.LUNGU

By MOFFAT CHAZINGWA  and CHILA NAMAIKO  –

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) youths on the Copperbelt are solely behind President Edgar Lungu as the party’s presidential candidate during next year’s general elections and have castigated those calling for a party convention.
PF provincial youth chairperson Nathan Chanda said President Lungu was the duly-elected PF president with a mandate to be at the helm of the party for five years, which was still running.
He said for this reason, there was no cause to hold a party convention to choose a presidential candidate as President Lungu’s mandate was still valid.
Mr Chanda said at a Press briefing in Kitwe yesterday that the youth in the province were solely behind Mr Lungu’s candidature for presidency in the 2016 general elections.
“It is clear that those calling for a convention for the basis of choosing the party’s presidential candidate are just fuelling confusion and, as youths on the Copperbelt, we are saying no to that and we shall not tolerate any manoeuvres by some unscrupulous individuals to that effect,” Mr Chanda said.
Mr Chanda said he was aware of some clandestine political activities on the Copperbelt being conducted by some disgruntled politicians.
In a related development, the PF in Choma, Southern Province, has charged that President Lungu is already a sole candidate for the PF in the 2016 general elections.
Reacting to party members in some sections of the media calling for a party general conference, PF district secretary Peter Kampamba said President Lungu was already the preferred candidate contrary to some critics.
“Those calling for the general conference to choose PF presidential candidates are time-wasters because the party has a candidate already in the name of (President) Edgar Chagwa Lungu whom genuine party members should support,” Mr Kampamba said.