UPND plot laid bare

By SIMON MUNTEMBAAN opposition scheme to discredit and derail the national registration card (NRC) issuance exercise by fabricating emotive fake stories has been exposed.Home Affairs minister Stephen Kampyongo told the Daily Nation in an exclusive interview that UPND had hatched a scheme to discredit the national card registration process by disseminating a staged picture of under age children holding their supposed NRC cards.Mr Kampyongo, who revealed that the registration exercise has been extended, also rubbished claims by UPND Mazabuka MP, Gary Nkombo that foreigners were being issued with NRCs.The issuance of NRCs has been extended by 10 more days to allow officers capture more people.In the plot hatched to discredit the national exercise, Mr Kampyongo said the opposition UPND had gone to great lengths to discredit a process meant to capture eligible citizens in the national data base. He said it was said that children were being used for political gain. The minister was referring to a picture which has gone viral on social media of boys named about 8 to 10 years holding NRCs.The minister urged any patriotic citizen to report suspected foreign that were reportedly being given NRC.In the latest leaked scheme, the UPND had secretly elected media committee members among them propagandists to spearhead fake news against the ruling party as the country heads towards the 2021 general elections. The leaked list obtained by the Daily Nation that was compiled on September 1, 2020 has newly elected members for Southern Province with public secretaries for propaganda.The other list for new elected UPND executive for Lusaka Province signed on August 25, 2020 also has public secretaries for propaganda.Meanwhile, Mr Kampyongo said Government was aware of the scheme and would not be distracted from its work.Mr Kampyongo said the level of sponsored hate, venom and falsehoods generated against Government was part of the UPND’s scheme to reduce Zambia to ashes and trigger regime change.