UPND national youth Spokesperson Gilbert Liswaniso says his party has filed a report at Chilanga police about some PF cadres who attacked his campaign team yesterday in Chilanga’s Chimanja ward ahead of the upcoming local government by-elections.

And Liswaniso said going forward, his party shall fight back whenever attacked, and urged the PF to get ready for them.

Liswaniso also accused the police of not taking action whenever the UPND supporters were attacked.

“We wish to confirm that the Patriotic Front cadres loaded in buses from Lusaka yesterday barbarically attacked our members who were campaigning in chimanja ward, Chilanga constituency where is a by election. The behavior by the PF cadres is uncalled and really shows that PF and it’s leader, Mr Edgar Lungu are not committed to the dialogue process because if they were they would not go ahead and begin attacking us like this with the view of killing us,” Liswaniso said.

“We however want to warn the PF cadres that should they attack us again and in fact going forward we shall be defending ourselves because we cannot report to the toothless Zambia Police which in our view is arming the PF cadres who are literally thugs.The country is talking about dialogue, but what dialogue can we talk about if PF cadres have continued attacking us? PF get ready for us, we shall too defend ourselves and we are not docile, enough is enough and this country belongs to us all not a few crooks.

He also urged his party leaders to desist from stopping them from fighting back whenever they were attacked by PF supporters.

“For us I think we have said, we are dealing with thugs, we will continue crying and crying. All we need also is to equip ourselves so that when the PF comes with, I need to prepare myself so that I hit back. That is the only way these things can come to an end. But this issue of saying calmness calmness and I want to make it very clear to you that our UPND leaders will make us to be in trouble, we the young the young people of UPND if they say don’t fight, don’t beat. For us we have realised that we are dealing with people who are ready to kill, so we need to protect ourselves as UPND,” Liswaniso said.

Liswaniso further urged the PF to explain to the people of Chimanja ward on what the party had done to improve people’s lives unlike getting involved in violence.

Meanwhile Lusaka Province Police Commissioner Nelson Phiri said his office had not received any report of such violence in Chilanga but assured that he would make some follow ups on the matter.

And asked when if the decision to respond back to violence would not disturb the process of dialogue, UPND national Chairperson Mutale Nalumango said there was no way such remarks would disturb the dialogue process when the actual violence from PF supporters did not.

“The statement should disturb the dialogue but the violence should not disturb the violence, that is our Zambia, that is my comment. Thank kind of upsession I don’t understand because the police presence must be there all the times. They don’t need anybody to tell them that this is happening, so! Where are we as a country? They should be there, they know that these things are happening , where are they? Asked Nalumango.