Maravi

Vote for another party if we fail - Mwanawasa

Vote for another party if we fail - Mwanawasa
By Chibaula Silwamba and Christopher Miti in Petauke
Sunday May 27, 2007 [04:00]

PLEASE vote for another political party if we fail to deliver within ten years, President Levy Mwanawasa said yesterday. And Patriotic Front (PF) vice-president Dr Guy Scott said PF members were rude because they wanted change in the country. Addressing a handful of MMD supporters and Petauke High School pupils that welcomed him at Petauke Boarding High School football ground, President Mwanawasa said he did not need 45 years to deliver development but 10 years.

" If I disappoint you within these 10 years and I don't deliver the goods the way you want it, please vote for another party," said President Mwanawasa, who is in the area to campaign for MMD Kapoche parliamentary candidate Professor Fashion Phiri. "Don't listen to lies which the opposition are making that they will make your lives much better under their government. They were in government for so many years. Why didn't they do what they are telling you now? Now that they are in their 70s, that is when they are asking you to support them."

He said during his second term in office, the people would not see him addressing political meetings often but would only see his development achievements. "You will see me when I come to officiate one development or the other. You will not see me come and insult my colleagues because I know that you know that they are useless," he said.

President Mwanawasa said he did not care about people that insulted and called him names over certain decisions he made in the interest of the country.

"What I care about is the interest of this country. I will do and say what is good," he said. "Sometimes I wished if it was possible to take away all the 10.5 million Zambian people to make them visit other countries to see how their colleagues live. They will see how much my government is working to improve their situation. When I meet the foreigners or Zambians that have been abroad they come to me, they marvel at the amount of development and achievements that we have made in the past six years."

He said Zambia's development was down on its knees and his government had made great improvements.

"That sort of under development does not take one day or few months to repair. We must continue working at it before we can see tangible results," President Mwanawasa said. "Even when we reach where we think of reaching, it doesn't mean we should relax; it means we must continue working harder so that our country remains a developed country."

He said he was passionate about Zambians and wanted to make them prosper and improve their livelihood.

President Mwanawasa also assured that the government would repair the infrastructure that was damaged by floods and provide drugs to combat animal diseases such as east coast fever in Eastern Province.

Before addressing the rally, President Mwanawasa complained that the pupils did not respond to his party slogan and flash the MMD symbol.

"Ba minister apa sibana yankhe (provincial minister Lameck Mangani, here they did not respond)," said President Mwanawasa while pointing at a crowd of pupils.
A pupil, spoken to earlier, said their teachers ordered them to wear uniforms so that they could welcome President Mwanawasa.

And addressing a rally at Kasusu Basic school in Kapoche, Dr Scott said the MMD had gone to sleep.

"It has done nothing here that is why there is no development," said Dr Scott, who was drumming up support for PF candidate Mike Tembo in the forth-coming by-election set for June 5.

He bemoaned the low prices of maize in the area, which costs about K350 per kilogramme. Dr Scott said it was sad that the area was 'invaded' by briefcase buyers who had no money to buy maize in Lusaka.

Labels: MMD, MWANAWASA

posted by MrK @ 11:32 AM