Maravi

Sata is an opportunist vulture, charges HH

Sata is an opportunist vulture, charges HH
By Chibaula Silwamba
Friday July 18, 2008 [04:00]

UPND president Hakainde Hichilema yesterday described Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata as an opportunist vulture following his proposal that President Mwanawasa be subjected to a medical board examination to ascertain his fitness as Republican President. And Hichilema said Cabinet had to some extent failed to run the country, leading to a perception that there was a crisis.

Addressing a media briefing at the UPND secretariat in Lusaka's Rhodes Park area, Hichilema expressed surprise that Sata, who recently reconciled with President Levy Mwanawasa, was in a hurry to have the latter declared unfit to rule the country.

"Only recently, the leader of Patriotic Front Michael Sata called on Cabinet to ask the Chief Justice to constitute a medical board to be flown into Paris to go and enquire into the condition of President Mwanawasa," Hichilema said. "It is our considered view that this call has come too early, is untimely and rather insensitive."

He observed that this was not the first time Sata had called for President Mwanawasa to be subjected to a medical board after a short period of illness.

He said Sata did that just before the 2006 elections when President Mwanawasa was admitted to a hospital in London and had continuously called for a presidential by-election after the elections in the same year.

"As UPND, we feel that for a man who is supposed to have just reconciled with President Mwanawasa, Sata should have waited for a while in order to observe the progress President Mwanawasa makes in hospital.

Why is the newly-crowned friend to the President in a hurry to have President Mwanawasa declared unfit to rule the country?" Hichilema asked. "It is true that every country has its stock of individuals with negative opportunism, those who act like vultures, waiting to consume anything that appears to be ailing even when it may be poisonous."

Hichilema said Zambians were aware of the constitutional requirements for setting up a medical board and the UPND's understanding was that the board constituted under Article 36(1) of the Constitution was not for patients who were still receiving treatment in hospital but for those reasonably suspected to be incapable of ruling after receiving treatment beyond a reasonable time.

"It is our considered view that those who are in a hurry to invoke the provisions of Articles 36 of the Constitution should hold their fire and wait for a reasonable period of time to allow the treatment to have its full course," he said. "The nation will need to be satisfied that the treatment has failed after which the relevant constitutional provisions shall be rightly and genuinely invoked."

Hichilema called on all Zambians to remain calm, prayerful but continue to meet the challenges facing the country.

However, Hichilema said Cabinet should provide some kind of leadership and resolve the various serious problems in the absence of President Mwanawasa.

"Anyone who has been observing what has been going on in the country can agree with us that Cabinet has to some extent failed to provide leadership and, therefore, deepening the preserved crisis," Hichilema said.

He condemned the government for posting the updates on President Mwanawasa's condition on the State House web site.

"Many Zambians have no access to website and TV," he said.
Hichilema also expressed concerned over the looming shortage of fuel in the country and urged the government to resolve the problem.
He also said the proposed increase in electricity tariffs by Zesco against declining service delivery was unacceptable.

Hichilema said the continued power blackouts endangered the country's security and advised Zesco to urgently address the problems.
He further urged government to recapitalise Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) and that all former and current employees of that company should be paid their long delayed salaries.
"NCZ is at the centre of agriculture," he said.

Hichilema observed that the current food price hikes were partly because of government's irresponsible decision to reduce support to small-scale farmers.

Hichilema condemned the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) for purchasing Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) maize worth over K20 billion against presidential directive.

"This money was lost against the backdrop of better alternative use in the face of rising poverty in the nation," said Hichilema.

Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, SATA

posted by MrK @ 6:37 AM