Cold reception forces Rupiah to cut short Nchelenge tour

MMD presidential candidate, Rupiah Banda, has cut short his tour of Luapula Province following a cool reception his advance party has been given by Nchelenge residents ahead of his visit on August 29.

The local MMD team beefed up by a team from Lusaka has hit a brick wall in most areas of Nchelenge especially Kashikishi where the chants of Donchi Kubeba has caused frustration the outgoing president’s team which decided to arrange a rally at the airstrip instead of the originally planned venue in town.

The embattled MMD aspiring candidate Ben Yoram Katanga Mwila vented his frustrations on the district MMD team which he accuses of working with the Patriotic Front.

“You should have told me you were half-hearted and I would not have contested on the MMD ticket because it seems I would have done better on my own party’s ticket,” a furious Mwila told a campaign meeting in the evening on August 28.

Instead of a rally on the central business district the MMD has decided that the President will only address cadres at the airport and then take off to Northern Province because of the poor reception his team has been given.

“Kashikishi is a no-go area for the MMD. Taxis are carrying PF posters and it is Don’t Kubeba all the way. The man (Rupiah) has decided to hold just one rally and take off. We are happy our mobilisation is working very well,” said a PF volunteer.

Rupiah has also abandoned his plans to parade Regina, the widow of former president Fredrick Chiluba as evidence of the “help” he extended to the Chilubas following the corruption cases they have faced since 2002.

In the place of rally he intended to hold in town, Rupiah has called a meeting with chiefs and requested for a venue at the local Catholic Church which by press time had not been offered because the provincial church leadership in Mansa had not responded to the request.

Zambian Watchdog

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Tags: Elections, Rupiah Banda

This entry was posted on August 29, 2011 at 16:45 and is filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.