IT is surprising to note that former president Rupiah Banda’s endorsement of Patriotic Front (PF) candidate Edgar Lungu for this month’s presidential election has caused disquiet among some people.
Perhaps this is simply because Mr Banda has voiced his support for the president of the ruling party, which some individuals and groups want to see removed from power.

Indisputably, Mr Banda, by virtue of being former Republican president wields a great deal of influence on Zambia’s political landscape not just in one region, Eastern Province for that matter where he hails from, but nationwide.

His endorsement of any candidates would, therefore, be considered to be a boon for that person and his/her party.
As a member of the MMD, his party’s followers would have expected the former Republican president to have endorsed its candidate Nevers Mumba but this, however, was not the case.
Having in the first place accepted to stand on the party ticket before the Supreme Court disqualified him essentially meant that in Mr Banda’s opinion, Dr Mumba was not a suitable candidate to steer the MMD to yet another victory.
Another idea had earlier been mooted in which the MMD and the United Party for National Development (UPND) had to put their heads together in a pact in which they were to field and support one candidate for the election.
Again Mr Banda felt he could make a better candidate than the UPND president Hakainde Hichilema and when the other camp felt otherwise, such a pact never came to fruition.
All these simply show that in his view, neither Dr Mumba nor Mr Hichilema is, at least for now, suitable for the country’s top job, hence he has endorsed Mr Lungu of the PF who, in his words, is the best candidate with the quality to deliver development to all parts of Zambia.
What should be made clear is that Mr Banda’s position is not shared by all MMD members and sympathisers. His own son Andrew, for instance, still insists Mr Hichilema is the best candidate.
In addition, not less than 30 MMD members of Parliament have endorsed the candidature of Mr Hichlema – not their leader Dr Mumba – and nearly all are currently on the ground campaigning for him throughout the country.
Similarly, some MPs from the MMD and UNPND have voiced their support for Mr Lungu, while two PF bigwigs, namely, Geoffrey Mwamba and Sylvia Masebo, the lawmakers of Kasama Central and Chongwe constituencies, respectively, have staked their cards on the UPND leader.
Other politicians, some of whom have been running their own political parties quite well, have decided not to contest the presidential poll and have endorsed other candidates.
Among these are the Agenda for Better Zambia president Father Frank Bwalya who is campaigning for the PF candidate Mr Lungu and the Zambia Democratic Congress leader Langtone Sichone who was one of the first politicians to endorse Mr Hichilema.
Of course politicians are not the only ones endorsing candidates of their own preference. Women’s movements and traditional leaders have joined this game, with the former appealing to Zambians to vote for the Forum for Democracy and Development president Edith Nawakwi.
On the other hand, apart from Southern Province where all chiefs have reportedly endorsed Mr Hichilema, different chiefs from other provinces have decided to support one of the candidates in the forthcoming presidential election.
If we were to have a headcount of which politician or traditional leader has endorsed which candidate, there is every likelihood that all the 11 presidential hopefuls have been endorsed by at least one politician or civic leader or traditional leader.
And these choices have certainly been personal and not surprising because anything can happen in the world of politics. These preferences must, therefore, be respected regardless of who have made them.