UPND VIOLENCE WORRIES PF

By ANDREW MUKOMA THE ruling Patriotic Front (PF) in Livingstone has raised concerns over escalating violence perpetrated by the opposition UPND in various parts of the country. PF District Vice Chairman, Emmanuel Nkatya, observed that the violence initiated by the UPND has potential to ruin the country’s peaceful record achieved since 1964. Mr Nkatya charged that the UPND cadres have failed to co-exist with their fellow citizens belonging to other political parties, hence resorting to violence. He said that as far as he was concerned, the PF was a peaceful party and does not engage in any forms of violence. He was speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation. “As PF in Livingstone, we wish to condemn in the strongest possible terms the violence that recently erupted in some parts of the country involving the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND). “We are greatly saddened that over 55 years after independence, we still have people trading blows, machetes and firearms instead of words,” he said Mr Nkatya noted that just because supporters differ on political scene does not mean they should be attacking each other. “The high levels of hatred, bitterness and violence by the UPND are very worrying and are incompatible with development and progress. “How can people be thinking about how to move the nation forward towards prosperity if they are busy hacking each other? This is unacceptable,” he said.