Maravi

No one can stop me from going to Malawi - Sata

No one can stop me from going to Malawi - Sata
By George Chellah
Sunday March 18, 2007 [02:00]

NO one can stop me from going to Malawi, opposition Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata declared yesterday. And Sata claimed that the Zambian government lied to their Malawian counterparts that he had gone there to assist that country's former president Bakili Muluzi, who wants to bounce back to power, in consolidating the United Democratic Front (UDF).

But chief government spokesperson Vernon Mwaanga denied Sata's claims saying the PF leader had never been an issue at the bilateral talks with their Malawian counterparts. Addressing the press at PF secretariat in Lusaka, Sata - who was flanked by his secretary general Dr Guy Scott - said he would return to Malawi despite his deportation from that country last Thursday. "I will go to Malawi when there is need to go there. Here is my passport and they haven't even stamped it, so it's just the same as me not having gone there," Sata said as he flipped the pages in his passport. "I have been going to Malawi when the former president (Muluzi) and the current president were young men. In fact, I even married from there sometime back. So nobody can stop me from going to Malawi, why?"

Sata said he would officially write to Malawian President Bingu Wa Mutharika over the matter. "I will write to him thanking him and also to inquire why because I have been going there since he was a young man. He is a sensible leader," he said. Sata alleged that the Zambian government lied to their Malawian counterparts that he had gone there to assist Muluzi consolidate the UDF.
"Between Bingu and Bakili, I am close to Bakili because I have known Bakili before he even became president. He wasn't even on my schedule but if I am there and he wants to meet me, why can't I see my friends? Even in President Bingu's government, some of his MPs and ministers are my friends," Sata said. "What's the point of me getting involved in Malawian politics when I have enough problems with Zambian politics? So why should I go to Malawi to consolidate UDF. If Bakili has announced that he is coming back, I wish him well."

Sata accused defence and home affairs ministers George Mpombo and Lt Gen Ronnie Shikapwasha of being political terrorists who masterminded the whole act. "They wanted to pick me up from Blantyre but the Malawian authorities refused saying that, 'we have nothing against him and there is no extradition order to that effect'. They said they will leave me at the border and they did just that. No wonder those good officers from Malawi asked for the names of the people they were handing me over to," Sata said. "They didn't want their hands to have blood so they wanted the Zambian government to do whatever it wanted to me on Zambian soil. If those criminals that were camped at the embassy in Malawi had taken me from Blantyre probably I wouldn't even be here talking to you today. "When we were coming from Blantyre, I didn't have fear because I developed rapport with the officers. I only had fear when I came to the Zambian border because there was this huge person among those who came to meet me who was looking like Saddam's hangman. They wanted to provide transport for me to come to Lusaka but I refused and hired my own vehicle. That's how I came without them even knowing."

He said President Mwanawasa would account for all his actions once he left office. "I was saying that let bygones be bygones but I think he has gone too far; he should account for that. What's happening to Chiluba will just be a chicken picnic with what will happen to him," he said. Sata also threatened he was suing the Attorney General for wrongful detention. "We are taking action against the Attorney General, ZNBC, Daily Mail and Times of Zambia for wrongful detention and false reporting. They reported that I was a prohibited immigrant when my passport has nothing indicating that. I think I need to make more money from these people as well," he said.

Sata said information minister Vernon Mwaanga would desert President Mwanawasa the same way he did to Dr Kenneth Kaunda and Chiluba. But Mwaanga denied Sata's claims saying that the PF leader had never been an issue at the bilateral talks with their Malawian counterparts. "We have had discussions with our colleagues and we had more important issues to discuss than to discuss Mr Sata. Mr Sata is just a leader of an opposition party. He has never come out as an issue because he is not an issue, anyway!" Mwaanga said. "He has been going to Malawi quite regularly, we don't know what he has been doing there and we have never bothered. We have never told the Malawian government that he has been going there to destabilise the ruling party. That is not true. It's only the Malawian government that knows what he had been doing there."
Mwaanga said Sata was free to sue the public media.

"It's his right. But the public media will not go down without a fight. And we know that this kind of matter will be given a fair hearing," he said. Mwaanga also denied having deserted Dr Kaunda and Chiluba. Sata was on Thursday denied entry into Malawi were he said he had gone for private business. He was driven from Blantyre to Mwami border post in Chipata by Malawian authorities where they handed him over to their Zambian counterparts.

And on the political situation in Zimbabwe, Sata said there was need for Zimbabwean politicians to stop fighting. "They are busy fighting without any policies in place. Mugabe has survived seven years of sanctions... can Zambians survive seven years of sanctions? For me I don't need BBC or CNN to fight my battles like they are doing for Morgan. I will fight my battles because my support is here," he said. He accused MDC leader Tsvangirai of being an agent of the Western countries. "They are talking about Morgan because he is their agent," said Sata.

Labels: SATA, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 4:45 AM