Hichilema ready to meet Mwanawasa

Hichilema ready to meet Mwanawasa
By Bivan Saluseki
Wednesday March 21, 2007 [02:00]

UPND president Hakainde Hichilema yesterday said he was ready to meet President Mwanawasa and discuss issues if that was what would help millions of Zambians move out of poverty. And Hichilema has suggested that the people of Zambia fund political parties. Addressing the press at Lusaka's Taj Pamodzi Hotel, Hichilema said UPND did not believe in unnecessary fights and all energies should be directed towards finding a solution to the problems Zambians were currently facing.

"Hatred must be taken away and get locked somewhere. It has no place in modern politics," he said. Hichilema said he had never met President Mwanawasa apart from the time he met him in Chongwe during a traditional ceremony towards the end of last year. He said just as he met President Mwanawasa and shook hands with him, he was ready to meet and shake hands with him again today or tomorrow.

Hichilema said while UPND had no pact with MMD, they had nothing against President Mwanawasa and would go to any function if invited just like he did when he was invited during the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao. "We are available and we are not afraid of going to any place any time, people think when you go to State House, you are joining somebody. It's a show of maturity to talk to somebody and raise your issue. Let's take out enmity in our country," he said. Hichilema said UPND did not believe in unnecessary fights and asked his civic leaders to perform their civic duties.

"When Hu Jintao comes, if you are requested to go there, go there. If you are a mayor, you are a mayor for everybody. For fear of conflict of interest, I will not extend that discussion," he said. During President Hu's visit to Zambia, opposition PF directed its mayor not to attend the ceremony but mayor Suzan Nakazwe defied the order and attended the function, a move that has earned her a suspension from PF.

Hichilema said instead of insults, UPND wanted to talk about issues such as social and economic development whose agenda must be set firmly. He said this was time for which Zambians needed to achieve the highest percentage of economic growth and not the seven per cent anticipated in the budget and that economic growth should be between eight and 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product and sustained over a period of years.

Hichilema said UPND did not have enemies in the political setup but merely had competitors. He said the economic standards in Zambia had been lowered. "We have agreed to live in conditions that are sub-human. Cholera has become an annual event like a traditional ceremony," he said.
Hichilema said to change such a status quo, it needed skills and not old politicians. "It does not require somebody who has been in politics for 43 years. He will not be in a position to deliver or to accelerate political development of the country," he said. Hichilema said the ambitious growth was deliverable because Zambia had huge tracts of land. He said even the current water from floods could be harvested and put into economic use.

Hichilema said government needed to start pushing towards growing the energy sector and plan for electricity demand, which would exceed supply soon. He said Zambian politics should move towards qualitative analysis and debate. "Our priorities are not correct and we continue to live a life of sub-standard expectations," he said. Hichilema said the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) should have been increased to K1 billion instead of K200 million. He criticised government's exemption of current mining companies from paying mineral royalties. He said through such exemptions, Zambia could not make US $300 million it was supposed to make per year. He said such money was too much to be lost.

"I know some people don't like calculators. I love it. It helps you think in an intelligent way," said Hichilema. Last year, Michael Sata asked Hichilema to stick to calculators, which he knew best instead of politics. Hichilema said time had gone for one to follow a human being but instead people should follow policies.

On the Constitution, Hichilema said people should be sober and avoid acrimony and insults though they must be firm. "We should not expend any further energies on debating this matter. Government has an obligation to give the people of Zambia what is there," he said. Hichilema said the constituent assembly should be the mode of adoption and UPND members of parliament had been instructed to take a motion to Parliament. He said Zambia should have a constitution by 2008 and latest March 2009 in the worst-case situation.

He said he wanted to see the 50 per cent plus one clause passed because he did not want to be President of Zambia with a minority vote. Hichilema said though one might argue that it was legally right, morally such a leader who went to power with less than 50 per cent had no mandate. He said there was no justification to trade the Constitution with money in the budget and money for floods. Hichilema said there should be budgetary allocation to floods and the Constitution separately.

He said the Constitution should make it clear that the Chief Justice should not be the returning officer since he dealt with election petitions and declared the winning presidential candidate.
And Hichilema said Zambians should come up with a system of funding political parties. "We expect political parties to be funded by people of Zambia, not luxuriously but to a level required," he said.

He said funding political parties would reduce corruption. "Zambians must invest in the institutions of democracy. Don't leave it to one or two people to invest. We need to do that because parties are not for individuals," he said. Hichilema said in politics, one did not make money unless outside. On Zimbabwe, Hichilema condemned the human rights violation. He said Africa must come of age and deal with the issues in Zimbabwe including the Dafur crisis.