Maravi

Muntanga mocks govt

Muntanga mocks govt
By Mwala Kalaluka
Sunday February 03, 2008 [03:00]

KALOMO UPND member of parliament Request Muntanga on Wednesday indirectly criticised government by ‘praising’ it over its failure to deliver on development programmes last year. Contributing to the debate on the 2008 Budget, Muntanga kept on ‘praising’ and ‘congratulating’ the government for failing to deliver on its development pledges and projects in 2007.

Muntanga said he wanted to ‘praise’ the government over its shortcomings last year because he had realised that the executive enjoyed being praised even for doing nothing at all. “We had K7 billion to do the Kalomo-Kabanga road last year,” he said.

“But we want to tell you that that road was not rehabilitated and the road is impassable, very good and well done.”

He complained that despite money being allocated by the European Union (EU) towards the rehabilitation of the Bottom Road, the progress of rehabilitation was unimpressive.

Muntanga went on to ‘congratulate’ the government for continuously reminding people of the poor state of the Bottom Road and for talking about it.

He said the government’s unimpressive performance in the delivery of development in certain parts of the country was welcome because it would allow the opposition to use this as an electoral campaign strategy.

“Well done for subjecting us to suffering while others are doing very well,” Muntanga said.

When some parliamentarians from both the opposition and the government side questioned his mode of debate, Muntanga said: “If I do not praise them, they get angry.”

Tourism minister Michael Kaingu asked Lungu to rule whether Muntanga was in order to debate the way he was doing despite being advised by the chair.

But Lungu said since Muntanga had insisted on his style of debate, he would allow him to continue. Muntanga then focused his debate on the tourism sector and said Kaingu should be happy that funding to his ministry had been reduced in the 2008 Budget.

“This government, Mr Speaker, we want to remind them that as they do very well, they must tackle the problems,” said Muntanga.

Mulobezi MMD member of parliament Michael Mabenga stood on a point of order to ask if Muntanga was in order to indirectly attack the government when he should be talking about the good things happening in his constituency.

Lungu, however, said any member of parliament from the ruling party was free to rebut Muntanga’s assertions.

Labels: REQUEST MUNTANGA, UPND

posted by MrK @ 2:47 PM