UPND Closes Nominations, HH Goes Through Unopposed

The United Party for National Development (UPND) has closed nominations for its forthcoming General Assembly recording 168 nominations with President Hakainde Hichilema going through unopposed for the 100 NMC positions.

Announcing the closure of the nominations which opened on January 28th,2021, Commissioner Pamela Chisanga said the Southern Province recorded 30 applicants while the Copperbelt and Lusaka had 22 each with the Western province having 28 applicants having successfully filed in by the deadline.

Ms. Chisanga added that Muchinga recorded 11, Central 9, Eastern,11, Luapula 13, Northern 10, and North-western has 13.

She assured the party and delegates to the February 14th,2021 Assembly on behalf of other Commissioners which include CiSCA’s Judith Mulenga, MacDonald Chipenzi’s of GEARS and Nalucha Ziba’s of Action Aid of a fair and transparent process devoid of any malpractice.

“When we were invited to observe this election, we deliberated and realized that we have a duty to help Zambia nature and grow her democracy. We want to see to it that political parties seeking to lead the people of Zambia have structures as that reflects what would become of them when they form a government. We are not being paid for this job and we are open to all political parties to work with us during their intraparty elections. We do this on a nonpartisan basis and standing here is not an approval or endorsement of any political party coming into 2021,” she clarified.

The elective virtual Assembly will be held in each province under strict COVID-19 health guidelines and in line with Article 60 of the Constitution of Zambia amendment number 2 of 2016.

Meanwhile, Former Chongwe Member of Parliament, Sylvia Masebo has said that time for Hakainde Hichilema to go to State House has finally come.

Ms Masebo said that President Hichilema is the best candidate going into the 2021 general elections, urging Zambians to ensure that they do not repeat the past mistakes of electing bad leaders.

She was speaking at the UPND secretariat shortly after filing in her nomination papers for the party Convention slated for the 14th of this month.

“The best candidate in Zambia this time around and going into the August 2021 elections is HH and no one else,” said Ms. Masebo.

She said her support for HH’s Presidency and candidature is due to the good and quality leadership that he has brought to both the UPND and the nation.

“I am here in UPND supporting HH because he’s a firm, strong, and outright leader who will ensure economic turnaround. I am very hopeful that HH will provide the much-needed jobs; provide the needed medical care and ensure that food is put on the table for the majority of Zambians.

And speaking earlier, Lusaka Province Chairman, Obvious Mwaliteta stressed that UPND has resolved to take HH to State House and will not allow anything to stand in the way.

“Our purpose starting from today is to take HH to State House. This time he has to go to State House and that can only be done if we stand together and stop fighting amongst ourselves,” he said.

The General Conference is a requirement by both Article 51 and 60 of the UPND Constitution and Article 60 of the Zambian Constitution.

This article originally appeared on Lusaka Times