Maravi

I'm lucky to be alive - Nawakwi

I'm lucky to be alive - Nawakwi
By Chibaula Silwamba
Friday May 25, 2007 [04:00]

I was almost burnt for saying Chiluba is a thief, opposition Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) president Edith Nawakwi has revealed. Commenting on the London High Court judgment on former president Frederick Chiluba, Nawakwi said when she alleged that Chiluba was a thief during a rally in Chawama, the government put up a manhunt for her.

“I was almost burnt alive in Kabwe in 2001. I would have been dead by now, I’m lucky that I’m still alive,” Nawakwi said. “I was charged with defamation of the president together with Dipak Patel, Bivan Saluseki (Post journalist) and your editor Mr Fred M’membe and we were taken to court but the government later withdrew the case.”

Asked if the London High Court judgment had vindicated her, Nawakwi responded, “Vindictiveness is not the answer. It’s not about Nawakwi being happy…it’s not personal; we are now talking about strengthening institutions to provide checks and balances on the presidency.

“I can’t comment on a story I was accused of defaming the president. The judge and the public have commented so now it’s a public issue.”

Nawakwi said there were so much powers vested in the presidency.
She said the saddening thing was that even President Levy Mwanawasa had admitted that there were still high levels of corruption.

“We have to find ways of how we will resolve this problem in future,” she said. “We need the Office of the Auditor General to work independently and to be given powers to prosecute and the ACC (Anti-Corruption Commission) should also work independently. There is a lot of work to be done.”

She said it was not a matter of one person monitoring the abuse of public resources but putting in place institutional mechanisms to curb the abuses.

Nawakwi said there was no guarantee that if the president was good he or she would ensure that public resources were not abused.

“It’s not a matter of one person but creating institutions that will ensure checks and balances,” Nawakwi said.

And Nawakwi said each political party was free to contest the Kapoche by-election because Zambia was a democracy.

Nawakwi said she was grateful to the UPND and some UNIP members for supporting FDD candidate, Charles Banda.

Commenting on UNIP’s decision to field its own candidate contrary to the UDA agreement that they field a single candidate, Nawakwi said Zambia was a democratic state and political parties were free to contest elections.

“We are in a democracy, Zambia has been democratic since 1991 and each political party can go into elections to get a share of votes. As I said in the past, UDA was for the purpose of the 2006 elections. I have no other comments, if you want further comments contact the UNIP president Tilyenji Kaunda who is former chairman of the UDA,” Nawakwi said. “We are grateful to UPND and some UNIP members that they have found it fit to support our candidate.”

Nawakwi, who is scheduled to travel to Kapoche to campaign for Charles Banda, said Kapoche was a traditional seat for Banda.

“We hope people of Kapoche will favour us with votes in Kapoche,” Nawakwi said.
Nawakwi also said the FDD’s deputy national treasurer Colonel Yotam Ngulube passed away and would be buried today in Chipata.

“We have lost a very dedicated member of the party,” said Nawakwi.

Labels: CHILUBA, EDITH NAWAKWI

posted by MrK @ 5:21 AM