There is no room for rigging-Siamunene
By Adrian Mwanza
FORMER Defence minister Richwell Siamunene says there is no way the United Party for National Development (UPND) will rig the upcoming August 13 elections.
In an interview with The Mast, Siamunene, the New Focus Party (NFP) leader, said it would be difficult for the UPND to rig the August election in their favour as all loopholes would be sealed.
He said as a former defence minister, he knew the system well and understood all the lacunae in the system, and that he would make sure that they were sealed so that people could not rig the election.
“As you are aware, I was once the defence minister, I know the tricks people use in the system, but I must assure you that we are going to seal all the loopholes, making it difficult for people to rig,” he said.
Siamunene said that they were going to be very vigilant and that they would do anything to stop irregularities, even if they used tricks like rigging underwater,” he said.
He said Zambians were vigilant and would not let anyone manipulate the election results once they made up their minds.
And Siamunene urged the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to restore the broken trust between the institution and the people of Zambia.
He said the commission needed to respect the wishes of the people by not manipulating the results.
“What I can tell you is that not even ECZ can stop the wish of the Zambian people, and they should just do the right things,” he said.
Siamunene said the current government should emulate the two late presidents who freely handed over power after the people of Zambia decided otherwise.
He said the late president Edgar Lungu, whom he described as his close friend, wanted to finish his term but handed over power after the people of Zambia voted him out.
“Former president Lungu wanted to rule a bit longer, but the people decided otherwise; therefore, he respected their wishes, the current government should do the same,” he said.
Siamunene said he had confidence that the UPND would respect the rule of law and would not use underhanded methods to maintain power.
