We are doing our field rounds checking on the multiple contenders for political power in what here is officiously referred to as the 2011 tripartite elections. Earlier on we met the United Party for National Development (UPND) of Hakainde Hichilema, affectionately known to fans and rivals alike as HH. Those who swear by him say he must go to Plot One because he is too rich to plunder. Before, we had bumped into a Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) contingent, whilst paying a courtesy call on the District Commissioner. Busy, in a hurry to go campaigning they had supplied their contact details for us to meet them later. The large man seated in the green Corolla to whom we had been directed as the local contact for the Patriotic Front (PF) had confirmed a meeting at 10am the following day.
Just when we were about to complete our rounds, our matronly guide reminded us that UNIP was also in the contest. Hence I find myself in the run-down little office where the furniture is a homemade bench and a rickety desk that must have been there for decades. Though wearing a lick of white paint on the outside and the name UNIP, inside it is a gloomy place worn down by years of decay. We enter and are welcomed by a beaming man whose age is not easy to decipher, but who looks as worn down as his office. What he lacks in appearance he more than makes up in brightness and genuine warmth.
