I’m not MMD president, says Rupiah

I’m not MMD president, says Rupiah
Written by Chibaula Silwamba
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 8:27:29 AM

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda yesterday wondered why some MMD members were complaining about his appointment as interim party president when they know the democratic procedure that his appointment can only be ratified by the NEC. And President Banda said it will be sad if Zimbabwe's MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai does not travel to his country to take up the position of Prime Minister as resolved by the SADC heads of state.

Meanwhile, President Banda said the government will decide in the next farming season whether to continue allowing civil servants to access subsidised fertilizer under the Fertiliser Support Programme (FSP).

Responding to a question from The Post concerning MMD aspiring presidential candidate Dr Ludwig Sondashi and former finance minister Ng'andu Magande who described the proposals to have him as party acting president as undemocratic and not in line with the MMD constitution and whether his acceptance to become acting president was an indication that he will run for Republican Presidency in 2011, President Banda said he had offered himself to become MMD acting president but he had to be ratified by the MMD National Executive Committee (NEC).

"Chibaula, you know the answer; I told you when we were leaving. The problem with you is that you always have another agenda. For instance, we are talking about Zimbabwe and you want the stuff that you have already been sent to come and ask me. If I didn't give you this press conference to tell you what happened in Zimbabwe [South Africa], you could have been complaining that, 'he doesn't even tell us what he went to do.' So now I have told you, you are not interested...you want to know about that," President Banda responded. "...but surely Mr Chibaula, you were here when I left, I told you that as far as I was concerned I am not a president of MMD. I only indicated to the national secretary that yes I was willing to offer myself as the candidate to the citizens and I know the procedure. The procedure is that until we meet as NEC and the members of NEC have deliberated and ratified my candidature, I don't know whether they will ratify, then I can be called president. So even the people that are complaining, democratically they understand very well. I hope you would have written in your paper that I did say that I as far as I knew, I was not the president."

President Banda was speaking at Lusaka International Airport on his return from Tswane in South Africa, where he had gone for a Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of state emergency summit on the crisis in Zimbabwe.

On the outcome of the SADC summit, President Banda said it would be sad if Tsvangirai would not return to Zimbabwe to take up the position of Prime Minister because he [Tsvangirai] was part of the SADC summit and he agreed to the resolutions.

"The MDC was led by Mr Tsvangirai, the Prime Minister Designate and professor [Welshman] Ncube representing the other MDC [of Professor Arthur Mutambara]. The most important thing is that we finally did agree after a long debate and discussion that the parties come together again and that this time the MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai who will be the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe will be sworn in as Prime Minister and two other deputy prime ministers, in other words the new Cabinet all together," President Banda said. "All the issues that are supposed to be discussed, all the stages that are supposed to take place within the country will be discussed after the inauguration of the new inclusive government, the government of national unity. We are all going to go there...we have set a date for that and we hope from there all...of course there are a lot of problems to be resolved."

However, he said he had heard that Tsvangirai was unhappy about the SADC summit outcome.

"I hear they have already been in the papers, in the press to say that the MDC may not come. If he doesn't come that will be sad indeed because he did participate, he was with us right through the process. Of course he had a lot of questions to ask," President Banda said. "This is a very serious problem and naturally you don't expect to have a smooth ride, from the very beginning we had the meeting, there are a lot of issues that the opposition parties are raising against President Mugabe and Zanu-PF and that is why we stayed up as late as possible. I sincerely believe that the Zimbabwean people eventually will come on board because we discussed the matters very openly.

"Naturally, you can't expect that everybody will be happy but I think that we have laid the foundation for them to be able to sit down together in Zimbabwe and find solutions to their country's problems."

Commenting on concerns that the FSP had not benefited most farmers and the shortage of subsidised fertilizer, President Banda said the government had allowed civil servants to access the subsidised fertiliser because most civil servants in rural areas do a lot of farming.

"I don't know the details right now. As you know the Feriliser Support Programme was for the current rainy season, the current planting season," said President Banda. "I am sure as we go to the next season we will have a look at it and we will listen to the concerns of the public and if there are any issues we take them into account whether to expand it or to continue to allow civil servants and other people, we shall do so."