Maravi

Mealie-meal protests will go on as planned – Sata

Mealie-meal protests will go on as planned – Sata
Written by Katwishi Bwalya and Lambwe Kachali
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 12:06:55 AM

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) president Michael Sata yesterday vowed that their countrywide peaceful demonstrations against high mealie-meal prices will proceed as planned because they are not ready to succumb to anyone or any force. And PF spokesperson Given Lubinda said defence minister George Mpombo should be put in seclusion because he is a danger to democracy.

Reacting to Mpombo's statement that the government would face head on with full force against anyone planning to demonstrate over high mealie-meal prices in the country, Sata said when enough was enough PF would demonstrate countrywide and no one would stop them.

"When we see that enough is enough, we don't need a police permit or permission from George Mpombo. We don't need permission from Rupiah Banda, we don't need permission from Kalombo Mwansa, we don't need permission from [army commander Isaac] Mr Chisuzi; we will give instructions to the whole country for peaceful demonstrations," Sata said.

He said despite an efficient and well-trained army in the country, it has failed to conquer rats in hospitals.

"Can Mr Mpombo tell me how that efficient and well-trained army has failed to conquer rats in hospitals which are eating lips and noses of children?” Sata asked. “Rats are moving at will eating lips and noses of our children and we have a well efficient army with 43 contract officers who are preventing junior officers at the bottom to rise [in ranks]. Some of them are in their forth and fifth contracts, those are probably the ones who are advising George Mpombo. They have failed to conquer rats which are not armed, defenceless rats moving at will. Because if today we decided to demonstrate, there is nothing George Mpombo could do to us. Those are empty threats. We have the capacity which MMD hasn't got."

Sata said defence forces were created by taxpayers' money to protect the country from external and internal oppression and not to be used as tools of repression against innocent citizens. He said the PF did not want to take its popularity for granted.

"We don't want to take our popularity for granted because we don't want bloodshed. We know we are dealing with trigger-happy and blood-thirsty leaders. I wouldn't want to see bloodshed from the Zambian people; I would like to preserve every drop of blood from the Zambian. MMD want to divert people's problems into seeing bloodshed," he said.

Sata charged that the MMD government had no mandate to misrule Zambians.

"Because they have no mandate, they should not provoke us and we are not going to succumb to threats," Sata said.

He said PF would give enough time to the government so that they could tell the nation how they were going to provide food to all Zambians.

"Mpombo is lying to say the cost of food is a worldwide issue. Did we import that Maize to be affected by world food prices? If Mpombo is reasonable enough, can he tell his President to dissolve the NCC [National Constitutional Conference] because this government will save K400 billion," Sata said. "NCC now wants to sit up to 2010 so that they must produce a constitution before we can start eating, before we start buying mealie-meal which is affordable."

He said Mpombo was panicking because he had felt the weight of PF.

"And I want to warn my colleagues in MMD, they may be sitting in high profile offices thinking they have the support of the people of Zambia. They don't have support of Zambians, so they should not unnecessarily be wasting their breath,” he said.

Sata also urged the government not to provoke Zambians any further because they had suffered enough since President Banda came into office.

“He [Mpombo] receives free mealie-meal from Peter Cottan [National Milling managing director], so the cost of mealie-meal does not pain him,” said Sata.

And Lubinda said gone were the days when defence personnel were used by government to intimidate innocent citizens in Zambia. He reminded Mpombo that soldiers and police officers had been equally affected by the high prices of mealie-meal in the country.

“George Mpombo should not think that the gallant men and women in uniform can apply force on their fellow citizens when they are equally affected by the high food prices. It is clear that Mpombo is hungry for violence, but this kind of hunger does help the Ministry of Defence,” Lubinda said. “We want sober minded people, not Mpombo whose way of dialogue is violence…Because for George Mpombo, a peaceful demonstration is violence, an opinion in the newspaper is violence; a song played on a radio station is violence. Mpombo and his friends in government must find a solution because political threats will not reduce the high prices of mealie-meal.”

Lubinda said Mpombo's utterances that high prices of food were a global issue, which had been necessitated by global shortage of food, was an acceptance failure.

“If George Mpombo and government of Rupiah Banda have failed the people of Zambia, let them resign. If Mpombo is determined to use force on innocent citizens who want to demonstrate peacefully, I invite him to first use that force on me,” Lubinda said. “I want to warn Mpombo that a hungry man is an angry man. No amount of threats shall feed the people of Zambia. Mpombo should be embarrassed to be a Cabinet minister in a government which has failed to feed its people.”

Lubinda also charged that President Banda worsened the hunger situation in the country because he increased the floor price of maize, which he used as a campaign tool.

“Every year, MPs have been asking government to help NCZ [Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia] financially, to increase the FSP [Fertiliser Support Programme] but all these calls have been falling on deaf ears of Mpombo and the MMD government. If they have run out of ideas, they must resign. Mpombo and his friends should not push the opposition too far,” warned Lubinda.

Labels: GEORGE MPOMBO, MEALIE-MEAL, SATA

posted by MrK @ 12:07 AM