Maravi

Prof Chirwa will be barred, says Teta

Prof Chirwa will be barred, says Teta
By Lambwe Kachali
Thursday January 03, 2008 [03:00]

PROFESSOR Clive Chirwa will be barred from the convention if he continues to be stubborn over the MMD presidency, party spokesperson Ben Tetamashimba has warned. And Tetamashimba has disclosed that the MMD convention will be held before 2010. Meanwhile, Tetamashimba has demanded that Prof Chirwa discloses the person who sold him an MMD party card.

Reacting to Prof Chirwa’s declaration that he would go ahead to contest the party presidency despite President Levy Mwanawasa brushing him aside, Tetamashimba said MMD was aware that Prof Chirwa was trying to bring confusion and divisions in the party.

Tetamashimba said going by the MMD constitution, Prof Chirwa was not even in the right position to declare his intentions for the party presidency.

He said President Mwanawasa was right to say that Prof Chirwa could not succeed him because the party was not short of capable leaders.

“This person has been in MMD for less than a year. I am surprised to hear him declare to contest the party presidency. Where did he get all this audacity? I am sure Prof Chirwa wants the worst from us. Yes, we do respect him by virtue of being a Zambian but he should not bring confusion in the party,” Tetamashimba said.

“If he continues to be stubborn, we will have nothing but to bar him from attending the convention. The statement from President Mwanawasa was crystal clear for someone like Prof Chirwa to understand at once. MMD is not short of people or capable leaders and at no time did MMD request the candidature of Prof Chirwa.”

Tetamashimba said President Mwanawasa’s statement that Zambia was not short of capable leaders was enough message for Prof Chirwa to understand that the entire party was not interested in him.

He said Prof Chirwa was a political armature who could not unite the party and the country the way President Mwanawasa had done.

“He has outlived in the foreign land. Imagine, even if you are desperate for quality leadership, how do you allow someone who has been out of the country for such a long time to lead you? Could you say you mean well for your party or country? No! We can’t allow such a situation to happen in MMD. If he is really a professor who understands, it’s time to take this statement final,” he said.

Tetamashimba said President Mwanawasa’s statement over his preferred candidate did not mean that he would take a simple party cadre to succeed him.
He said the party would reject President Mwanawasa’s choice if it happens that the person he (President Mwanawasa ) chooses a difficult candidate to sell to the electorate.

“I think this is one factor that has troubled Prof Chirwa. Since he feels more educated, he thinks the person President Mwanawasa will choose might not match his knowledge of understanding issues as far as development is concerned,” Tetamashimba said.

He said Prof Chirwa should not be cheated by what he called ‘wind support’ of cadres who were only interested in his money.

“We know that when he comes from UK, he brings a lot of dollars and pounds with him and it is this money in which party cadres are interested. Because as far as MMD is concerned our people do not support him neither do they know him. And so, if he says he has a lot of support from ministers and party cadres, Prof Chirwa is cheating himself. I can tell you that Prof Chirwa will be politically and financially disappointed. Let him proceed to be stubborn and we shall see who will be the loser,” Tetamashimba said.

He advised Prof Chirwa to look for an alternative political solution other than relying on MMD.

“We are actually aware that he had lunch with UPND president Hakainde Hichilema when they were discussing their political moves and development. Why can’t he just join UPND rather than bring unnecessary confusion and division in our party? Let Hakainde accommodate him in his party. There is no place for Chirwa in MMD,” he said.

And Tetamashimba said Prof Chirwa should disclose the MMD officials who sold him the party card.

“Why I am saying so is because we don’t know whether it is true that Prof Chirwa is a member of our party or not. As far as the MMD National Executive Committee (NEC) is concerned, we have not seen his card. And how do we allow someone to be confusing us when we are not aware about his membership?” Tetamashimba asked.

Meanwhile, Tetamashimba said the MMD convention would be held before 2010 to enable the party have more time to sell its candidate.

Asked if it was just a planned move of preventing Prof Chirwa because he said that some MMD officials told him that the convention would be held in December 2010 by which time he would have qualified to stand for a position in the party, Tetamashimba said Prof Chirwa was being misled by his acclaimed supporters.

“Who told him that our convention would be held in December 2010? These people feeding him with such information are merely misleading him,” said Tetamashimba.

“Our plans are already under way and that we might be having the convention any time but before 2010. We will either hold it end of this year or next year. We want to know our presidential candidate early enough so that we can have ample time to sell him or her. MMD has no time to waste, and if he (Prof Chirwa) thinks we will wait for him to attain three years in the party, that is totally a lie.”

But in August last year, finance deputy minister Jonas Shakafuswa confirmed that Prof Chirwa had joined MMD in Katuba constituency where he is an area member of parliament.

Shakafuswa described Prof Chirwa’s joining MMD as the party’s big catch.

Labels: BENNY TETAMASHIMBA, CLIVE CHIRWA

posted by MrK @ 4:20 AM