Maravi

Dr Sacika vows to vote for Sata

Dr Sacika vows to vote for Sata
Written by Chibaula Silwamba and Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 3:36:33 PM
FORMER secretary to the cabinet Dr Sketchley Sacika yesterday said he will vote for opposition Patriotic Front (PF) presidential candidate Michael Sata in tomorrow's elections because he is the only candidate who is in tune with people's aspirations.

And losing MMD presidential candidate for 2006 Mwaba Mushota announced his defection to the PF.

Sacika, who is also former chairperson of the Edith Nawakwi-led Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD), said Zambia needed a leader like Sata who would put an end to inefficiencies of government institutions.

"On Thursday this week, I will cast my vote for Michael Sata because out of all the aspiring candidates, he is the only one who has the ability to provide the sort of leadership our country needs. It does not matter to me whether he wins or not. But I will have satisfied myself that I voted for the right candidate," Dr Sacika said.

He said Zambia needed a leader who would dismantle the edifice of political corruption and patronage that the MMD had so carefully constructed during the years it had been in power.

"It [Zambia] needs a leader who will do away with politics of benefits. Moreover, it needs a leader who is in tune with the aspirations of the people," Dr Sacika said.

He observed that as a political party, the MMD had become arrogant and self serving.

"Zambians cannot afford to have such a political party at the helm of their national affairs any more," he said.

Dr Sacika said Zambians owed nobody a living hence the MMD's politics of benefits were not what the people wanted.

"The people of Zambia want a government which will serve them. Is it not a paradox that 44 years after independence, Zambians are still poor in a country which is so richly endowed with natural resources?" asked Sacika. "It should not be business as usual after the presidential by-election. Zambia needs to turn a new leaf."

And in an interview at The Post, Mushota said the recent national wide robust support for Sata was divine driven.

"We are leaving the party (MMD) that has completely failed itself and the people that supported it," Mushota said. "The people that supported MMD like myself have been humiliated, frustrated and embarrassed by so many of the things that were not envisaged when we first campaigned for democratic dispensation and introduction of multipartism in 1991...that character we had is not there and that is why I have decided to quit."

Mwaba, who defended the timing of his defections to the opposition, saying now was the best time to join PF, said said there was need to allow the will of the people to prevail after tomorrow's presidential elections.

"The best support anyone can give the party in my opinion is spiritual support and that means you pray that the correct thing be done...there should be no violence, bloodshed, intimidation, cohesion and as it is being said, no rigging of elections so that people should be able to accept the results of the people," Mushota said.

"The voice of the people is the voice of the people. So, when the people decide, it is not right to intimidate them or to thwart their decisions they decide to do so because God has spoken through them and their voices is the voice of God."

Mwaba said Sata had demonstrated his ability to appreciate the problems of the poor and the downtrodden.

Labels: DR. SKETCHLEY SACIKA, SATA

posted by MrK @ 3:37 PM