Sata makes a very good minister but I don’t think he can do the work o

Sata makes a very good minister but I don’t think he can do the work
By Masuzyo Chakwe and Jack Zimba
Sunday October 05, 2008 [04:01]

MICHAEL Sata makes a very good minister but I don't think he can do the work of a president, Dr Kenneth Kaunda observed yesterday. And Vice-President Rupiah Banda said he was Acting president today because Dr Kaunda taught him how to be a humble leader. During the handover ceremony of his house and a 4 X 4 Toyota Land Cruiser at State Lodge, Dr Kaunda said Patriotic Front (PF) leader Sata was a man in his own class.

"So please I have said before Sata, I had him as a governor, he makes a very good minister but I don't think he can do the work of a president. I have no hatred for Sata as I have said to former president Frederick Chiluba. If Zambians elect him then it is their own fault not mine. Zambians are free to elect whoever they want but I am just telling them what I think about the situation today," he said.

Recently, Dr Kaunda's initiated electoral pact negotiations between Sata and UPND's Hakainde Hichilema collapsed after the PF leader walked out of the talks.
Sata and Hichilema met at Dr Kaunda's Kabulonga residence for about one and half hours to discuss the possibility of forming an electoral pact, among other issues but Sata walked out in protest as the two parties could not agree on who would withdraw from the race since they had both filed in their nominations.
And Dr Kaunda hoped that the campaigns for the forthcoming elections would go on smoothly and peacefully.

He also prayed that politicians stop shouting at each other.
"And I pray Acting President that you will continue leading as you have been leading. Do not respond to insults or this and that, don't worry about Sata, he is a man in his own class," he said.

Dr Kaunda also said he was grateful for the occasion and as Vice-President Banda was talking about the late president Levy Mwanawasa, tears rolled down his face.
He said Chiluba, who took over from him, treated him badly but he had nothing against him.

"I handed over to him personally at State House peacefully. I said president-elect Zambians have given you a terrible difficult job. But I am ready, I am a patriot and Pan-Africanist and I am ready to support you," he said.
Dr Kaunda said he left Lusaka for 10 days and that while away, he received a message from Chiluba asking him to vacate the house.

"Yesterday when I was driving from my office and going to my house in Lusaka, government house, I found Dr Chiluba walking with his security officers, I stopped my driver, I got out of the house and greeted him. I shook his hands. I said I don't hate him yet the man gave me terrible treatment. Who am I, who am I to hold anything against anybody?" he said.

Dr Kaunda, who said under UNIP they helped to liberate other African countries, wondered how he could hold a grudge against Chiluba.

Dr Kaunda, who said late president Mwanwasa was a great man, thanked everybody involved in the construction of his house because for the first time in years, he would sleep in a particular house as decided by the Zambian people.
And Vice-President Banda said the handover ceremony was the most enjoyable occasion where children were honouring their parents with a home.
Vice President Banda said Dr Kaunda made sure every Zambians were proud of each other and were united in diversity.

He said Dr Kaunda made sure the country became an ideal place for anyone including foreigners who wanted to live in Zambia as long as they were law-abiding citizens.
Vice-President Banda remembered the programme I came to stay, which everybody used to watch, which came about because of Dr Kaunda.

"I remember myself on the particular day when the programme came on television, everybody stopped what they were doing to watch the programme. Dr Kaunda or some of us, it is very difficult to explain because as you know some of us are a direct creation of Dr Kaunda. I am the Acting President today because he taught me how to be a leader, to be humble, to be grateful to be loving," he said.

Vice-President Banda said he was supposed to be in Southern Province campaigning but he told works and supply minister Kapembwa Simbao that he should have the opportunity of handing over the house to the family of Dr Kaunda.
He said it was a joyous occasion when Zambians were paying back to their first Republican president.

Vice-President Banda said it was sad that the late president was not alive to witness the occasion especially that he often said that the project needed to be completed for Dr Kaunda to be housed in a decent manner.

Earlier, Simbao said the Ministry of Works and Supply for the past four years endeavoured to come up with this structure and apologised to the Zambian people and especially Dr Kaunda and his wife for the delay in the completion of the project.
Simbao said the entire project was constructed on 40 hectares of land which includes the main house with six bedrooms all furnished of which four are self contained, laundry building and equipment, three two-bedroom houses for support staff, electrical fencing and a guard house, borehole and water tanks, paved driveway and soft landscaping, security cameras and palisade fence.

Simbao said designs for this project were prepared by the building department and were approved by Dr Kaunda after which the documents were sent to the Tender Board for tender purposes.

He said the contract for construction was awarded to Messrs Met-Weld Fabrication Limited of Lusaka at the contract sum of K4,787,951,335 Vat inclusive.

"The commencement date was July 19, 2004 with an expected completion date of March 4, 2005. The original completion date could not be achieved as agreed in the contract due to erratic and inadequate funding towards the project from 2004 that continued up to 2006. Funding towards the project improved from 2007 to date," he said.

Simbao said the cost of the contract over the years due to fluctuations and changes in specifications and design increased the contract sum to over K7 billion.
He said the house was now ready for beneficial occupancy though certain external works were still outstanding and would be completed in the shortest possible time to ensure that the residence was full user-friendly.