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MMD doesn't deserve another chance to rule - UPND councilor

MMD doesn't deserve another chance to rule - UPND councilor
By Inonge Noyoo
Monday October 20, 2008 [04:00]

UPND councillor Kuchunga Simusamba has said the MMD does not deserve another chance to rule because it has failed to fix people's problems in its 17 years of office. And former Zambia's ambassador to France Ian Sikazwe said it would not be wise to elect an opposition party because they would not have enough members of parliament to form government, which may lead to the country holding general elections.

Speaking at a discussion organised by the Press Freedom Committee of The Post in conjunction with DFID in Mandevu on Saturday, Simusamba said it was time for change because it was clear that people did not want MMD anymore.

He said it was evident by the minority votes MMD had been getting since 2001 that people did not want them.

"In 2001 the MMD got 29 per cent of votes that means over 71 per cent of the people of Zambia that voted did not want the MMD to rule. In last elections the MMD managed 42 per cent, again that was below the majority. It is clear that the people want change," he said.

Simusamba urged the Zambians to give his party an opportunity to provide a different and more efficient way of governing the people.

He urged the electorate to scrutinise the parties that were offering themselves for the coming elections.

"If you look at the parties offering themselves, you find that they are offering us leadership which was part and parcel of the mis-governance, the misrule that the people of Zambia want to change from.

We feel as UPND we have a candidate who has never been a part and parcel of the misrule or mis-governance of this nation," he said. "Our candidate has never been part of a party that has brought us in this mess that we have, we are saying even though we are not part of the mess, we want to be part of the solution. Our party was not formed out of frustration of being denied presidency in MMD."

He said the MMD had eroded the agriculture industry and had made food production expensive.

Simusamba said his party, if voted into power, would not only restore the agriculture industry by focusing on scaling up production but would also offer free education up to university level.

And Simusamba said UPND's political enemies will not succeed in using the tribalism tag against it.

"Tribalism does not exist in UPND. HH is being punished for remarks that were issues by Syacheye Madyenkuku and Ng'ande Mwananjiti and both have since left the party...It seems some people just have a problem with Tongas leading parties because when you look at some of these other parties, you will discover that they are predominantly from one province but no one is calling them tribal," he said.

And Sikazwe who was representing MMD said people should be cautious with the change they were advocating because electing a minority government may lead to a series of elections.

He said the MMD had done well in all the sectors of the economy and had set a good foundation for the economic development of Zambia.

Sikazwe said MMD had strong and good policies, which should be continued.

"The MMD government has done well in terms of reducing corruption, reviving the mining industry, improving the health sector which has resulted in a reduced number of patients being flown out of the country and it has clearly demonstrated that it is able to run affairs of the country up to 2011.

I believe the MMD has best policies and I would like to appeal to the voters to allow government to continue with its good policies," he said.

And Sikazwe was taken to task by the audience to explain why ballot papers were being found in the wrong places, thereby creating anxiety and suspicion in the people.

Sikazwe said he did not think that it was technically possible for the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to rig elections.

"I am not defending ECZ, I just hope that they will be able to account for themselves being an organisation which is headed by a very able Supreme Court judge. I feel ECZ needs to take its security officers to task because all this we hear about the ballot papers is very unusual.

You as the people have a right to ask them to be accountable because an election is a very sensitive issue," said Sikazwe.

Labels: KUCHUNGA SIMUSAMBA, MMD, UPND

posted by MrK @ 2:36 PM