MWEETWA, MWIIMBU DIFFER OVER UKA

1. By ADRIAN MWANZA
2. THE filling in of nominations for United Kwacha Alliance (UKA) candidates should not be frowned upon because it is good for the growth of democracy in the country, Minister of Information and Media Cornelius Mweetwa has said.

Mr. Mweetwa in an interview indicated that there was nothing wrong with the UKA alliance fielding candidates of their choice in the various upcoming by-elections because that was good for democracy.

The UKA alliance have indicated that they have fielded various candidates in upcoming by elections countrywide.

Mr. Mweetwa said that even the United Party for National Development (UPND) once went into an alliance and eventually usurped power from the Patriotic Front (PF).

He said that there was nothing wrong for the alliance to field candidates of their choice from various political parties because that was their constitutional right.

Recently, Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Affairs Jack Mwiimbu indicated that the Alliance was illegal because it was not registered.

But Mr Mweetwa said there was nothing wrong because the UKA was fielding candidates from various political parties and not as a party.

He said that it would be good for the opposition to win some elections because it would be a good sign that democracy was growing.

He said that the UPND was not fazed by the filling of the nominations because they were implementing all the policies they promised the people of Zambia.

“Honestly, we are not worried. They have the right to participate in the elections and as a party, we are going to field the best candidates,” he said.

He said that despite UKA not being registered, the Alliance had the right to field candidates from the various political parties that were in the grouping.

He said that there was no need to panic because in an election, there would only be one winner and that it was not only the ruling party that won all the time.

“What I can tell is that an election always has one winner so those guys may win and sometimes we can win but the most important thing is for us to pick the best candidates who can win the people’s hearts,” Mr Mweetwa said.

He said that the UKA Alliance would however not have it easy because the UPND had done its homework and that it was on track.