Maravi

Nakazwe's expulsion

Nakazwe's expulsion
By Editor
Sunday April 01, 2007 [04:00]

We do not think that the expulsion of Lusaka mayor Susan Nakazwe will achieve anything meaningful for the opposition Patriotic Front because it is not based on principle but expedience. The reasons advanced by the party collectively and officials individually clearly show that they have nothing to do with Nakazwe’s loyalty, or the lack of it, to PF. We think that more than anything else, Michael Sata wants to unnecessarily stamp his political power and authority on his councillors in particular and all the PF members in general.

The same can be said about Wynter Kabimba who chaired the disciplinary committee that recommended Nakazwe’s expulsion from PF. From his tone on this matter, Wynter makes it so plain that he was exasperated by Nakazwe’s decision to go to Lusaka International Airport to welcome Chinese President Hu Jintao against the party’s directive especially that he was the one that personally conveyed this position as PF chairman for local government at a meeting they held at the Civic Centre.

This was compounded by the fact that Nakazwe revealed to Wynter’s disciplinary committee that she had to go to the airport against her party’s directive because local government and housing minister Sylvia Masebo threatened to dissolve the council if the mayor and councillors did not perform their civic function.

Although it is said that the PF’s central committee expelled Nakazwe by way of ratifying the disciplinary committee’s recommendation, we know that this is Sata, Kabimba and Guy Scott’s decision going by the way they handled this matter from the start. There is no special principle that the three are protecting. In fact, for Kabimba, this even exposes his double standards.

We remember how a few years ago, as vice-president of the then Zambia Republican Party (ZRP), he strongly defended Sylvia Masebo from expulsion from ZRP for accepting a ministerial appointment in Levy Mwanawasa’s government.
Ben Mwila, as ZRP president, together with other ZRP officials argued that it was an anomaly and therefore unacceptable for Masebo as an opposition member of parliament to accept a ministerial appointment in the ruling government.

Mwila contended that if Masebo wanted to remain a ZRP member, she had to give up a ministerial job otherwise she would be expelled. And Mwila went out of his way to mobilise and do whatever he could do to get Masebo expelled from ZRP.

However, Mwila’s desire to expel Masebo from ZRP was made impossible by Kabimba, among others, who felt that there was nothing wrong for Masebo as an opposition member of parliament to serve in Levy’s Cabinet. This is what even caused the split in ZRP. We had the Mwila faction and the Masebo faction. Kabimba even went to the High Court in Masebo’s defence.

We now wonder if Kabimba really believed in this position or he was just defending Masebo as a matter of convenience, for expedience. If Kabimba saw no problem in Masebo working for Levy as an opposition member of parliament, why should it be such a big crime for Nakazwe merely to go to the airport to welcome Levy or President Hu? When we say there is no special principle being protected by those who pushed for Nakazwe’s expulsion, this is what we mean.

What all this episode brings to the fore is the serious danger currently going on in our councils, especially those dominated by the opposition and PF in particular. We recall that after the September 28 general elections, Sata declared that he was going to run the local government while Levy would run the central government. Inevitably, this declaration suggests that our councils have now become a platform for a political contest between PF and the government.

Sata is now using the PF-controlled councils as a forum in which he can express his demands and execute his political agenda. The government, on the other hand, wants to be in charge and run the councils by established law and not as Sata wishes. So the government on one hand demand that councillors should perform their civic duties while on the other hand Sata has his own definition of civic duties, which definition does not include councillors going to the airport to welcome or see off Levy.

This can go on and on. Today, it is Nakazwe and Musondamwaume who are expelled, but tomorrow, it might be Nakazwe’s successor if he or she will not succumb to Sata’s school of thought.

But who is going to suffer from all this in the long run? It is the people that these councillors and the minister were elected and appointed to serve. That is why we feel that a strong partnership between opposition-dominated councils and the government should be encouraged.

There is need for tolerance and consensus building between these two parties. The opposition should realise that in the current set up, it is not possible for them to push their agenda in these councils without the involvement of the Minister of Local Government and Housing. In fact, there is literally nothing significant that the councils can do without the minister’s blessings.

But this undue advantage should not make the minister ignore the opposition and do everything to their exclusion. Just as the opposition are expected to co-operate and partner with the government to foster development for the benefit of our people, the government should do the same.

This is not a bad thing. It is good for our democracy and it should be encouraged. The councils can only effectively and efficiently serve our people if our opposition and the government work together in the interest of the people that they proclaim to serve.

Labels: EDITORIAL, NAKAZWE, PF

posted by MrK @ 4:53 AM