•LANDSLIDE: Margaret Miti of the PF celebrates after she won the Vubwi Parliamentary seat by a wide margin.

By MOFFAT CHAZINGWA, SYLVIA MWEETWA AND JULIUS PHIRI –
THE ruling Patriotic Front (PF) has scooped three of the five seats in the by-elections held on Thursday, while the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) and MMD got a seat each.
The PF scooped the Mkushi South, Zambezi West and Vubwi seats while the UPND won the Solwezi Central with the MMD retaining the Kasenengwa seat.
Christabel Ngimbu won the Zambezi West after amassing 3,423 votes with her closest contender, Charles Kakoma of the UPND polling a total of 1,173 votes.
Ms Ngimbu was declared winner around 11:30 hours yesterday by the Zambezi West returning officer, Trifornia Tembo.
Others who contested the seat are MMD’s Chris Kucheka who got 83 votes and FDD’s Mark Kachongo who got 83 votes. Green Party’s Kayombo Chilila got 22 votes while NAREP’s Hastings Kanguya got 8 votes.
The total number of registered voters in Zambezi West is 10,206. Total votes cast were 4,924 while rejected ballot papers were 55.
In Mkushi South, returning officer Kelly Mwebe declared PF’s Davies Chisopa the winner around 10:00 hours.
Mr Chisopa polled 2,268 votes while immediate past former MP Sydney Chisanga, who re-contested the seat on the MMD ticket, got 1,458 votes with UPND’s Agnes Nganda getting 1,012.
Immediately after Mr Chisopa was declared winner, there was jubilation among party cadres while his wife wept uncontrollably.
The PF also scooped the Vubwi seat through its candidate Margaret Miti who defeated erstwhile MP Dr Eustarckio Kazonga with a margin of 2,706 votes.
Ms Miti polled 3,797 votes beating her closest rival Dr Kazonga who only managed 1,091 votes.
The UPND candidate Alfonso Phiri was third with 761 votes and Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD)’s Charles Nyoka got 649 votes while UNIP’s Lucas Phiri got 395 votes.
Vubwi returning officer Joshuah Daka declared Ms Miti a winner at exactly 03:30 hours, sending the PF cadres who had gathered into wild celebrations.
With the Vubwi victory, Ms Miti, who is the sister of Eastern Province MMD chairperson Alexander Miti, has joined Msanzala lawmaker Colonel Joseph Lungu as the only other PF MP in Eastern Province.
The newly-elected MP commended the electorate, as well as President Michael Sata, for the confidence showed on her.
In Kasenengwa, MMD’s Victoria Kalima retained the seat with a resounding victory beating his closest rival Gideon Zulu of the PF.
Ms Kalima polled 10,936 votes against Mr Zulu who got 3,484 in the just-ended parliamentary by-election.
UPND’s Timothy Nyirenda and UNIP’s Khumbiza Daka got 439 and 280 votes, respectively, in which a total of 266 ballot papers were rejected as invalid by 06:39 hours.
Dawson Kafwaya of UPND scooped the Solwezi Central seat after polling 4,577 votes against his closest rival, the PF candidate Newton Malwa who polled 3,105 votes.
MMD candidate Lucky Mulusa, who was re-contesting the seat, was in the third position with 1,897 votes, FDD candidate Nathan Mulonga got 304 while UNIP candidate Mary Katiki only managed to get 158 votes.