By ZR Reporter
UPND national youth chairperson Gilbert Liswaniso has acknowledged that the group of young people who stormed the PF Secretariat over the weekend were members of the ruling party.
Speaking on Hot FM’s Breakfast Show this morning, Liswaniso cautioned that such conduct threatens both democracy and the party’s own standing with the public.
He disclosed that his internal checks confirmed that the youths, captured on camera wearing UPND regalia, were from Kanyama.
He said the group earlier had a meeting in Chinika before taking it upon themselves to carry out a roadshow that ended in the violent confrontation at the PF offices.
However, Liswaniso said the action had no blessings of senior party officials, including Lusaka Deputy Mayor Ketty Nanyangwe.
He said some people were unfairly tying her grassroots mobilisation activities to the group that descended on the opposition headquarters.
He stressed that the UPND could not allow any form of caderism to resurface, warning that political violence has the potential to erode public confidence and undermine the governing party.
Liswaniso added that he spent much of the day of the incident placing calls to establish who was responsible, and honest party members confirmed that the perpetrators were indeed UPND youths.