By JULIUS PHIRI –

IT will be September 11th 2014 when a total of 41,795 eligible voters will be going to the polls in Kasenengwa constituency in Chipata District, Eastern Province, to elect their new Member of Parliament (MP).

The polls are happening exactly 36 months after the tripartite elections.

The Kasenengwa polls have been necessitated by the election victory of MMD’s Victoria Kalima was nullified by the Supreme Court on 30th December last year on grounds of electoral malpractices.

Being a rural constituency, Kasenengwa is renowned for producing legislatures that have contributed ‘greatly’ to the Laws of Zambia.

Despite boasting of having 41, 795 eligible voters, some have died and some have relocated to other places for various reasons.

 

But, however, the constituency has 23,004 female voters, while 18,791 are male.

 

Politically, Kasenengwa constituency is divided into wards such as Mkowe, Kwenje, Chiparamba, Chingazi, Makungwa, Ng’ongwe and Mboza with chiefdoms such as Nzamane, Madzimawe, Mishoro and Chikuwe respectively.

 

Most of the people in the constituency are either Ngoni or Chewa speaking.

 

Despite being an agricultural area, most of the roads are still in a bad state and needs a determined person to facilitate Government to improve the connectivity.

 

For the forthcoming parliamentary by-elections, Kasenengwa is again seeing four people jostling to represent the masses in parliament.

 

This was after Kasenengwa returning officer Noel Sichale declared all the four candidates who are from MMD, Patriotic Front (PF), United Party for National Development (UPND) and UNIP their nomination papers valid at Chikungu Primary School.

 

The big question is who will really take Kasenengwa seat this time around?.

 

Candidate: Victoria Kalima

 

Party: MMD

 

Profession: agronomist

 

Gender: Female

 

Vision: Ms Kalima said once re-elected into office, she would push for several developmental projects which she had lined up before her seat was nullified by the Supreme Court.

 

She said a number of feeder roads such as Msoro were in a deplorable states and required urgent attention.

 

Ms Kalima said after being elected for the first time her legal battle in the courts derailed development, saying she would come back to finish where she had started from.

 

“I am coming back to finish my tenure of office because previously whilst working here I was battling with legal issues but nevertheless I tried my best to do the best here unlike those who were here before me who failed to develop the area,” Ms Kalima said.

 

She said she was comparable and best to none and that the people of the constituency were still looking for her service.

 

She pledged to empower women as she was currently doing in Kasenengwa constituency.

 

She advised the electorate of Kasenengwa constituency to give her massive votes in the September 11 election in order for more developments to flourish in the constituency.

 

Ms Kalima said a lot of money was lying idle under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), while she was in court legally fighting the petition lodged by Patriotic Front (PF)’s Saul Zulu.

 

She said she was confident that she would grab her former parliamentary seat.

 

Candidate: Gideon Zulu

 

Party: Patriotic Front

 

Profession: Chartered Accountant

 

Gender: Male

 

Vision: Mr Zulu said Kasenengwa constituency had lagged behind for several areas and pledged to change the face of the place.

 

He bragged that the previous leadership did not meet the people’s expectation by fostering various developmental projects in the constituency.

 

“I want to improve Kasenengwa constituency once voted into power on 11th September 2014. I want these elections to be issue based rather than character assassination,” Mr Zulu, who was flanked by Eastern Province Minister Malozo Sichone, said.

 

He explained that he was into politics to serve the people of Kasenengwa constituency.

 

He appealed to the people of Kasenengwa to give him what he required in terms of votes in order to foster developmental projects in the constituency.

 

Mr Zulu said there were several problems in Kasenengwa that needed him to sort out.

 

Candidate:Khumbiza Daka

 

Party:UNIP

 

Profession:Farmer

 

Gender: Female

 

Vision: According to Ms Daka, she has been in the constituency for so long and knows the problems which the people were facing.

 

Ms Daka, who was introduced as a candidate for a ‘mother’ of all political parties in Zambia, said she would improve the education and health sectors in Kasenengwa constituency.

 

She explained that when elected to Parliament she hoped to use her influence to ensure that developments were further fostered in Kasenengwa constituency.

 

Ms Daka said the people of Kasenengwa constituency should turn in large numbers to vote for her for the betterment of the area.

 

“I am more experienced because UNIP is also experienced and I am appealing to people that on that particular day they should vote for me,” she said.

 

Candidate: Timothy Kafa Nyirenda

 

Party: United Party for National Development (UPND)

 

Profession: Banker

 

Gender: Male

 

Vision: Mr Nyirenda, who once served as an area Member of Parliament on the UNIP ticket between 2001 to 2006, said his footprints were still in Kasenengwa constituency.

 

He claimed that he was the only focused person, among other candidates, adding that he would develop the area in various sectors of the economy once voted into office.

 

Mr Nyirenda said most of the people who were featuring in Kasenengwa had no vision apart from him.

 

“I am looking forward to develop Kasenengwa constituency because I am more experienced,” he said.

 

Like Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ)’s slogan of ‘everyone has a right to vote’, it was also the duty of the electorate of Kasenengwa to vote for the right person who could deliver development to them.

 

They should cast their vote without fear or being intimidated by anyone.