Following Michael Sata’s rare public appearance this week, Patriotic Front (PF) foot soldiers in Mangango are hopeful the ailing president will visit the constituency and canvass for votes for the ruling party’s parliamentary candidate.
Speaking from Mangango in Kaoma district, the PF cadres interviewed said it had been difficult to convince anyone to vote for them because the people had lost hope in Michael Sata and his government.
Karrus Wamunyima, one of the interviewees said Michael Sata’s visit to Mangango would add steam to the PF’s dwindling fortunes in Western province because the people actually believed the president was indisposed to perform his duties.
“The news about the non appearance of our president anywhere in the public has actually affected our campaigns here. No one really wants to listen to a white man in the name of Guy Scott. People in some villages are actually telling us that the president is bed ridden and he cannot perform his duties.
“The people are challenging us to convince them on why they should vote for PF because the president has gone into hiding. There are many issues in our campaign team and we are aware that this election is a major challenge for the PF. It is actually a litmus test for the people because it will send a very strong message across the country,” he said.
Wamunyima said it was hard for PF campaigners to tell people about the development being talked about in the government because the electorates were demanding to be addressed by the president.
He said now that Michael Sata was seen on television swearing in officials from the judiciary, it would be important that he visits Mangango to boost the political campaigns.
The people of mangango go to the polls on August 19, 2014 following the Supreme court nullification of the parliamentary seat, which was held by MMD’s Taundi Chiseke.
This week, vice president Guy Scott visited the area to boost the campaigns, but many observers are waiting for President Sata to go and campaign. This is because President Sata has been making rare public appearances that have fuelled speculation about his failing health.
The people are curious to see Michael Sata publicly because the government and State House have categorically denied that the president was sick despite him looking frail during his rare public appearances.
Another cadre Moses Malilwe said there was a lot of doubt that President Sata would go to Mangango for the political campaigns.
He said it would be a precedence and an indictment on the popularity of the PF if President Sata missed the Mangango campaigns.
“Here we have Mwaliteta, but he is like a novice and his style of leadership is strange among many members because he is like a bus station boy. We need the president to come and boost the morale because we are doing a job that we already know our fate. We may not win this election because of the manner it has been handled and that
we may not have the president to come and hold very big meetings at presidential level. The people want to listen to the president,” he said.
President Sata has only made one limited public appearance to a selected few in 41 days when he was swearing in the Attorney General Musa Mwenye and Solicitor General Abraham Mwansa.
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