Maravi

Levy is a wrong person to ask for respect - Saki

Levy is a wrong person to ask for respect - Saki
By Bivan Saluseki
Sunday October 28, 2007 [03:00]

UNITED Liberal Party (ULP) president Sakwiba Sikota yesterday said President Levy Mwanawasa is a wrong person to ask for respect. Commenting on President Mwanawasa's statement during a swearing-in ceremony for deputy ministers and permanent secretaries on Friday that he deserved respect, Sikota said. The President should have let others talk about him deserving respect.

"The person making the statement is a wrong person. He should have let others talk about it," he said.

Sikota said commenting on oneself did not look good. "It always takes away from yourself," he said.

Sikota said it was true that a president of a country deserved respect but that the presidency placed a responsibility on the holder of the office to respect other people too.

"It's a two way thing. The person in the office has a responsibility to ensure that the respect is maintained. It is something where one fits into the other," he said.

President Mwanawasa said he should be respected and obeyed but not feared by law-abiding citizens.

"I am very pleased to receive you and take oath in your various positions. Now you have taken oath... I heard you say I swear to the President. You did not say I swear to President Mwanawasa. So your loyalty, sincerity and goodwill is going to the President of Zambia as an institution," he said.

President Mwanawsasa said citizens and civil servants had no choice but to respect the institution of the presidency because it was enshrined in the Constitution.

"It does not matter what your feelings are about the person who holds that position, but what matters is that this is an institution which exists according to the Constitution and therefore you must respect it," President Mwanawasa said. "When somebody is elected to that office, he is clothed with trumpets of the President of Zambia and therefore he deserves respect and obedience."

He asked Zambians to read the Bible scripture Roman 13:1-7 that underscored that leaders were agents of the Lord.

Labels: MWANAWASA, SAKWIBA SIKOTA, ULP

posted by MrK @ 5:40 AM