PP primaries divide voters in Kasungu

Barely two weeks after the ruling People’s Party (PP) held primary elections in Kasungu North North-East Constituency, divisions emerged among party supporters in the constituency.

One camp is supporting Helex Kanyangala, who was declared winner after getting 3 786 votes, while the other camp has rallied behind the runner-up, Tyson Chinkhokwe Banda, who got 1 544 votes.

Chinkhokwe Banda protested the outcome and wrote director of elections in PP Zelesi Gomani asking her to nullify the results, citing irregularities during the voting exercise.

In the letter to Gomani, Chinkhokwe-Banda alleges that some voters came from outside the constituency.

However, Gomani told Weekend Nation that the party will not hold a rerun as it recognises Kanyangala as its shadow member of Parliament (MP) for the area.

Chinkhokwe-Banda, who on Saturday last week held a meeting at Sopani Primary School in the constituency, has announced that he will still contest as MP on an independent ticket.

“I am contesting on independent ticket because of poor leadership at [the party’s] district level. But I still belong to PP; hence, I urge my followers to vote for Joyce Banda as president,” he said.

But Gomani said the party is not shaken by the division, saying: “PP is not surprised at what Chinkhokwe has done. That is what a loser does.”

Chinkhokwe-Banda served as MP for the constituency between 1999 and 2004 on Alliance for Democracy (Aford) ticket.