Lungu Orders Army To Send Reinforcements To North Western, Western And Southern Provinces

President Lungu has instructed the Army Commander to reinforce troops in North Western, Western and Southern Provinces following the death of the Patriotic Front’s North Western Chairman Jackson Kungo and the brother of Provincial Deputy Permanent Secretary Emmanuel Chihili. 

The president said he did not want to leave any stone unturned in ensuring peace in these parts of the country and has called into question the validity of election results in the three provinces, generally considered to be safe seats for the United Party for National Development.

“How can you talk about free and fair elections when our opponents have taken this election as war?” He said in a statement. 

The UPND has denied having anything to do with the deaths, which it calls a “regrettable” loss of life that “taints the whole democratic process”. The party’s deputy chairman for elections, Brian Ndumba, said rumours of the UPND’s involvement are not only false but malicious as “it is not possible to differentiate between a UPND member and any other during the voting process”.

The deployment of yet more troops to opposition strongholds sends a worrying message at a time when Zambians are still queuing to vote in today’s elections. It comes amid claims from election observers that the troops are being used to intimidate opposition voters rather than to ensure peace. 

Reacting to the news, Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu tweeted that the deployment of yet more troops would “instil fear among voters”. He said he stood in “solidarity with Hakainde Hichilema & fellow democrats at this critical hour!”

Mr Kungo, whose death was confirmed by the ECZ earlier this evening, is believed to have been killed when his car was mobbed by voters in Solwezi waiting to cast their ballots. The PF chairman was alleged to have been illegally transporting ballot papers.

Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono shared footage of the incident and said that the driver of the car had been protected from the mob by members of the military.