NDC consultant Chishimba Kambwili has threatened violence on any police officer on the Copperbelt who will attempt to thwart his planned roadshow and door-to-door campaign should they refuse him to continue campaigning as agreed earlier. And Mr. Kambwili on Saturday night followed the PF officials where they were lodged in Luanshya and attacked President Edgar Lungu’s special assistant for political affairs, Kaizer Zulu, whom he accused of sneaking ballot papers for the Roan parliamentary by-election into his room.
He said if police officers will insist that he foregoes his four days, he will instruct his lawyers to file an injunction to restrain the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) from conducting the by-election. Mr. Kambwili accused the PF of taking away four days from his campaign programme to pave way for Vice-President Inonge Wina and the expected visitation of President Lungu. He warned the police command not to change the schedule or face him head-on. “When the campaign started, we sat down with the police and shared the days for the rallies. Our final rally for Roan Township was supposed to be today (yesterday) and our final rally for Mpatamatu Township is supposed to be tomorrow (today).
PF were given the 9th and 10th April, 2019 but the Vice- President is in town and they say we cannot go ahead with our meetings today and tomorrow. “This means she will have meetings today and tomorrow and then the President will have the meetings on Tuesday. Where is the levelling of the playing field? It means we have been kicked out of the campaign for four days and I don’t think that is fair. If I don’t have my meetings, I will have a roadshow where I will go door-to-door walking and whoever will come (to stop us) tuleiponona (we’ll fight”,” Mr. Kambwili warned. But Copperbelt Police Commissioner Charity Katanga has warned Mr. Kambwili to desist from inciting violence and perpetuating acts of anarchy. Meanwhile, the ECZ has dispelled rumours that the ballot papers for the forthcoming Roan Parliamentary by-elections have gone missing. ECZ public relations manager Margaret Chimanse yesterday said all ballot papers and security material were intact and nothing was missing. She said that if any electoral materials were missing, they would have reported the matter to the police.
