SINDA District MMD chairperson George Mwanza says he regrets campaigning and supporting the PF government in 2016 because the ruling party has continued to perpetuate violence and has lamentably failed to deliver on its campaign promises.

In an interview, Mwanza observed that Zambians had lost faith in President Edgar Lungu’s government and the PF violence to a level where some voters were vowing not to cast their vote at next year’s general election because of the Head of State’s failed leadership and his Cabinet.

“People have lost faith in this leadership. Even those who were government supporters are no longer government supporters. Instead of saying, ‘they are going to vote for the opposition,’ they are saying, ‘they will not vote at all’ because they are disappointed and also afraid! I was one of those who campaigned, who supported this government, but I regret and those others that supported this government are regretting! This is a sign that people are disappointed,” Mwanza lamented.

Mwanza explained that the drastic deterioration of Zambia’s economy showed that the country had no leaders.

“Leadership has collapsed to the point that we don’t have leaders! We have Cabinet Ministers going on air declaring war against citizens and the President is watching! People carry offensive weapons wanting to kill each other, and the President is watching,” Mwanza complained.

Mwanza added that President Lungu had also disgraced his leadership by circulating fake pictures of road development from Nigeria.

“Imagine, the President, himself, is always ranting against fake news and what does he do? He gets pictures of another country and claim its his road works! Shameful deception! From there, they want us to believe them?” Mwanza wondered.

When asked to comment on the Monze incident where local residents booed President Lungu to voice out their displeasure, Mwanza said booing was not a crime as it was a simple protest against the current leadership.

“Boeing is not a crime, it is a simple protest. If people are deceived, they just told him, ‘we want this way!’ That’s not an insult. In Monze, HH was not there, UPND leadership was not there, but people decided to show the President that they were not happy with his leadership,” Mwanza replied.

He also observed that Zambia Police and PF cadres caused residents to react because they pulled down opposition flags and billboards.

“Police and PF cadres removed opposition billboards and flags, and people just decided to let them know that, ‘the person we want is this one. You, you are not fit to be our leader!’ It’s as simple as that,” explained Mwanza.

He also recalled that during the MMD government, then-vice-president George Kunda had his motorcade blocked by the PF during their time in the opposition.

“During MMD government, our vice-president, George Kunda, was attacked by PF cadres and his motorcade was blocked. And that time, Michael Sata was there, but when you see the Monze issue, HH was not there, UPND leadership was not there…” he added.

Mwanza, who contested as a district council chairperson in 2016, urged voters to never shun voting because the danger remained that undesirable leaders always found their way back in public office.

“Not voting is making things worse because the same leadership you are against, the same leadership you are up in arms with, will bounce back into power using different methods.…,” cautioned Mwanza.