By CHARLES MUSONDA
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) Vubwi parliamentary by-election candidate Margaret Miti says that a possible political showdown with her brother, Alexander, in the poll will not divide the family.
The election confrontation is likely to be one of the first political battles pitting siblings as the ruling PF seeks to make further inroads into the Eastern Province, which the MMD is hanging on to.
Last Saturday, President Sata said the Miti family is clever because one of the two is likely to scoop the seat.
But Mr Miti has played down the possibility of him being fielded by the opposition MMD in the by-election, saying the former ruling party has not yet settled for a candidate because of the pending case in which the Supreme Court is yet to rule on the eligibility of former member of Parliament Eustarckio Kazonga to recontest the seat after nullifying his 2011 election for corrupt practices.
In an interview with the Sunday Mail, Ms Miti said: “I respect family values and the family is the first unit one belongs to. He [Mr Miti] is my older brother and he is the first-born in the family. He is my mentor and I respect his decision. I will give him the respect that he deserves; my strategy is issue-based and not to look at an individual.”
She says she feels honoured by the PF’s decision to adopt her after outdoing men who were eyeing the adoption on the ruling party ticket.
Ms Miti is the preferred candidate ahead of former MMD Eastern Province chairman Kennedy Zulu, Yelesani Phiri, a former aide de camp in the Mwanawasa government, and losing 2011 PF Vubwi parliamentary candidate Vincent Mwale, who petitioned Dr Kazonga’s election.
“For the party to pick me, it shows the confidence that the PF and President Sata have in me, especially that the head of State has been speaking about women empowerment and placing them in decision-making positions.
“I believe women organisations should be happy that I have been adopted. It shows that the President is committed to empowering women, who are often marginalised,” she said.
Born, brought up and partly educated in Vubwi, Ms Miti said she understands challenges the constituency faces and had already started working towards addressing some of them even before she entered the political scene.
Mr Miti could neither deny nor confirm that the MMD, for which he is Eastern provincial chairman, is courting him for the by-election.
“The approach we have on this matter is that we have to wait for the court process to be concluded because Dr Kazonga is also a stakeholder. As a result, we don’t want to rush into doing things before the court process is concluded so that we avoid a situation where we can confuse the public on the MMD’s position…basically there is no impression to indicate that I have applied for adoption.
“We did it quietly in Chipata Central and Mkaika and put right people [as candidates] and it worked well for us,” he said.
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