Go to court if you don’t want to keep crying, Mwanakampwe tells opposition

Central Province Permanent Secretary Dr. Milner Mwanakampwe has courted controversy following his robust dismissal of opposition grievances concerning recent electoral outcomes and alleged malpractices. Speaking in an interview, Dr. Mwanakampwe asserted that opposition politicians who continue to cry foul over election results must formalize their grievances through the courts of law rather than engaging in endless public lamentations. His remarks follow sharp contentions from losing candidates, particularly in Kabwe Central, where opposition figures have raised concerns regarding transparency and sudden shifts during the vote-tallying process overseen by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ). The political landscape in the province has grown increasingly tense as opposition parties challenge the legitimacy of certain poll results, pointing to irregularities and perceived inconsistencies in vote management. However, Dr. Mwanakampwe has brushed off these claims as baseless, arguing that opposition elements frequently celebrate prematurely based on initial, unverified counts before official and comprehensive tallies are finalized. He emphasized that the Zambian judicial system provides a clear, structured framework for addressing electoral disputes, and challenged any political actor genuinely convinced of fraud to present their evidence before a competent court of law. This robust stance by a senior government official reflects a broader friction between state functionaries and opposition groupings contesting the integrity of recent localized and national electoral processes. Critics from various opposition camps contend that such dismissive rhetoric downplays legitimate governance concerns and undermines public confidence in autonomous oversight bodies like the ECZ. On the other hand, ruling party sympathizers maintain that political defeat is often met with unfounded allegations of rigging designed to save face after failed campaigns, insisting that due proces