Liar Mwaanga gets the boot
Liar Mwaanga gets the bootBy George Chellah and Speedwell Mupuchi
Wednesday April 11, 2007 [19:25]
PRESIDENT Levy Mwanawasa today said that former information minister Vernon Mwaanga's handling of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) assignment was extremely irresponsible. According to a statement issued by President Mwanawasa's special assistant for press and public relations this evening, John Musukuma, the President stated that he had decided to relieve Mwaanga of his duties because it was certain that his handling of the DRC assignment made his position in Cabinet untenable.
"His Excellency the President, Mr. Levy Patrick Mwanawasa SC has relieved Honourable Vernon J. Mwaanga of his duties as Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, revoked his nomination as member of parliament and removed him as chief government spokesperson and Parliamentary Chief Whip with immediate effect," read Musukuma's statement in part.
President Mwanawasa has also revoked Mwaanga's nomination as member of the MMD national executive committee subject to ratification by the party's central organ.
According to Musukuma, President Mwanawasa, in a letter to Mwaanga dated April 11, 2007, reminded Mwaanga of his instructions for him to deliver a letter to DRC President Joseph Kabila.
"I refer to my recent instructions for you to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and see President Kabila to whom I gave you a letter to deliver expressing my concern on the closure of the border between Zambia and DRC at Kasumbalesa for trucks going to collect or bring copper concentrates from that country," President Mwanawasa's letter read in part.
"Initial reports coming from that country and reported in The Post indicated that your handling of this assignment was extremely irresponsible and substantially departed from my expectations on you as my special envoy. My fears were unfortunately confirmed when I received a DVD which recorded one of the at least two press conferences that you addressed while there."
President Mwanawasa told Mwaanga that his handling of the assignment made his position in Cabinet or in any public or party office in his administration untenable.
President Mwanawasa said Mwaanga's letter to him giving an account of his trip to the DRC was discussed during a meeting at State Lodge on April 8. President Mwanawasa wished Mwaanga all the best in his future endeavours.
And PF president Michael Sata said Mwaanga had dismissed himself.
"Oh my God! VJ has been fired?" Sata asked when contacted for comment. "But VJ has fired himself because of his carelessness. Anyway, that must serve as a warning for him to be much more careful next time especially that Levy is firing him for a second time.
He must be careful and ensure that he doesn't eat with both hands next time. But I doubt if there will be a next time because this might be the end of him. Let him know that eating with both hands is not safe, he should either eat with the left hand or the right one, not both."
And Luapula PF member of parliament Peter Machungwa - who raised the point of order in Parliament about Mwaanga's statement in DRC - said it was unfortunate that Mwaanga had been fired.
"Nobody feels happy when somebody loses a job. However, the decision was inevitable. When you travel as a special envoy of the President, as chief government spokesperson and as chief whip you carry a lot of weight in terms of statements," Machungwa said.
"If you make statements in a foreign country and come and deny in your own country, what credibility is Zambia going to have internationally? VJ refused and gave a fabricated statement in Parliament. If a parliamentary chief whip can do a thing like that, where is the credibility of Parliament?"
Machungwa said President Mwanawasa's decision to dismiss Mwaanga had brought credibility to Parliament.
"We can't allow such a thing. I feel sorry for the former information minister but it was inevitable. Unfortunately, he has to go," he said.
Machungwa said there was more that needed to be known over the DRC trip.
"We shall just watch this very closely and see where it goes," he said.
And United Liberal Party president Sakwiba Sikota said President Mwanawasa had no option but to act against Mwaanga since no one could believe him as information minister and chief government spokesperson.
"President Mwanawasa had to act to restore the credibility of his government and that of the MMD," Sikota said. "To further restore the credibility of his government, it does not end with firing VJ, he (President Mwanawasa) now has to give Zambians full disclosure of the whole saga of Katumbi being owed, and who got us involved with Katumbi."
Sikota also said President Mwanawasa should tell Zambians the government's way forward on whether Katumbi would eventually appear in the Zambian courts and how they would handle diplomatic issues since Katumbi is a senior member of the Kabila government. "He has to issue an honest statement on the issue. If Katumbi is owed, corruption is a two-way process, who on the Zambian side was involved?" Sikota asked.
He said everyone in government should learn to come out with the truth no matter how unpleasant it might be. Mwaanga told journalists in the DRC that the Zambian government owed DRC Katanga Province governor Moses Katumbi US $7 million for the maize he supplied in 2001.
He later denied his statement, claiming that it was highly distorted. But video evidence confirmed what Mwaanga denied. The video further exposed Mwaanga as saying that the Zambian government did not consider Katumbi a criminal because it had nothing against him.
And according to the ZNBC news monitored this evening, Mwaanga has since accepted his dismissal.
He has also stated that he has resigned as a member of the ruling MMD national executive committee which was due to meet to endorse President Mwanawasa's decision to remove him from the committee.
Labels: DRC, VERNON MWAANGA
posted by MrK @ 11:36 PM
3 Comments:
Okay! So Vernon Johnson Never Say No to Drugs Mwaanga has been fired. What next Zambia.
Perhaps the question should be what next POST newspaper ? It would appear nothing happens unless the POST make a stand. Remember:
- ZAMTROP
- FTJ is a thief
- Ministry of Lands scandals
- Richard Sakala
- Now VJ Mwaanga
What is clear to me is that without the POST, Mr. Mwanawasa and his friends and relatives cannot on their own take action.
I would have expected the intelligence to have provided a brief to Mwanawasa long before the POST took VJ to task. Alas as usual nothing happens unless the POST take up the challenge.
One wonders if Levy just waits to read the POST daily before deciding on the next course of action daily.
Hmm.....food for thought
Any comment Mr.K
by the way keep up the good work
On that note shouldn't the two Editors of the TOZ and DM also be fired? If the two fools can't discern the difference between VJ's transcript and the the POST's then God help us! These two idiots should be sent back to manage primary school magazines. I'm sure the kids will object to that. Please cabage!!
Propst to you Mr K
JCM
Can we be told were the zambian intelligence is, or is it really true that an unqualified sister inlaw is incharge after the brother died, i have nothing against that if work is being done but it clearly is not being done, from the script the president was shown a DVD which he probably asked for from the post, is the post the new intelligence, or what?
the editors of the state papers are daily told what to print after the election saga at the daily mail, who is this person who advises them, are they going to apologise for their print too?
I feel for LPM,lets develop zambia and not just our pockets, KK may have had hes flaws but we can still learn from his intelligence guys, who never sang praises to themselves, we still dont know who they were. after xavier's demise there seems to be a power battle going on hence the problems.
Sata has changed hes approach hes hitting them were it hurts.
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