YOU have just come, you want to be adopted by UPND and you don’t respect the people you have found, it means you are greedy, says President Hakainde Hichilema. President Hichilema has asked Mwandi residents not to vote for independent aspiring candidate Iris Kaingu, saying she was advised against standing as an independent but refused. […]

YOU have just come, you want to be adopted by UPND and you don’t respect the people you have found, it means you are greedy, says President Hakainde Hichilema.

President Hichilema has asked Mwandi residents not to vote for independent aspiring candidate Iris Kaingu, saying she was advised against standing as an independent but refused.

Speaking at a rally in Western Province, Thursday, President Hichilema said PF was rejected in 2021 and should not be brought back through the Tonse Alliance.

“Those PF guys are people we buried at the graveyard when they lost in 2021, don’t take them out of the graveyard. Leave them there until Jesus comes on earth. So, don’t go back to that Tonse Alliance, they are one and the same people. Two to three days ago, they were on the Copperbelt [and] they said that if they win, they are going to run the country, the way PF was doing. It means pangas will be back, it means fights will be back in the markets. Now let me say a few things that we want to do for the people of Mwandi as you give us the vote on August 13, your votes will allow us to improve the roads around Mwandi and across this area. The Sesheke-Mwandi-Kazungula-Livingstone Road is my priority to be tarred and we have already put a contractor. Mwandi-Mulobezi is that which we are working on. There shall be a fully-fledged government hospital here in Mwandi which will employ doctors and nurses so that even complicated operations we can do them here,” President Hichiilema said.

“We’ll bring more boarding secondary schools because a lot of kids have to travel long distances every day, especially girl children so we’ll bring boarding schools here. Do not be cheated, some independents are saying HH is supporting us; that young lady, I called her saying don’t stand as independent, support Sibeso Sefulo Kakoma here, she refused. The president calls a member of the party; I’m president of the UPND and I call a member that let’s follow the decision of the party. President of the country calls you and you refuse, don’t vote for her”.

He noted that some aspiring candidates show greed by demanding adoption immediately after joining UPND.

“There must be order in the house, there must be [order] in [a] chiefdom, there must be order in the country and there must be order in the party. Only UPND candidates, we are not voting for opposition, we are not voting for independents, we’re only voting for the UPND. You know people must be serious, she was PF a few days, she comes to UPND and she applies to be adopted; we have somebody seating there who is working. We say, ‘no you wait, your time will come, she says ‘no’. You have just come, you want to be adopted and you don’t respect the people you have found, it means you are greedy. If someone can’t listen to the party president, they can’t list to the Republican President, what will they be doing when they go to Parliament?’’ President Hichilema wondered.

The President urged citizens not to take elections lightly, stressing that their votes were important.

“Don’t play with elections, your vote is important; don’t take elections as a joke, it’s very serious business. That is the vote that has brought us free education, that is your vote which has brought desks in schools, it is your vote that has brough skills training for our young men and women. It is your vote that has brought bursaries at secondary boarding schools, so on August 13, you must vote for the UPND. Although we have worked hard, there is still a lot of work to be done, especially the roads, your vote will allow us to build more roads. It is the President’s priority to make sure that we improve the Simunguma-Sichili-Luampa Road, it is our priority to complete the new district administration infrastructure. We want all the workers working here to be housed here and all the offices complete, that is one of our priorities. We don’t want those government workers who work in this district to be living somewhere because we lose time and attention to the people of Sichili and Mulobezi,” said President Hichilema.

“Going forward we are going to increase the number of people who are on FISP to receive fertilizer and seed in Mulobezi. To improve agriculture and to look after our animals; we are going to build more dams here in Sichili and Mulobezi. Now let me remind you, those Tonse chaps are a problem, don’t be cheated; we are saying we are improving the Mongu Airport to international standards, but the Tonse people are saying no there is no business there to have an airport. We are building an airport of international standard in Mongu whether Tonse likes it or not, we are going ahead; we know they don’t trust [us], they don’t believe [us], they don’t like Lozis because they have spoken about it, it’s not me, it is them”.