Chimunthu Banda wins DPP primaries

Former Speaker of Parliament Henry Chimunthu Banda has won the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) primary elections in Nkhotakota North Constituency. The sitting Member of Parliament for the constituency, Frank Mphande, withdrew from the race.

Chimunthu Banda has won the elections with 2 161 votes after beating two other contenders, Fyson Saenda who got 60 votes, and Space Katenga-Kaunda who got 53 votes.

The former Speaker said he contested for the position following people’s demands.

“For 15 years I was member of Parliament [MP] for this area. I served my people very well. That’s why they asked me to come back after I went on a sabbatical leave and I’m optimistic I will reclaim the Nkhotakota North Constituency,” Chimunthu said.

In a separate interview, Mphande said he withdrew from the race because he was not told about the polls in good time.

He said he had written the party’s director of elections Ben Phiri on Tuesday asking him to postpone the elections.

“I was told on Tuesday that there will be primary elections on Wednesday. This was in contrast with an earlier announcement that the primary elections would be held on December 20 2018. In view of this, I queried the director of elections to consider postponing the election but to my surprise, they went ahead,” he said.

Phiri could not be reached for comment, but DPP district governor Odala Phiri downplayed the claims, saying all candidates were formally communicated to about the elections.

 He said: “We informed all the candidates about the primary elections and gave them ample time to campaign,” he said.

In his remarks, Brown Mpinganjira, who presided over the polls, said the elections were free and fair as well as violence-free. He appealed to those who lost in the elections to work together in strengthening the party in readiness for the elections