KABUSHI PF member of parliament Bowman Lusambo says he has decided to embark on a door-to-door campaign because he knows all the registered voters in the constituency and does not want to waste time on those who will not vote.

And Lusambo says it is a psychological issue to refuse to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines, adding that those flouting COVID-19 regulations would be taken for mental check-ups.

In an interview, Lusambo explained that his door-to-door campaign in Kabushi constituency of Ndola District was more effective than rallies, saying he won elections five years ago using the same strategy.

“It’s the resolve of our team, the provincial committee, Copperbelt, to start the door-to-door campaigns. It’s something that we came up with putting into consideration the situation we are in, the COVID-19 [situation]. We know that COVID-19 is real and we don’t want to put the lives of people at risk. So, we will continue engaging our people, sensitising them on the dangers of COVID. I won Kabushi constituency using the door-to-door campaign. The door-to-door campaign is very effective because I know the number of people, voters, who have been registered in Kabushi constituency. I have all the information, I know where they stay, what they do. I have all the phone numbers of people of Kabushi constituency, who have registered to vote. I have everything, I have records. So, we will not waste our time doing rallies when we know where to find the voters,” Lusambo said.

“Yes, we may do rallies, one or two, not now, when we are cleared through the Ministry of Health that, ‘now, time has come for us to have these rallies.’ But in the absence of that, we will continue engaging our people via the door-to-door campaigns because I have representatives in all my wards. And I have representatives in all the polling stations and I have representatives in all the sections. So, it’s very easy for me to get in touch with the voters who have registered. I have all the names of the voters who have registered.”

And Lusambo, who is also Lusaka Province Minister, said those flouting COVID-19 regulations would be taken for mental check-ups.

“And we want to encourage our people to take measures because COVID-19 is real. For those people who do not think that COVID-19 is real, I can take them to UTH or Levy Mwanawasa Hospital just to show them what people are going through with this COVID-19 disease. We have a lot of people in these facilities, I can take them because you know, as government, our job is to protect the lives of the people and to improve living standards. So, for me to see our people, especially in Lusaka behaving in a certain way, I get concerned. And for those few individuals, we just want to encourage them to change their mindset. We can’t continue to have cases of COVID-19 coming into our communities because of few individuals who are not listening,” said Lusambo.

“Like when you go to the bars, you wonder whether those people have five senses! Because I don’t think a person with five senses can behave in the manner we have seen them behave. We will take them to mental doctors to go and check their brains. So, we just have to take them for mental check-ups because you can’t put beer first against your own life. Those people who don’t want to listen, the families where they are coming from, take them for mental check-ups.”