By Chusa Sichone  –
THE Patriotic Front (PF) Central Committee has endorsed President Edgar Lungu as its candidate in next year’s presidential election.
The committee made the announcement after a PF Central Committee meeting held at State House in Lusaka yesterday where the ruling party also announced its adopted candidates in the forthcoming three parliamentary by-elections in Kasama Central, Lubansenshi and Solwezi West constituencies.

. Chama

Addressing Journalists after a three-hour long Central Committee  meeting, PF secretary general Davies Chama said the party resolved to  endorse President Lungu as he was elected the ruling party’s leader at last year’s general conference to be in office for five years.
“The Central Committee today met this morning, the meeting started at 10:00 hours, and the Central Committee has affirmed the decision interpreting our party constitution that we have the presidential candidate for 2016 in the name of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu.
“In our case, as our constitution is interpreted, we don’t want to go through what we went through when we lost our beloved President Michael Chilufya Sata. We went for a general conference of the party, where we elected the President Edgar Chagwa Lungu,” he said.
Mr Chama said Mr Lungu’s mandate as party president would run up to 2019 and thus those who were positioning themselves or ‘dreaming’ of being the ruling party’s president should wait for five years.
Mr Chama challenged opposition political parties, citing United Party for National Development (UPND) and Forum for Democracy and  Development (FDD), to emulate the PF by going for conventions, alleging that their leaders endorsed themselves in last year’s presidential by-election.
Mr Chama suggested that UPND should settle for former PF Kasama Central MP Geoffrey Mwamba as its presidential candidate since the incumbent leader Hakainde Hichilema had been losing consistently.
He dismissed the FDD’s president Edith Nawakwi as having no support on the ground.
On the parliamentary by-elections, Mr Chama said the Central Committee adopted renowned child rights activist Kelvin Sampa to stand in Kasama Central, George Penda as the Lubansenshi candidate, while Martin Mbaya has been chosen to stand in Solwezi West.
Mr Penda is a former Luwingu District Commissioner and former District Education Board Secretary in the same area while Mr Mbaya is a business executive.