No one can bruise me - Prof chirwa

No one can bruise me - Prof chirwa
By Chibaula Silwamba in Livingstone
Sunday November 25, 2007 [03:00]

No one can afford to politically bruise me because I am as clean as a whistle, MMD presidential aspirant Professor Clive Chirwa said yesterday. And Prof Chirwa accused Lusaka Province minister Lameck Mangani of practicing tribalism.

Reacting to Mangani’s statement that people in Eastern Province where Prof Chirwa hails from do not know him and that he would be bruised if he dares to contest the presidency without consulting, Prof Chirwa said he was not afraid to be politically bruised because being bruised is part of politics. However, Prof Chirwa said his critics should bruise him on policies and not personality.

“I think being bruised is part of politics but I will never go into discussions which are not really concerning policies. I want to concentrate on policies, not on personal issues. That will be my way of convincing the people of Zambia that I am here to give them an alternative which is the future and move them out of poverty,” said Prof Chirwa in an interview.

When reminded that Zambian politics were reduced to personal attacks among opponents and on whether he was ready for such attacks, Prof Chirwa responded: “I am not interested in bruising; if somebody wants to bruise me let them bruise me on policies. Personality, in any particular circumstances, does not work because I am as clean as a whistle. If somebody wants to come to me and say ‘oh this is what you have done wrong’, yes I will be glad indeed and I will rectify that mistake.”

Prof Chirwa said he was interested in somebody who would challenge him that his policy ideas and vision were wrong.

“I am for something which we can move forward and move this country out of poverty. Look at people who are sleeping in small compounds and have got completely life which is not conducive for human beings to live in. They have got toilets and drinking water close to each other and that is not acceptable. Garden Compound in Lusaka , very near to all the people who are in power, what are we doing about it?” Prof Chirwa asked. “These are the issues I want to deal with. I will go to the grassroots level and talk about this and try to get everything that is required to move this thing forward.”

Prof Chirwa said Mangani’s statement was tribal.

“If your name comes from Western Province and you did not live in Western Province, you lived all your life in Lusaka, why should people not know you in Lusaka and people should know you in Western Province? This is Zambia. It’s not a tribal thing, we should move away from tribalism,” Prof Chirwa advised. “These are people who are deteriorating our development. Tribalism is not acceptable. You can’t say people don’t know you in Chipata. People know me in Zambia and that is what is important.”
Prof Chirwa said he was born and grew up in Mufulira and people knew him there.
“Therefore, Chipata to me is where my parents came from and I will be trying my level means to go and let the people know me there but people know me in Mufulira, on the Copperbelt where I grew up,” Prof Chirwa said.

When asked if President Mwanawasa had endorsed his MMD candidature, Prof Chirwa said he met the President but he did not tell him about his intention to contest the MMD presidency.

“Yes, I have had a chance to meet President Mwanawasa in September this year; I met him in his office at State House. He gave me nearly three hours of his time. We had different discussions concerning the way the government is being run, the policies the government is taking and how we can move ourselves from where we are. We discussed the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) and I aired my questions in certain areas which of course he answered very well in those particular discussions which we had,” Prof Chirwa explained. “Then from there, what we did was that I told him, I said ‘I m returning home in 2009 and I will be joining the MMD to actually try and spearhead the nation forward’. His repose was, ‘yeah come back.’”

Prof Chirwa said since then he had not met President Mwanawasa again.

“I have tried to meet him since then but we haven’t had a discussion concerning that I should be adopted as a person who will take over MMD because I believe in democracy. Therefore I’m not gonna go looking for favours from somebody,” he said. “If the party has got the means of one man or one lady one vote, I would like that to be taken into consideration and people will vote for a person whom they feel will take this country forward and take the party to another step forward.”

However, Prof Chirwa declined to disclose the names of MMD leaders he had met with that advised him to contest the party presidency.

“I have spoken to a number of people in the MMD who feel that yes we need somebody to come and make this party work because of the internal divisions and I am a person from outside. I haven’t participated in internal politics and therefore I am coming with a fresh mind which gonna make this party become a unity,” Prof Chirwa said. “Perhaps mentioning their names is not conducive because it will put them on the pedestal but what I have spoken to a number of people in the MMD and outside the MMD concerning me running for MMD presidency.”

Prof Chirwa said he wanted to eradicate the tag attached to the MMD that it was corrupt.

“Many of the people in the party are not corrupt at all. People are working hard in order to achieve what they want but a few bad eggs within the party are actually spoiling the name of the party,” said Prof Chirwa. “I want to make sure that this party moves to where people are expecting it and give good policies that will make this country move forward.”