The elections were hot, says Simbao

The re-elected Senga Hill Member of Parliament (MP) Kapembwa Simbao has said the just ended by-elections were hotly contested.

Mr. Simbao, who is now Patriotic Front (PF) MP, said the election was a hot contest because the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) also did their best in the campaigns.
He said this in Mbala district shortly after the returning officer Rodwell Ng’ambi declared him winner at 11:45 hours this morning.

The Senga Hill by-elections were contested by only two political parties, the UPND and PF.

Mr. Simbao got 7,815 votes while the UPND candidate Giles Yambayamba got 4,570 votes.

He has since warned the UPND that Northern Province was not going to be easy for the opposition party to penetrate.

He further said those that did not vote for him were cheated not to believe that he was a good candidate.

Mr. Simbao charged that he has not come back the same person but as a rejuvenated MP, ready to serve the peoples of his area.

He has since thanked the electorates for having confidence in him.

Mr. Simbao said he will deliver his campaign promises as it was much easier to lobby for resources when one is in the ruling party than in the opposition.

And Mr. Simbao’s Campaign Manager Freedom Sikazwe said it will be hard for the opposition UPND to penetrate the province.

Mr. Sikazwe, who is also Northern Province Minister, said the fact that the PF has won all the three parliamentary by-elections was a clear indication that people still have confidence in the ruling party.

He has since called on all the PF members to continue supporting the party and President Edgar Lungu.

Mr. Simbao said the only reason the UPND managed to get such a number of votes was because of the candidate they had adopted.

He noted that under normal circumstances, the UPND could have gotten less but noted that the results were not an indication that the part was gaining ground.
And UPND losing candidate could not be reached for a comment by press time.
Meanwhile, the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) has called on the electoral Commission of Zambia to use electronic means of sending results than waiting for polling agents to transport the results.

FODEP Executive Director McDonald Chipenzi, who was at the totalling centre, said it was unfortunate that results delayed to be announced because of the bad weather.

Mr. Chipenzi said he was also concerned with the voter apathy that was recorded in all the three just ended by-elections.