POLICE in Lusaka have summoned MMD leader Nevers Mumba for questioning.

In a summon dated September 23, 2020, Mumba was expected to be at the Zambia Police Headquarters at 14:30 on Wednesday.

But in an interview, MMD vice-president Reuben Sambo said Mumba would only be available on Monday as he was engaged in some mobilisation activities.

“Yes, I can confirm that he has been asked to go to the police but he has indicated that he will only be available on Monday because he has got mobilization programmes. They have just said ‘interviews at force headquarters’ so we have no clue. We suspect that obviously it is about this noise going on that ‘arrest him.’ And we have our own issues that the police can act on at the instigation of cadres. He will only be available on Monday. We have communicated that position to the police.” said Sambo.

Addressing the media at the MMD secretariat, Monday, Mumba alleged that the Lukashya by-election was rigged through pre-marked ballot papers.

“How can we end up with 114 votes when in one ward we had hit 1,050, how? They over rigged, they over did it, they should have measured a little bit to make sure they don’t go overboard. It’s for this reason that the MMD cannot congratulate our colleagues in the PF on their presumed victory in the last election and either do we agree that the number of votes allocated to MMD are genuine. How can our candidate get two votes at his polling station where he voted for himself, his wife was there, his children and he is a pastor of a church and church members went with him to vote but when they counted the votes, there were two votes…what kind of miracle is this? I believe in miracles but that kind of miracle is not the miracle that the Zambian people should entertain,” said Mumba.

“Two PF cadres were nabbed by the police for being in possession of pre-marked ballot papers. When this information reached the senior leaders of the PF, the duo was released privately. A PF cadre was arrested by the police for taking a picture of his ballot paper before casting his vote. When interrogated by the police, he stated that the PF leaders were suspecting him that he would vote for another candidate and therefore was not going to be given promised money if he did not provide proof. A vote is a secret matter in a democracy. To intimidate members of the public to vote a certain way based on financial gratification is illegal and enough ground to nullify the election.”