready to file in the petition.
MMD national secretary, Katele Kalumba said in an interview yesterday that the MMD is determined to pursue the matter to its logical conclusion.
“Our lawyers have determined what we have and they are satisfied that we have a case to make,” Dr Kalumba said.
He said the party will not pursue the political option of conflict resolution to resolve the matter as some people have suggested.
Dr Kalumba said conflict resolution sounds attractive but that the nation should bear in mind that the rights of the people of Mufumbwe to choose a representative of their choice were violated.
“The people of Mufumbwe need to know that the representative who goes to parliament on their behalf reflects their wishes and that it is the person they voted for under conditions that are consistent with the law,” Dr Kalumba said.
[pullquote]In apparent reference to Ndola district vice information and publicity secretary, Alex Mubanga’s alleged statement that the MMD will unleash violence on Change Life Zambia executive director, Father Frank Bwalya, Dr Kalumba said he does not know what prompted Mr Mubanga to make the statement.[/pullquote]
He said the lawyers will petition the Mufumbwe parliamentary by-election results and dismissed assertions that the MMD has compromised its evidence because of statements by some party members suggesting the party allegedly took part in the violence.
In apparent reference to Ndola district vice information and publicity secretary, Alex Mubanga’s alleged statement that the MMD will unleash violence on Change Life Zambia executive director, Father Frank Bwalya, Dr Kalumba said he does not know what prompted Mr Mubanga to make the statement.
“I don’t think his statement has a bearing on the grounds of the petition in Mufumbwe…it is totally unrelated,” Dr Kalumba said.
He said individual MMD members might speculate about what happened in Mufumbwe but that this has no bearing on the evidence and the petition.
And Mr Chiti says lawyers went through the evidence and are ready to file in the petition.
Mr Chiti said he had meetings with the lawyers the party has appointed and that they will file the petition any time.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
aba ba serious dont even announce, just go ahead to the courts of law and meet your opponents
Panic syndrome.The same guys who say no electrol malpractice can happen prove themselves wrong.Kuya bebele.Zwaaa MMD.
Senior Citizen: Before you post your comments let me tell you that for once say something sensible. MMD are just bad losers! They should focus on conflict resolution and prosecuting their violent cadres and Muzungu’s son who killed three people.
30 Aprile 2010
Kalumba said the MMD’s defeat in the Mufumbwe parliamentary by-election was expected because UPND had made “major infiltration into North Western Province.
can anyone please explain what MAJOR INFILTRATION means
I dont get it, MMD lost the Mufumbwe By-Election and now they are blaming the opposition for the violence???? Very confusing, Indeed very confusing. Aah nalema nabo ba MMD. They want to use the compromised courts to nullify the eletions. Why cant they do that against NyamaSoya who is busy appointing UNIP MP’s into his cabinet.
“chiwamina galu kuluma mbuzi,not mbuzi luma galu”….how many “not clean” elections have you won imwe fi MMD? all of them are dubious,
Dr.Kalumba, concede defeat and move on; why commit additional resources to Mufumbwe again? Remember, you still have another battle in Luena. UPND has credible evedince too. What guarantee do you have that you win this time arround? Muzungu cannot win following the accident by his son Kajilo, so you’ll have a 2nd preference to compete with the people’s choice MP.
This is only a by-election.Come 2011 you are going lose whether you like it or not! You have brought in Chiluba the number one enemy of the people and he is last nail to your coffin. So, back to the topic…if you cant swallow this bitter pill of a by–election what about the Presidential one? Please get used to this trend as this is what is coming.
Stop wasting time and money, mmd thought they will win in that area. forget it you have a lot of people paying you eye service. Katele concentrate on your case and accept that mmd lost in that area. There is winners and losers in any game you lost just focus on other areas. Remember how you treated their son bonshe in that area you must late starters. If mmd did good for him he would alive today.
Soon, it will be a war of petitions because it’s a guarantee that every political party will loose a few times in this race.
As for baKalumba, people’s interests come first – their interests, not as he has defined that. The people in Mufumbwe have spoken.
mmd just start packin yo bags !! get redy for the PACT !!
Movement for Mass Destruction is at it again, go ahead and take another circus to the courts of law we will watch it unfold. Who scared Kabonde to run for his life? was it UPND or MMD cadres?
