ACTING President Rupiah Banda yesterday wound up his Southern Province campaign trail with Mazabuka where he saluted the traditional leadership of the area for openly declaring their support for his candidature.

Addressing a rally at Nakambala grounds, Mr Banda also urged people to ignore malicious reports that his campaign team had bought votes from chiefs and their subjects.

"You are witnesses, you are here in thousands standing in the sun to listen to us, have you been paid?" Mr Banda asked.

He boasted that he was the only presidential candidate that had received open endorsement from traditional leaders in all the areas he had visited and urged the campaign team to intensify door-to -door campaigns.

He also said Patriotic Front (PF) candidate Michael Sata was losing popularity in his party's strongholds in Lusaka and Copperbelt, while the UPND candidate Hakainde Hichilema was also losing support in Southern Province as seen from the attendance at the just completed campaign rallies.

Mr Banda warned the people of Southern Province against segregation by voting for a person who could not form a national government due to lack of nationwide representation in Parliament.

He said after United Party for National Development (UPND) president, Anderson Mazoka died, some people were being haunted by the remarks they had made that only a Tonga should take over from him.

Mr Banda said with his vast experience in different spheres of life, he would serve the people whom he described as his masters.

Mr Banda said he had realistic programmes which would help the people live better, such as improved roads, bridges and boosting the agricultural sector through timely delivery of inputs and asked the people to vote for him.

" A hired cook is a servant of his masters. So when you hire me as your cook on 30th October, I will be cooking the best meal for you. I am a professional cook, " Mr Banda said, referring to a television advertisement in which some employees at a construction site were asking who was going to cook Nshima for them on that day, to which all responded "ni Banda."(Its Banda).

Mr Banda also said he would open up the entire province to massive foreign investment and promised to support Albidon Mining to start operations quickly so that people could get jobs.

Mr Banda also met six chiefs at Zambia Sugar Guest house where they solidified their support for him in this month's election and later the Mazabuka business community and stressed the need for Zambia Sugar Plc to go into ethanol production in order to cut down on fuel costs.

He also lauded Zambia Sugar for the expansion project which had employed almost 1,000 people in the area.

He encouraged big investors in the area to do business with small and medium enterpreneurs (SMEs) whom he encouraged to improve their services to cultivate confidence.

Mr Banda was accompanied by acting MMD president Michael Mabenga, United Liberal Party(ULP) leader Sakwiba Sikota, MMD campaign manager Mike Mulongoti, deputy national secretary, Jeff Kande and other party officials.

During his campaign in the province, he has visited Livingstone, Choma, Namwala, and Mamba and ended with Mazabuka.