I’m ready to die and I’m ready to kill for this election – Binwell

TONSE Alliance Presidential Affairs Chairman Binwell Mpundu says he is ready to “die” or “kill” over the upcoming elections. However, Police Spokesperson Godfrey Chilabi says Mpundu’s remarks have the potential to create fear and uncertainty among the electorate and may affect confidence in the electoral process. Meanwhile, Democratic Advocates for Good Governance Executive Director Fabian […]

TONSE Alliance Presidential Affairs Chairman Binwell Mpundu says he is ready to “die” or “kill” over the upcoming elections.

However, Police Spokesperson Godfrey Chilabi says Mpundu’s remarks have the potential to create fear and uncertainty among the electorate and may affect confidence in the electoral process.

Meanwhile, Democratic Advocates for Good Governance Executive Director Fabian Mutale says he has reported Mpundu to the police over his remarks.

In a now-deleted video posted on his Facebook page yesterday, Mpundu made the remarks while expressing his concerns about the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s guidance that a ballot paper will be considered valid even if the voter’s mark is not a cross, provided the voter’s choice of candidate is clear.

“These elections, there is a lot at stake for some of us. Our lives are at stake, and we are betting our necks on these elections. We are ready to die and we are ready to kill. Just in case we have been beating about the bush or we’ve not made it very clear, for these elections, people like me Binwell Mpundu, I am also ready to be killed, I’m also ready to kill because I know very well that when anything goes wrong in these elections some of us will not have our lives,” Mpundu said in the deleted video.

After deleting the video, Mpundu apologised for the video, claiming it was AI-generated and that he did not have access to his page for days.

“I’m not very active on social media and I have been made aware of a video posted on my page which is all artificial intelligence as I have not made any such video. I have not had access to my page for days now because I was removed by a hacker and my admins only post what I approve. Kindly take note, apologies for the sentiments circulated [in] that video. Thank you,” posted Mpundu.

Reacting to the video in an interview, Chilabi said police were studying the video and the sentiments expressed in it and would issue a statement.

“The message attributed to Mr Binwell Mpundu is very unfortunate if indeed he is the one who was saying that. We are in an electoral period or era before voting, and such messages have the potential to scare electorates, as well as sending [fear] amongst electorates. So we are studying that video and those sentiments and we’ll be able to issue an official statement reacting to that footage or sentiments attributed to Mr Mpundu. But it’s really unfortunate, we don’t expect such, from people like him, who is a politician who carries a large command or followers amongst members of the public, so we’ll issue an official statement to that effect,” said Chilabi.

Meanwhile, Mutale called on law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate Mpundu’s remarks.

“I have just reported one citizen of Zambia, Mr Binwell Mpundu, the former MP for Nkana following the statements he made in one of the videos he posted on his Facebook page. I have taken [note of the same] and I feel it is in bad taste. We are in a campaign and election mood, just a few days before elections, I don’t think Zambians should be made to live in fear and in terror. I’m calling upon the law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate such statements so that Zambians are not incited to do anything,” said Mutale.