PF in treble win

President Edgar Lungu with new Chawama MP Lawrence Sichalwe

The Patriotic Front has made it three out of three after scooping the Senga Hill,Chawama and Masaiti parliamentary seats in yesterday’s by-elections.

PF candidate Kapembwa Simbao has scooped the Senga Hill seat after beating his only rival Giles Yambayamba of the UPND by 3,343 votes after polling 7,913 votes to Mr Yambayamba’s 4,570 votes.

QFM’s Lazarous Sichula reports from Mbala that Returning officer Rodwell Ngambi declared Mr Simbao as duly elected at about 11:33hrs today before a cheering crowd.

12,665 votes were cast in the election with 182 votes being rejected.Senga Hill has 32, 000 registered voters and 47 polling stations.

And the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) which monitored the by-election has described it as free and peaceful.

FODEP Executive Director Macdonald Chipenzi has told Qfm news in an interview in that people of Mbala have spoken through their votes.

He has however reiterated the need for the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to work towards expediting the transmission of results each time it conducts elections in the country.

Earlier PF candidates Lawrence Sichalwe and Michael Katambo were declared winners in the Chawama and Masaiti by-elections respectively.

In Masaiti PF’s Micheal Katambo scooped the seat after polling 5,032 votes against his closest rival UPND’s Peter Mumba who polled 2,150 votes.

And newly elected Chawama Member of Parliament Lawrence Sichalwe has placed the construction of a secondary school and the decongesting of Chawama Clinic on top of his priorities as he gets down to work.

Mr Sichallwe who emerged victorious after amassing, 7,502 votes beating his closest rival UPND’s Charles Kaselwa who polled 3,219 votes has thanked the people of Chawama for the confidence they have shown in him by electing him as their representative.

Mr Sichalwe says he will continue were President Edgar Lungu left from when served as Chawama MP before being elected President.

Mr Sichalwe has also pledged to deliver to the expectations of the people of Chawama.