United Party for National Development (UPND) Elections Chairperson, Garry Nkombo has said that the party has engaged independent individuals to oversee the elections at the UPND General Assembly.
CISCA president Judith Mulenga will chair the process and will be assisted by Judith Mulenga and Macdonald Chipenzi of GEARS and that these are not UPND but had been asked to run the UPND elections.
Mr Nkombo said that the National Management Committee (NMC) extraordinary meeting held at the UPND secretariat yesterday resolved that all party positions (including that of the party president) were open for contestation.
“The UPND has engaged independent individuals from civil society to help us run this affair which will help us achieve the transparency that we are looking for. We have appointed Judith Mulenga from CiSCA to chair the Election Commission. She will be assisted by Pamela Chisanga, a governance activist, and MacDonald Chipenzi from GEARS. We wish to appeal to our members not to brand these individuals as UPND because we were tasked to engage independent persons,” he said.
The General Conference is in line with Article 60 of the Republican Constitution as well as Article 52 and 60 of the UPND Constitution. During the same event, a number of UPND members also filed their nomination papers for the National Management Committee (NMC).
“There has to be one nominating province supported by 5 other provinces for the presidential position,” said Mr Hichilema’s Election Agent, Chirundu MP, Douglas Syakalima shortly after Muchinga Province Chairman, Rev. Matthews Chilekwa, nominated Mr Hichilema. Mr Hichilema’s nomination by Northern Province was seconded by Eastern Province and Luapula Province.
The 10 provincial chairmen who were on hand to witness the filing in, have since endorsed the candidature of Mr Hichilema as the party’s preferred presidential candidate for the forthcoming intra-party elections.
Dean of the 10 provinces, Central Province Chairperson, Anthony Chifita stated that all the provinces support HH’s candidature.
“We, the undersigned, in supporting the nominations by the nominating province (Muchinga) and the 5 supporting provinces, do hereby support and endorse the candidature of Mr Hakainde Hichilema for both the forthcoming UPND General Conference as well as the presidential candidate for the forthcoming August 12th general elections,” he said.
Nominations opened yesterday at 16 hours and scheduled to close at 12 hours on 6th February 2021. The process has since attracted 83 nominations for NMC
Copperbelt chairperson for Elisha Matambo told the gathering that the presence of all the ten provincial chairperson shows that he is the only Presidential candidate.
Mr. Matambo said President Hichilema has suffered at the hands of the PF government for the sake of making life better for all Zambians.
He warned PF that UPND will not allow any fake tricks of arrests, intimidation, violence from PF because this time the Party is more than ready to protect President Hichilema the only leader with the heart to save the people of Zambia from the Jews of the corrupt regime. He said PF should know that Presidency comes from God through the people of Zambia.
And Opposition UPND President has successfully filed his nomination to recontest his position as Party President for the forthcoming UPND General Conference slated for February 14th, 2021. Mr. Hakainde Hichilema filed his nomination at the party Secretariat at about 15:30 hours. The filing of his nomination was witnessed by Provincial chairpersons from all the ten provinces littered across the country.
Lusaka province chairperson Obvious Mwaliteta said there is no other person who has come to challenge the candidature of Mr. Hakainde Hichilema. He said the province is looking forward to begin the campaigns and ensure that President Hichilema wins the Presidential elections.
The requirement for the nomination of the President is that one province nominates a seconded by the five. The nominating province are Muchinga province represented by Rev. Matthews Chilekwa chairman for Muchinga province. UPND Chairperson for elections Garry Nkombo approved the nomination of Hichilema as 2021 UPND Presidential candidate. He said this time is defining moment for the opposition party.
He said the persons that intend to contest the position of the Party President the UPND has appointed independent commissioners to run the elections from the civil society election to conduct transparency, those interested party will not take advantage of the process.
The nominations were opened yesterday at 16 hours and will close on 6the February 2021 after which the Commission will close. From yesterday 83 nominations for the position of NMC and now others will file nomination for the position of president.
Very commendable bcoz that’s real intraparty democracy. I’m not pro-UPND but let’s see if PF and MMD will set the same high standards.
