VJ Right On RB Says Sikota

2 July 2011

UNITED Liberal Party (ULP) president Sakwiba Sikota has said MMD Parliamentary chief whip Vernon Mwaanga’s analysis on the most possible outcome of the 2011 presidential elections indicating that President Rupiah Banda will win the presidency with a wide margin reflects his accuracy in the previous elections.

Mr Sikota said Mr Mwaanga’s statement should be taken seriously and that people who had followed his analyses in the past would agree that all his projections had come to pass.

Mr Mwaanga, during a media briefing at his residence on Thursday said President Banda was set to win with a higher margin than in the previous election on account of the gains he had made in Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces that had resulted from the positive MMD Government’s poverty alleviation policies.

Mr Sikota said the analysis should serve as a wake-up call to the opposition parties to work extra hard although it was too late.

He said Mr Mwaanga’s honest opinion stems from the fact that he made it clear that some areas would be scooped by the opposition unlike other analyses which make blanket statements that a particular party would lead everywhere in the country.

“Zambians should look at the past record of Mr Mwaanga in producing these analyses. It would be folly to ignore and dismiss Mr Mwaanga’s predictions.

“What is refreshing is that he does it honestly by admitting where his party will lose,” Mr Sikota said.

He said experience in politics and his track record as a political analyst made Mr Mwaanga one of the best people to give guidance in terms of how the political parties were performing in their campaigns.

Mr Mwaanga, in his analysis, said United Party for National Development (UPND) was likely to retain Southern Province with President Banda emerging in second position just like in Lusaka and the Copperbelt provinces which would be won by Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata with Mr Banda coming on a strong second.

The veteran politician said he had always produced analyses before elections and that all the final results of his statements had been in line with his predictions while the ones produced by The Post Newspaper had always been wrong, including the one done in 2006.

He said President Banda would win with run-away margins in Eastern, Western, North-Western and Central provinces where Mr Sata would come in a distant third, to make him a big loser.

He predicted that Mr Sata would only come second in Eastern Province.

Mr Mwaanga said on the Copperbelt, President Banda would be second only in the urban areas but would win in the rural parts of the province.

He said in the Bemba-speaking areas of Northern Province, Mr Sata was expected to win but would lose in all non-Bemba speaking areas such as Chimbamilonga, Senga Hill, Isoka East and West, Nakonde, Mpulungu, Kaputa and surrounding areas.

Mr Sata would win in Luapula Province by a small margin but the race would be tight against President Banda because of the gains he had recorded in the area.

He said President Banda’s rise in popularity had resulted from the schools, hospitals, clinics and roads which were being ignored by opposition politicians and yet people in the rural areas were able to see them.

Mr Mwaanga said Mr Hichilema would emerge second to President Banda in Western and North-Western provinces.

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