By CHARITY MOONGA –

POLITICAL parties participating in the forth-coming five parliamentary by-elections yesterday verified ballot papers for the September 11, 2014 polls.
The by-elections will be held in Mkushi South, Vubwi, Kasenengwa, Solwezi Central and Zambezi west constituencies and were necessitated by the nullification of the seats by the Supreme Court on the basis that there were acts of electoral malpractices.
ECZ senior electoral officer, Zachariah Kunda led the verification process of the ballot papers, which started around 10:30 hours.
Various political parties, mostly those who were participating in the by-elections took part  in the verification process held at the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) offices in Lusaka yesterday.
Political party representatives said in separate interviews that they were satisfied with the exercise and expressed confidence of winning the by-elections.
Patriotic Front (PF) representative, Nsama Yamba said he was happy with the verification process and was confident that his party would scoop the seats.
He said preparations for the elections were on course and the party candidates and campaign managers were already in the field campaigning.
He said party secretary General, Wynter Kabimba was in Zambezi and the party was confident of winning that seat.
Mr Yamba appealed to all parties participating in the elections to avoid violence at all costs.
“Let us please have a violence free election to ensure that we set a good trend for 2016. We look forward to a peaceful election,” he said.
Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) administration secretary George Phiri said the verification process had gone on well as there had been no anomalies noticed on the ballots.
He said FDD was on course with regard to the elections and would not just be a participant but a competitor with an equal opportunity to win.
MMD representative and data officer, Charles Kaile said the verification was going on well and his party was ready for the five by-elections.
Green Party secretary general, Gideon Mzamba said the verification process had so far yielded the expected results.
He said his party was determined to scoop the by-elections, especially for Zambezi west because it was the only party that had fielded a local person.
Other parties that attended the process were United Party for National Development (UPND) and the New Generation Party, (NGP).