By FLAVIOR CHISHALA –
THE Authentic Advocate for Justice and Democracy (AAJD) has warned politicians against engaging in premature election campaigns.
The AAJD is saddened that the practice by some political parties is becoming rife, especially at constituency level.
AAJD executive director Longe Mulenga said a political leader was found in Kabushi Constituency in Ndola allegedly masquerading as a Patriotic Front (PF) aspiring candidate for the area and distributing some goods to the people.
He said the political leader was found at Musa Kasonka Stadium where members of the public were given assorted goods including mealie-meal, bedding and cooking oil.
Mr Mulenga said Zambia had already spent a lot of money on conducting by-elections caused by bribery that came with early campaigns.
He said bribery during campaigns always deprived the country of the much-needed development.
“We want to appeal to all those that have started their campaigns to stop and follow the code of conduct provided by the Electoral Commission of Zambia,” he said.
He appealed to the police to apprehend anyone engaging in premature campaigns.
“We know that people are at liberty to join any political party, but they should wait for the right time in which to start campaigns because we are tired of having losing candidates petitioning their results and thereby leading to by-elections,” he said.
Mr Mulenga urged members of the public not to entertain people engaging in early campaigns, and ensure any election activity was not tainted by corrupt acts.
He called on the ECZ to explain the electoral rules to the nation to avoid confusion ahead of the general elections next year.
“We are concerned as AAJD with the bribery that is being done publicly; we do not want to remain economically stagnant as a nation because in the recent past, our limited resources were directed to by-elections and we cannot afford to repeat that,” he said.