The Patriotic Front (PF) has scooped the Kanyama by- election.

PF candidate Gerry Chanda beat seven other contenders in a closely fought election.

Col. Chanda polled 3,834 followed by Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) Mwalimu Simfukwe with 3,393.

United Party for National Development (UPND) Harrison Mukupa got 2,807, United Liberal Party (ULP) Elizabeth Phiri got 533 votes.

Others are United National Independence Party (UNIP)Hursty Mwachilele who got 373, Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) Davis Kasanga had 122, All People’s Congress Party, president Kenny Ngondo managed 128 votes.

The New Generation PArty (NGP) candidate got 32 votes.

Total number of votes cast were 12502, 178 were rejected.

The Kanya,a seat fell vacant last year following the death of its Member of Parliament – Henry Mtonga

Former President, Kenneth Kaunda says the continent is on the move to realise the dream of a United States of Africa.

Dr. Kaunda said regional groupings like COMESA, SADC and Economic Community for West African States are working towards achieving this goal.

He said although he would like to see the dream achieved quickly there are a lot of things involved and that it takes a lot of time to achieve that goal.

Dr. Kaunda appealed to Africans to be patient as African leaders are determined to achieve the one Africa dream.

He said for a long time women have been marginalised all over the world and that slave trade negatively affected black Americans in the United States of America.

This is why he was happy that two people coming from two different marginalised groups are running for President in the USA.

He said it was pleasing to see that Barack Obama a Black American and Hillary Clinton a woman are running for the Presidency.

The Zambian Government is in the process of constructing a dry port at Walvis Bay port on a piece of land offered by the Namibian government, parliament heard yesterday.

Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister, Fashion Phiri, said yesterday that Namibia had offered Zambia a piece of land on which to construct a dry port for the benefit of Zambia’s importers and exporters.

He said in response to a question by Bweengwa MP, Highvie Hamududu, who wanted to know whether Government had started constructing a dry port at Walvis Bay. Prof Phiri said initially, the piece of land was offered for free in principle but later, there was change that the same land would be acquired at a cost.

He, however, said that the two governments last year signed a memorandum of understanding on an agreement that Namibia offered the land and facilitated the construction of the dry port. Foreign Affairs Minister, Kabinga Pande, assured Mr Hamududu that Government was interested in the dry port and had this year allocated some funds towards the project.

And Kabwata MP, Given Lubinda, (PF), urged the executive to adequately fund the commission of investigations for it to attain millennium development goals and improve good governance.

Mr Lubinda said the public should also know the location of the commission and that staffing levels should also be increased.

Only K6 billion has been allocated to President Mwanawasa in this year’s budget towards his general treatment abroad and medical fees.

This is against the K48 billion which has been suggested as having been allocated, by the Patriotic Front.

Chief government spokesperson, Mike Mulongoti said this in a statement to ZNBC News.

Mr. Mulongoti said he does not understand how the PF leader arrived at the figure when the total allocation to state house is only K21 billion.

He said it is illogical for any one to make statements before getting facts right.

Mr. Sata is quoted as having said that government has allocated K48 billion towards President Mwanawasa’s medical expenses.

President Levy Mwanawasa has warned the people of Zambia to be wary of people who were determined to mislead them for the sake of getting into power.

Dr. Mwanawasa also asked Zambians to think about what his government has done to better their living standards in the last six years he has been in power.

He was speaking today in Kanyama constituency when he addressed a campaign rally to drum up support for the MMD candidate in tomorrow’s by-election, Mwalimu Simfukwe.

Dr. Mwanawasa said a named political party leader has alleged that government had allocated State House K48 billion in this year’s budget for his treatment abroad.

He said this was not true and that the statement was made by Patriotic Front leader, Michael Sata in an effort to gain political mileage.

He regretted that some people were abusing the freedom of expression by misleading the public and insulting the president.

Dr. Mwanawasa, however, said freedom of expression was good because it exposed liars to the public to judge and understand them.

He said leaders aiming at misleading the public in order to discredit others should not be allowed to rule the country.

He said fears by Mr. Sata that the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) might introduce a law that would bar him from standing for presidency in 2011 on account of age were baseless.

“Let Sata stand, if you bar him, you will be making a name for him. In fact make it 140 years,” he said as people applauded.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mwanawasa has reiterated that the electricity power outages and load shedding being experienced in the country was a sad development for it is affecting, not only the economy but lives of people at domestic level.

He said ZESCO should quickly find a solution to the problem but warned Zambians against putting the blame on the electricity generating company alone.

He said the problem was being experienced through out the Southern African region due to an increase in industries and other activities, which use electricity.

Dr. Mwanawasa, who is also Chairman for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said to this end, he has called for a meeting of chief executives of electricity generating companies, ministers of energy and ministers of foreign affairs to discuss how the problem could be solved.

Earlier, Kanyama by-election campaign manager for the MMD, Brian Chituwo told the rally that there was no allocation of K48 billion in the budget for President Mwanawasa’s treatment abroad this year.

Brandishing a budget book, commonly known as a “yellow book” in his hands, Dr. Chituwo said there was only K6.2 billion set aside this year for specialized treatment abroad for all people holding constitutional offices in the country.

He said the K6.2 billion covered both the president and other people that would need specialized treatment outside Zambia.

Last year, government had allocated K4.3 billion for the same purpose.

“Alleging that government has allocated K48 billion for President Mwanawasa’s medical expenses abroad is a total lie. This is a true fabrication and we must dismiss it with contempt it deserves,” Dr. Chituwo, who is also Minister of health said.

The Kanyama by-election takes place tomorrow.

The Kanyama constituency, which fell vacant in December last year after the death of area MP, Henry Mtonga, is being contested by seven political parties.

The opposition Patriotic Front is fielding Gerry Chanda, the United Party for National Development is fielding Harrison Mukupa while David Kasanga has stood on the Forum for Development and Democracy (FDD) ticket.

Others contesting the seat are hasty Mwachilele of the former ruling party, the United National Independence Party (UNIP), Kenny Ngondo for All People’s Congress (APC), Elizabeth Phiri for United Liberal Party (ULP) and New Generation Party’s (NGP) Chushi Mwewa.

Meanwhile, about 100 members mainly from the UPND, PF and FDD have defected to the MMD.

A Representative of defectors, Edify Shanambe, who was UPND deputy provincial youth chairman, said the MMD was the only party that meant well in the country.

Mr. Shanambe has since pledged support to the ruling party.