By STEPHEN KAPAMBWE –
The electorate in Kabwata Constituency in Lusaka goes to polling stations today to vote for a new Member of Parliament (MP) seven months after the demise of former parliamentarian Levy Mkandawire who died in a fatal road accident in November last year.
The late Mr Mukandawire had taken over the Kabwata seat from long standing Patriotic Front (PF) strongman Given Lubinda in the August 12, 2021, general elections which ushered the United Party for National Development (UPND) and President Hakainde Hichilema, into office.
Mr Lubinda, who is now opposition PF acting president, had held on to the seat for 20 years.
Nine candidates are contesting the by-election, staring with Chilufya Tayali of the Economic and Equity Party (EEP), Fred Mubanga of the Democratic Party (DP), Kennedy Muyoya of New Heritage Party, Henry Muleya of the Patriots for Economic Progress (PEP) and Engiwe Mzyece of UNIP.
Others are Trevor Ngandu of the Socialist Party, Sydney Zyambo of the People’s Alliance for Change (PAC), Clement Tembo of the PF and the ruling party’s Andrew Tayengwa.
The Kabwata parliamentary by-election was earlier scheduled to take place on January 20, 2022, but was cancelled by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) following the pulling out of the United Progressive Party (UPP) candidate Francis Libanda.
This prompted the ECZ to set February 3, 2022 as the new date for the by-election.
Of the nine candidates running in the by-election, Engiwe Mzyece of UNIP is the lone woman fighting for the seat against the male candidates.
Ms Mzyece has won the support of the Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL) which has hailed her courage to contest the seat against the male condidates.
ZNWL National Board Chairperson Daisy Nkhata Ng’ambi said the women’s movement was encouraged by Ms Mzyece’s consistency in her political career and desire to serve the people of Kabwata.
Ms Ng’ambi called on voters in Kabwata Constituency to support Ms Mzyece.
Ms Ng’ambi, who was addressing journalists in Lusaka recently, commended UNIP for adopting a woman in Kabwata.
She expressed concern that many qualified and committed women in political parties were being left out of adoptions in preference for male candidates.
She said this has contributed to the reduction in the representation of women in leadership at local government and parliamentary level where statistics currently stand at 7.1 per cent for Local Government and 13.4 per cent parliamentary.
“This is way below the targets set by the SADC, African Union and United Nations which require 50 per cent representation of women and men in decision making positions,” she said.
The UNIP candidate is a retired civil servant, a former diplomat and an educationist.
Like the other candidates, EEP party leader Chilufya Tayali is confident that is will scoope the seat.
Mr Tayali says he is a national asset who is determined to speak for the voiceless.
Although all the nine candidates are confident that they are popular enough to win the seat, most people believe that the by-election is a two-man race between Clement Tembo of the PF and Mr Tayengwa of the UPND.
Mr Tembo’s quest for a seat at Manda Hill might be the longest among all the aspiring candidates in today’s by-election.
Initially, he was involved in community service in 2014 through a project he called ‘Keep Kabwata Clean’, and was also national coordinator for the Presidential Empowerment Fund, in which he managed the fund in the 150 constituencies in the previous administration.
However, despite his efforts, he was not adopted in the 2021 general elections as the PF preferred Danny Yanga.
Although Mr Tembo has the disadvantage of running in the by-election under the PF, which has lost popularity especially after the devastating loss to the UPND in the August 12, 2021 general elections, his only comfort is that he has Mr Lubinda in his corner, who served as Kabwata MP for a record 20 years.
The combination of him and My Lubinda could be the undoing of the ruling party in Kabwata.
But the ruling party is not taking anything for granted and is hell-bent of reclaiming the seat.
It is relying on Mr Tayengwa to pass the litmus test of being still popular among voters in Kabwata.
Mr Tayengwa is a business executive who believes that people of Kabwata and the country as the whole are just beginning to enjoy the fruits of the New Dawn Government which is still in its early stages of leading the country following its historic election victory last August.
He said his party is loved and trusted by the people of Kabwata and are geared to see unprecedented in the constituency for the very first time through the increased Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and the master plan which has been put in place by the ruling party.
Various stakeholders, including President Hakainde Hichilema, have commended the political parties, their supporters and the candidates for peace that has characterised campaigns in the by election.
This is in spite of the earlier cancelation of the by-election that was necessitated by the pulling out of one of the aspiring candidates.
A number of stakeholders have been getting concerned that the people of Kabwata had remained without an MP and risked losing out on development.
But with the polls finally taking place today, it remains to be seen who among the nine candidates will win the hearts and minds of the voters and claim victory to hold the Kabwata parliamentary seat until 2026.