Mpezeni has become a cadre, says Panji

Mpezeni has become a cadre, says Panji
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Monday October 20, 2008 [04:00]

COLONEL Panji Kaunda has charged that Paramount chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni people has become a cadre. And Chipangali MMD member of parliament Vincent Mwale said Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata will have a headache to form Cabinet if he wins this month’s election.

During the Newsmakers Forum organised by the Press Freedom Committee (PFC) of The Post on the theme ‘2008 elections and beyond’ held at Pine View Guesthouse in Chipata on Saturday, Col Panji, who is part of the UPND provincial campaign team, said the law does not allow chiefs’ involvement in politics.

“The late president Mwanawasa said this is the government of laws, but this government has deliberately started involving chiefs in politics. But the law says don’t involve chiefs in party politics. This government passed a law that don’t ever involve chiefs in politics.

So it’s a law, you can go to jail for if you break this law. But now you see paramount chief of the Ngoni of Eastern Province chief Mpezeni now is a cadre and somebody there chief Kopa flashing an MMD symbol. That was wrong,” Col Panji said.

He said the MMD government had failed to address poverty in Zambia because it did not care for the people.

“In 1991 the old man Dr Kaunda told us that these people in MMD are thieves, they steal in the morning, they steal in the afternoon and they steal in the evening and now people have proved.

I have travelled in this province from Luangwa to Chibale in Chama valley there is utter poverty, there are no roads but we are talking of 44 years after independence. Yes, any fool can build a house, any fool can mend the road but it takes a wise man to build a good road, it takes a wise man to build a hospital, it takes a wise man to build a university,” Col Panji said.

Col Panji complained about the poor state of roads and bridges in Vubwi area where people had to pass through Malawi to get to Chipata.

Panji said the UPND would empower the civil servant once it gets into power.

But Mwale said Mpezeni was supporting MMD out of his own conviction.

“I don’t think it is right to call a chief a cadre because there was time in 2006 where he said namukonda I have liked you telling Hakainde Hichilema. He wasn’t called a cadre. I think you want people to say things that suit you and when they suit other people, it is wrong,” Mwale said.

Mwale said MMD were the majority in Parliament and that it could form a strong cabinet and leave some people in the backbench.

He said PF could face difficulties to form Cabinet because it had only 16 members of parliament and 23 had rebelled and were in support of Vice-President Banda as evidenced by the reports in the newspapers.

Eastern Province PF chairperson Solomon Mbuzi said the MMD government had no affirmative action towards education.

He said the MMD government was not doing anything towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goal on education.

“There are some areas where this government has totally failed, the Chipata/Vubwi road is impassable, we have terrible electricity problem in the country, agriculture sector has also broken down,” Mbuzi said.

Provincial AVAP coordinator Michael Mwale his organisation was concerned over a number of bad things that were occurring prior to the elections.

Mwale cited the alleged collection of particulars from voters’ cards by some political parties, biased media coverage, verbal violence and chiefs involvement in politics as some of the challenges.