Maravi

Sata delivers letters on 'contentious issues' to Levy

Sata delivers letters on 'contentious issues' to Levy
By Mutuna Chanda
Friday June 20, 2008 [04:00]

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) leader Michael Sata yesterday delivered three letters to President Levy Mwanawasa on what he termed contentious issues that the two leaders need to address. Sata arrived at State House around 11:35 hours to deliver the letters on mining taxes, the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) and what he put as home affairs minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha's abuse of office.

"What I have done on writing to President Mwanawasa is what we had agreed in our reconciliation. Our agreement was anything that we had to talk about, I could put it in writing to allow him to study it and then we deliberate on it," Sata said. "I have written to him one letter on mining taxation, one on NCC and the abuse of office of Ronnie Shikapwasha who is deporting people as he feels like without following the law."

When asked to disclose the full contents of the letters, Sata refused to do so saying that would be against the spirit of reconciliation between him and President Mwanawasa.

"Disclosing what is in the letters is contrary to the spirit of reconciliation," Sata said. "If I am going to go public at this stage then there will be no need for me to write to him."

But when reminded that the public would be interested in knowing what was in the letters, Sata insisted that time for the people to know the details of what he had raised with President Mwanawasa in the letters had not come.

"The public will know when we deliberate on the issues that I have raised," Sata said. "All the public must know for now is that our reconciliation is working to the letter."

He said he delivered the letters to the President's senior private secretary on duty.

"This is the beginning of what we promised the people that we will meet to discuss contentious issues instead of quarrelling in the press," Sata said. "If we agree or disagree, we will disclose that to the public."

And Sata charged that UPND president Hakainde Hichilema had become totally irrelevant to Zambian politics. He said Hichilema had chosen to attack him to save himself from extinction. He said had Hichilema not become irrelevant to Zambian politics, he would not have been begging United Liberal Party (ULP) president Sakwiba Sikota to rejoin UPND.

"Hakainde has no right to talk about national politics because he has no councillor anywhere else in Zambia apart from Southern Province. He only has 22 MPs in Southern Province. So he is a provincial president and not a national president," said Sata. "Now he is saying Sakwiba should rejoin UPND. What has changed? Has Sakwiba now changed from being Lozi to Tonga?

Because when he was campaigning to succeed Anderson Mazoka late UPND leader there was talk that no one could succeed Mazoka except a Tonga. That is why when people heard that this boy Hakainde had taken over from Mazoka, they deserted him. Mazoka had 49 MPs, from North-Western, Western, Southern, Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces. He was a national leader. But Hakainde only has 22 MPs only from Southern Province."

Sata suggested that Hichilema should instead join ULP.
He said Sikota had more of a party in ULP than Hichilema in UPND who only had members of parliament in Southern Province.

Sata further reiterated his mockery of Hichilema as being a political underweight owing to what he termed as lack of background in politics. He said this in reference to Hichilema's assertions that PF had reconciled with its former party MMD.

Sata, however, charged that even UPND came from MMD after the late Mazoka resigned from the Lusaka Central Constituency secretary position on grounds that his ambition to rise quickly through the party ranks was blocked.

Labels: NCC, PF, SATA

posted by MrK @ 4:19 AM