United Prosperous and Peaceful Zambia (UPPZ) president Charles Chanda says President Edgar Lungu cannot stop violence in Chilanga because PF cannot win the Parliamentary by-election without violence.

Speaking when he featured on UNZA Radio’s Lusaka Star Program, Monday, Chanda also accused the Electoral Commission of Zambia of conniving with PF to rig the by-election in Chilanga.

“I am saying the President must put his foot down, we know he can do it, he must not let the people of Chilanga down. The escalation of violence will indicate that our president is not willing to control the violence because without violence PF cannot win those elections. Zambian citizens don’t need a blow or a slap to vote for you, they need a manifesto, give them a manifesto,” Chanda said.

“If there is any president who knows how to control cadres in the history of Zambia, is President Edgar Lungu, that one, I give him a plus. He knows how to handle cadres, why am I saying this, he is the same president who managed to remove cadres from the streets when they were removing vendors from the street, because those were not ordinary citizens, and what did the president do? He used the army because he knows the stubbornness of his cadres and where are the street vendors? They are gone. So he is exceptionally qualified to handle cadres but because he wants his party to win elections, he sends the police when he knows very well that PF has neutralized our police, our police have been given injections by PF so that when they see PF cadres they are powerless, they can’t act. There they were in Chilanga, they became spectators who were watching violence, and how can a cadre overpower a police? Unless those police have been given instructions? The President has phoned the IG and the IG has instructed his men on the ground that when you see violence perpetuated by PF, don’t do anything, and that’s where I am disappointed.”

He also accused ECZ of conniving with PF to rig the Chilanga by-election.

“I will agree with those who are accusing ECZ to be conniving with the PF and I will tell you why. When we went there on Monday with our candidate Mr Francis Kope to file in our nominations, we were putting on capes and ECZ officers noticed that UPPZ had caps, and they said ‘UPPZ you are not coming in, remove the caps’ and we obeyed with my followers and removed the caps, you know I am saying I want to bring sanity on the political platform and we want to follow the electoral code of conduct, my followers removed the caps without struggle because they follow my instructions as a leader. Now, there came PF, the people who have been participating in elections and they understand the electoral code of conduct better than us, because this is the first time we are participating in an election and they came, the person who is standing, mama Langa and five cabinet ministers came dressed in party regalia and ECZ did not say anything. Why did ECZ tell us that we could not go in with our caps but failed to instruct PF not to enter with their party regalia?” Chanda asked.

“That shows you that ECZ already is bought by PF, that’s why some people who are accusing PF of rigging elections will be justified. If ECZ will not act on that one, the PF candidate under the electoral candidate should be disqualified for violating the code of conduct. PF also removed the barricade which ECZ put up to prevent party cadres from going beyond the approved distance, already that’s another violation of the electoral code of conduct and I am telling you, I am watching ECZ if they fail on this one, then I am sorry ECZ cannot manage an election where I am going to contest because it means I understand more than them, including their boss! Because if the ECZ director understands more than me, he should have acted by now. They disqualified other political parties, why didn’t they disqualify the PF candidate?”

Meanwhile, Chanda accused PF of buying votes using the money meant for the Social Cash Transfer scheme.

“Government has not given Social Cash Transfer to Chilanga District for a number of months but just last week, they released K28,000 and the person who went to give this money did not the GRZ car, she parked the GRZ car and used a private car to take the K28, 000 to a part of Chilanga. Now, that’s already PF buying votes using government money, they are already buying votes but we are monitoring everything. If you want to win elections, win with the manifesto, not with tricks or violence,” said Chanda.