UNIP candidate in the forthcoming Mpongwe by-election Ken Kuveya has said his party will scoop the seat because of the pro-poor campaign message to the electorate.

My Kuveya, who held a campaign rally at Mpongwe Main Market yesterday, said the message from the former ruling party was what the Mpongwe constituents wanted to hear.

He said the other political parties vying for the seat had copied the UNIP manifesto but that the people of Mpongwe were well aware that the former ruling party had the original ideas that other parties had stolen.

"In the field of agriculture, for example, UNIP made sure that farmers got inputs on time and the PF preached in 2011 that they were going to do the same but they have failed," he said.

The UNIP candidate also said the campaign trail in the vast constituency had reached its apex with various candidates soliciting votes in almost door-to-door campaigns that had charactersied the past few days.

He said while UNIP did not have the money other parties like the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) was using to lavish on the constituents, the party was being received well throughout the campaign trail.

"Today, we were at the market and people came in numbers. The goodness with our campaigns is that people are coming to listen to our message and not to get money from us," he said.

Mr Kuveya said his party had eased his campaign challenges by providing two vans and a Canter light truck, saying it was a timely intervention considering the vastness of the constituency.

The candidate for the former ruling party said the race for the February 28 poll with the ignominy of failing to raise the required nine supporters for the filing in of nominations was initially tough, but had now hit the ground running after the intervention from his party.

The Mpongwe seat fell vacant after the resignation of former MP Gabriel Namulambe from MMD to join PF.