Judith Mulenga will chair the process assisted by Judith Mulenga then put into gears
TOO TRUE THIS IS TO PROVE THAT THE OUTCOME WILL BE FREE AND FAIR
UNLIKE OTHER PARTYS ZAMBIA NEEDSW TRANSPARENCY MORE THAN EVER NOW
UPND is setting a good example and very high standards in fulfilling Constitutional Provisions for their Party Constitution and Zambia’s Constitution. It’s a legal requirement for Political Parties in Zambia to hold their Conventions b4 the August 12,2021 Elections. When is PF holding their Convention? Is ECL standing for a Third Term having been elected and sworn in twice in 2015 and 2016? We shall see!
The outcome is already predetermined.
Kleptoh², a tonga, will head the dead’s camp breaking a record of a longest unclean and dubious opposition misleader with questionable mental capacity to lead this country.
His track record and background as an opposition individual is that, that he is still u5, extremely inexperienced, too dangerous to lead on account of his divisiveness and inability to listen to opposing views. I am glad he won’t have that chance of misleading us.
Sounds surreal, contradictory with reality.
If the UPND Convention is successfully concluded this will embarrassing to ECL and PF.So HH and UPND should expect their Convention to be sabotaged by the Powers that be. We are dealing with jealous people who believe in Pull him down. Wait and see.
For Tongas by Tongas.
Am suprised you know that presidency (leadership) comes from God the fact you have failed to acknowledge for the current president.
You’ve already set your rules so those coming to chair will not change anything. Where are the UPND hopefuls and what does your constitution say about tenure of office? HH has already served 3 terms, why not give others chance????
The UPND convention issue which the PF cadres have been strangely singing about since 2015 has been put to rest.
When will the PF have their party convention?
They need to find a presidential candidate who has not held office twice,
Time is running out.
Judith mulenga, judith mulenga go back to school
ECL and PF are not likely to allow HH and UPND hold a successful Convention via Zoom. Somedody will be directed to interfere and frustrate the UPND Congress to make sure it fails. That is ECL and PF’s DNA. Watch this space!
Kuti waseka!!!! Ati “UPND to engage independent individuals to oversee the elections” Kanshi fyonse fima surrogates
English mina bantu.
The idea of it is good and I commended them on taking such a step. However one wonders how genuine it is considering how close we are to election. I don’t think any sensible person would consider changing the leadership so close to election. Especially in a party that is fully funded by hh. Without him there is no upnd. So in terms of PR this is a good idea but if I can see through it, so can many zambians.
Kz
Pf election analyst and strategist
The idea of it is good and I compliment them on taking such a step. However one wonders how genuine it is considering how close we are to election. I don’t think any sane person would consider changing the lead of a party so close to election. Especially in a party that is fully funded by hh. Without him there is no upnd. So in terms of PR this is a good idea but if I can see through it, so can many zambians.
Kaizar
Pf election analyst and strategist
If upnd pick a non tonga as leader then I will truly believe that they are not tribal. In fact, if they pick a non Tonga I will vote upnd.
Those saying that pf is as bad as upnd when it comes to conventions. Remember we had our father sata, then we had father guy Scott and now we have ECL. Tell me who else upnd has had in the past decades
UPnD are doing it peacefully. PF won’t even try, KBF and Miles supporters would be knived by Lusambo supporters.
This is going to be a sham convention. Remember the Ackson Sejani Tonga quota system?. Hakainde automatically becomes next UPND president.
I will be proved Right.
These PF em.ba.ciles never seize to amaze Zambians.
You have been crying all this time that UPND never held elections and you`ve been accusing HH for being a one man show, a dict.ator, you name it.
Now that you are ashamed, that he is smarter by holding a much transparent party election ever held in Zambia, you are busy looking for another way to discredit the good thing.
Imwe ba pompwe mwaba shani kashi?
I am sure, chindumbo, will regret, because this would have been his chance to shine , but he opted to re-join PF.
In the past 5 years, which Party has expelled its members the most? When is PF holding a free and fair election? Will KBF be allowed to stand?
These PF em.ba.cil.es never seize to amaze Zambians. You have been crying all this time that UPND never held elections and you`ve been accusing HH for being a one-man show, a dict.ator, you name it. Now that you are ashamed, that he is smarter by holding a much transparent party election ever held in Zambia, you are busy looking for another way to discredit the good thing.
Imwe ba pompwe mwaba shani kashi?
I am sure, chi.ndumbo, will regret, because this would have been his chance to shine , but he opted to re-join PF.
In the past 5 years, which Party has expelled its members the most? When is PF holding a free and fair election? Will KBF be allowed to stand?
