UPND denies buying ‘finished’ defectors from opposition
By Charles Musonda
We do not have money to buy defectors but they are joining us because they have seen the development that President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND have delivered to Zambians, says party deputy secretary general Gertrude Imenda.
In an interview with The Mast yesterday, Imenda said the UPND is not buying anyone but people are joining the ruling party out of their own personal persuasion.
“I have no money myself to give to anybody. We don’t have money as a party to buy anyone. People are just coming to join us because they have seen how the UPND policies have changed their constituencies.
“Their own people in the constituencies are the ones advising them to join the UPND, failure to which they will not vote for them because they are convinced by massive changes in their areas,” Imenda said.
She said some of the opposition MPs who have defected to the UPND joined the ruling party a long time ago but could not officially announced their defection for fear of causing by-elections.
She said now is the right time for them to officially join the ruling party.
She cited Kasama Central Patriotic Front MP Sibongile Mwamba, who defected to the UPND on Saturday alongside her Lubansenshi counterpart Taulo Chewe, as some of the MPs who were attracted to the UPND by the works of Hichilema and the UPND.
“I’m not surprised that she has joined the UPND because she appreciated the ruling party a long time ago. All these people, who are joining us are appreciating what the President and the party have done and some people even have testimony how their constituencies have changed because of the policies that have been put in place,” she said.
Imenda said many people have benefited from policies like free education, increased Constituency Development Fund and recruitment of health workers and teachers, where there is no regional segregation under the UPND, unlike in the past.
She said National Democratic Congress president Saboi Imboela must be serious for recently claiming that those joining the UPND are finished politicians who are defecting to the ruling party for personal material benefits at the last minute.
