Thursday, February 28, 2008

LETTERS - Ministers, Cadres, Zesco

Parallel ministers
By MM
Thursday February 28, 2008 [03:00]

I wish to respond to comments opposing the decision by President Mwanawasa to appoint two parallel ministers for agriculture. This also happened in Uganda in 1978 when Idi Amin Dada was leader. When ministers failed to produce results, he sent them on leave allowing for deputies to take over.

The deputies actually did very well during that period prompting Amin to extend the leave of his ministers with the message, ‘Now that your deputies are doing extremely well in your positions, I have decided to indefinitely extend your leave during which you will receive your full salaries.’

The results were there for everyone to see! We, therefore, have precedence to recent appointments back home.


http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=38269

Political violence
By Kaunda Wisdom
Thursday February 28, 2008 [03:00]

The harassment of Post journalists by some UNIP officials clearly shows the calibre of politicians in our country.

A few weeks ago, we witnessed violence in the Kanyama by-elections. Politicians should know that the interest of the people must be given priority.

It is not surprising that most MPs do not visit their constituencies after being elected.

Politics entails having the heart to serve the people and not the thuggery and trickery we are seeing in our country. Most politicians lack dignity and are not ashamed of their conduct.

Dignity is like virginity; once lost it cannot be restored. We need people of integrity to run political parties in order to have quality leadership in our country.



http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=38271

Levy's pronouncements
By Sunday Chanda
Thursday February 28, 2008 [03:00]

I am concerned at the recent pronouncements and actions by President Mwanawasa. Not very long ago, he told the Kanyama electorate not to vote for Sata because that would be serious embarassment to the nation.

He however got it all wrong because the people of Kanyama and indeed Zambia understand that the MMD government is determined to stop Sata from contesting the 2011 elections, whether through the unpopular NCC or indeed Mwanawasa's open statements in public.

The recent days have also proven that President Mwanawasa is very inconsistent and seems to open his mouth and puts his foot in it. He fired Sikatana on grounds of ill health and now has appointed two agriculture ministers because he does not want to offend his friend, Ben Kapita. This President is embarrassing himself and his government and what is most unfortunate is his seemingly short memory.

The University of Zambia has been given a raw deal when the NCC has been allocated over K300 billion to rubber-stamp Mwanawasa's "ideal constitution".

The stakeholders such as the church, civil society and Patriotic Front who have stayed away from the NCC would then be justified because this is at great expense to the key sectors in the nation. It is likely that the UNZA's next academic calendar will be disturbed because this government does not value education.

The students and indeed the Zambian people will not sit and watch UNZA management increase student fees when this government could have done better. 80 per cent of our people are poor and the majority of these students are counting on the government providing bursaries for them because their families cannot afford to meet the costs that go with tertiary education in this country.

It is therefore illogical and irresponsible for this government to allocate K74 billion to the University of Zambia and more than K300 billion to the talk show called NCC.

President Mwanawasa and his MMD government have continued to embarrass the people of Zambia and must not be given the vote in 2011. Let President Mwanawasa show responsibility and ensure that the UNZA crisis is handled before the next academic calandar.



http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=38270

Zesco power systems
By Muyoyeta Simasiku
Thursday February 28, 2008 [03:00]

It is embarrassing that we as a country can’t seem to manage any area of our lives effectively. From politics and the economy to social services such as water, housing, transport, electricity, and so on – everything appears to be in chaos.

The nationwide power outages the country is experiencing are outrageous and unacceptable. It’s high time we regarded power as a necessity.

Whatever the problems at Zesco – whether machinery or management, or both - the continued power cuts cannot be justified.

How did we fail to foresee the extra demand for power even as we privatised mines and the economy’s expansion? This is poor planning on the part of those responsible.

Nonetheless, it’s strange to learn that a company as big as Zesco doesn’t have backup systems for its power production. It is actually scary!

What would happen if we were at war with an enemy country (God forbid) and Zesco power systems were sabotaged? It appears the whole country would grind to a halt. Just how can such a strategic company fail to have backup systems which they can revert to in an event of production systems failing so as to prevent a nationwide power failure?

Furthermore, how can Zesco carry out maintenance work on all their production machines simultaneously? I think any maintenance work on production systems must be carried out at night so that power is disconnected from residential areas only.

Why should we accept to have daily power cuts in Zambia? We have a small population and we are not even a heavily industrialised nation. Not very long ago, we took pride in ourselves as a country with such a fairly stable power production system and I was told we even exported power to neighbouring nations. So what has happened over time?

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