Who was occupying polling stations. The police failed to remove MMD cadres from the polling stations, it had to take the Patriotic UPND/PF soldiers to do the work for themselves. UPND cadres were more brave than IG Kabonde who went into hiding when the MMD s.o.n.s of a .d.o.g. were on rampage
Every candidate and every party has a right to petition an election if they think they have evidence. What is your problem? Have you stopped thinking and just want to rewrite the rules. This kind of partsanship can turn the country into a bloodbath. Once you understand that every party has its supporters you will understand the importance of respecting their right to petition. As for #22, please ask yourself. who kidnapped a policeman and is now in court for it. Stop blind partisan politics. Respect every party and let the courts rule.
I have lost all the respect i had for Katele he has brought himself to very low levels even working with the likes of Willian Banda why not just accept defeat? silly chaps!
We know you guys in the MMD and what you are up to. Because the whole world has condemned you on the way you allowed those violence to take place in Mufumbwe district, you want to show us that you are innocent by filing for petition. Accept defeat and move on.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Zambia’s GDP is projected to grow by close to 8% in 2010. This will be one of the highest growth rates in the world. To Fred Mmembe and many morons on this blogg this is just proganda by aliens from Mars paid by Rupia Banda. This is what happens when politics loses balance and truth ceases to matter. By the way the harvest this year will be the biggest at 2.7 millin tonnes. Please continue with your denials.
#15 LONDON, Why should Katele not work with William Banda, when Sata worked much longer with the same William Banda and you don’t seem to mind that.
I have just come back from Zambia (specifically North-Western Province) the UPND lawyers are also busy gathering evidence. I am afraid MMD stands to lose even the little respect now in the eyes of the world. As for next year’s elections MMD will be soundly routed in North-Western Province. The people are very angry with some of the recent decision taken by the MMD government and one mining company.
Bad loosers panicking!
Is it not the MMD , through the government they run, who were responsible for supervising this election ?
Bitter pills to swallow is still haunting MMD, their loss of Mufumbwe is unbearable. Sure where on earth can Govt petition its system? We shall wait and see how the evidence will follow against them. I thought the time to petition elapsed how many days are allowed after election for the losing party to petition?
Will see how Kakoma will manage to campaign in two places . Bye election in Luena and repeat in Mufumbwe on the same day. Yaa. Tire them, divide them, confuse them. And financially pound them.
HH and the UPND must really be powerful. I mean, despite the MMD using all the state machinery, the opposition still managed to rig the election! Ha!!!
what has happened to that chap that ploughed his car into UPND / PF supporters and killed someone. has the case been shelved?
¥18 i’m not PF nor belong to any party so i have nothing to say about Sata but Katele who i admired in some time back don’t take it persönal mate i have a right to my own opinion
Stop playing double standards and realize that every political party has a right to petition elections if it feels there where some errors in the elections and if they have enough credible evidence.
this is serious, if ba ‘mulya mweka dollar’ MMD can’t accept defeat in only one consituency what message are they sending to the zambians? i now see what the people mean when they say come 2011 they will be confusion.
Very useless people indeed. After killing people and now you want to shaw them that you care for them? Useless desperate MMD. Know that next year 2011 you will face our rath if you continue with your foolisheness. Let democracy take root in Zambia, let people choose their own leaders…not what you did you selfish MMD.
”Mr Chiti said he had meetings with the lawyers the party has appointed and that they will file the petition any time.” Edit to read; ”Mr Chiti said he had meetings with the magistrate the party has appointed and that they will nullify the petition any time.”
Please go ahead with the petition so that we can put this no.n.sense behind us and forge ahead with development. We need to build on the success story of the bumper maize harvest and strive to do the same in livestock and fisheries, and other economic activities; we need to build more roads and health facilities. We need more schools so that our children are groomed into intelligent and analytical citizens; we need a critical mass of this type of citizen in order to move this country forward.
Shame on you Katele…and the entire MMD. In the likehood of another bye-election it happens you want more violence and spending more money on ballot papers and worst of all delaying salaries for impoverished civil servants. Zaaambia…mawe!!
shame on you ba mmd. mulelonga next yr.
Mwatuchusha pafula…u have to go next yr.