On such articles you never read a single negative comment from the sad upnd diasporans like akaps,tarino, etc. That my friends is what tribalism looks like.
You see ECL can say something and it will be ridiculed by the upnd supporters. The same thing can be said two minutes later by hh and the same upnd supporters will cheer and praise their demigod. That my friends is the ugly face of tribalism. Remember what happened in Rwanda
Kaizer, your first comment started well & you spoiled it at the end. Why can’t pf also do a similar or better pr? We are sick & tired of Lungu appointing everybody in the party. I used to tolerate pf but now I feel let down. And August is so close
Let’s hope ECL and PF will not interfere with UPND Congress Proceedings. We know ECL doesn’t want this UPND Convention to succeed becoz that will put Pressure for ECL and PF to do the same. Should PF hold a Convention they will have to elect New Leaders including the President of PF. Since ECL has been elected and sworn in twice that puts his Third Term wishes in difficult. ECL and PF are in a dilemma given that 2021 Elections are 6 months away and ECL cannot serve as President of Zambia for more 10 years. The writing is on the wall.
They are not independent at all as they have singing from the same hymn book as UPND.
Twende stop acting like you were ever pf supporter. I have been following your comments here iwe. You are a tribal supporter of your demigod. Why aren’t you proud of being upnd and always seem to hide behind pf? Be proud of being tribal. That is what you are.
We didn’t understand the whole point to conduct this election when the country is gearing up for Presidential elections. What UPND is trying to prove here?
It is impossible that HH will win the Presidential elections by any chance. No votes for him!
UPND members should realize that Mr. Hichilema is not good for the party. Since 2006, he has never won any election. People don’t want a criminal HH to be the President. Then why the party members didn’t realize this small thing.
HH is corrupt! He will destroy the country if ever he got the opportunity to rule this country. No Zambians should vote for him…
This is all drama of UPND to be in the news… They think that people will vote for HH in the August elections because of this …????
Why Hichilema has filed the nomination form when everyone knows that there is no opposite person to challenge him. This is just pathetic..
All those so called independent people mentioned we already know that they are UPND despite them hiding in those organizations
These chaps could have used this opportunity to showcase that they are democratic even Hakiende himself BUT they have out rightly endorsed him. They would have picked at least someone for the cameras to challenge him even if he get 10 votes …opportunity missed!!!
KZ when do you work? Commenting on each sentence in every article.
The success of the UPND Convention is bad news 4 PF and ECL. This will create a predent which will be difficult to follow for ECL and PF. For this reason we will not be surprised if PF tries to disrupt the UPND Convention. Having been elected and sworn in twice how does ECL justify a Third Term?The Zambian Constitution says a President can serve only two 5year Terms up to a maximum of 10 years. Therefore ECL is not eligible to stand as a Presidential Candidate in August 2021.ECL is trying to steal a Third Term but Zambians will not allow him to do so. The writing is on the wall.
Kamwi I work all week and weekend. Just 2 days ago I met with the former president of Tanzania on a social capital project we are working on.
Also I have a pr team behind me who blog in my absence.
But kwana upnd no bwino bwino. Why going to the national assembly when all this can tell that you invited upnd members.
Yaya ba Hon Stephen Katuka, that mask is saving no purpose, you need to cover your nose so that you not infected or infect others.
Let’s not allow this carelessness of leaving nose exposed
Those are purely UPND members … independent people wakuti..???
Is this how katuka wears condoms too? And then someone will blame honeybee and yet they cut off the end of the condom before wearing it
Lies lies total lies!! McDonald Chipenzi is not an independent guy…he is UPND
McDonald Chipenzi is standing on a UPND ticket …ati independent. These tongas awe sure!
This is the biggest tragedy in our democracy. The independent referred to by Garry Nkomo are people that they hand pick. I really we should have been having the ECZ overseeing all the elections of political parties in Zambia. But what we have is all sorts of bodies without any experience supervising elections. The other tragedy is the registrar of societies registering political parties that have no defined tenure for leaders of political parties.
This is the biggest tragedy in our democracy. The independent referred to by Garry Nkomo are people that they hand pick. I really we should have been having the ECZ overseeing all the elections of political parties in Zambia. But what we have is all sorts of bodies without any experience supervising elections. The other tragedy is the registrar of societies registering political parties that have no defined tenure for leaders of political parties.