Rupiah must not be allowed to hijack MMD – Sondashi

Rupiah must not be allowed to hijack MMD – Sondashi
Written by Patson Chilemba and Lambwe Kachali
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 8:28:30 AM

MMD presidential aspirant Dr Ludwig Sondashi yesterday charged that President Rupiah Banda must not be allowed to hijack the party. And Dr Sondashi said the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) was proving to be a mere talking shop where legitimate voices were being sidelined.

In an interview after addressing the press at his office, Dr Sondashi said President Banda should be sensitive over the party presidency because he was more Unipist than MMD.

"I would like President Banda to be sensitive with this because he knows that he's not a founding member and he very well knows that he was just picked by Mwanawasa from where he was as UNIP man. Therefore, we regard him as a Unipist more than MMD," Dr Sondashi said. "I think that President Banda must be made not to hijack the MMD."

Dr Sondashi said he drafted the current MMD constitution and that the document did not give room for filling the presidency even on the interim basis. He said the presidency could only be filled at the party convention.

Dr Sondashi said he suspected that there were kickbacks and job offers when some senior MMD national executive committee (NEC) members arrived at a decision to adopt President Banda as the party's interim president.

"I may not go much into corruption of members of NEC because I have written to the NEC," he said.

Earlier, addressing the press, Dr Sondashi said corruption had begun to rear its ugly head in President Banda's government.

He said it was now three months since President Banda was elected into office but very little had changed in the style and content of governance.

"For example, the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) in which colossal sums of money have been invested by the Zambian taxpayers, is proving to be a mere talking shop. Legitimate voices are being sidelined, while the body is not really addressing the issues that have divided our country for so long," Dr Sondashi said. "I am convinced that the NCC is an exercise in futility, where allowances are more important than debating the fundamental building blocks of our society."

Dr Sondashi said having followed the deliberations of the NCC and carefully studied the Mung'omba report and draft constitution, it was his opinion that issues that would improve governance were not being tackled.

He said he was disappointed that the executive committee of the NCC did not address the issues of reduction of presidential powers and the devolution of power to the provinces.

"The NCC seems to approve the present status quo in which the President has unlimited discretionary power, which has made our presidency equivalent to an absolute monarchy," Dr Sondashi said.

"The NCC members are very scared to discuss the reduction of presidential powers, unless President Rupiah Banda gives them a go-ahead. Even the previous constitutional Commissions were also scared to discuss this issue. Zambia requires constitutional reforms and not simply constitutional changes like the ones being debated."

Dr Sondashi said he expected the question of a semi-federal system of government to be considered by NCC because he believed that the problem of governance was partly as a result of over-centralisation of power in Lusaka and in particular in the President.

He said he favoured a system where provinces would be semi-autonomous, with their own Parliament, making their own laws and running certain key ministries.

"Such devolution of power will release the energies of our people to manage their own affairs and to hold their leaders accountable," Sondashi said.

He said the country needed an executive prime minister as a way of reducing presidential powers and ensuring that functions of head of state and head of government were separated.

Dr Sondashi said the President would be head of state, and not partisan, while a prime minister would be head of government and directly answerable to Parliament.

"It is important that a government can be replaced by Parliament through a vote of no confidence if it fails to deliver to the expectations of the electorate, without recourse to an election, as we have witnessed in many parliamentary systems," Dr Sondashi said. "In Zambia, Parliament is merely a rubber stamp."

Dr Sondashi further said it was important in the country's governance system to recognise and institutionalise the role of chiefs.

He said chiefs remained largely marginalised from real decision-making and were only consulted for political expediency or to obtain political favours during elections.

Dr Sondashi said NCC should give consideration to incorporating chiefs in the local government system so that they could play a meaningful role.

Dr Sondashi said the House of Chiefs could be enhanced to be an upper legislative chamber.

He said its membership could be enhanced to include retired senior citizens of repute including former presidents, vice-presidents and prime ministers.

Dr Sondashi said he supported the proposal to have ministers appointed from outside Parliament and that the number of ministers a President could appoint should also be regulated by the Constitution.

"I am also in favour of a government of 15 Cabinet ministers only. Currently, the President can appoint any number of ministers he wants without any restraint from any quarter. As a result, we have a situation where three quarters of members of the ruling party are on the front bench, which is not only a drain on our national resources, but unnecessary for the efficient delivery of public services," Dr Sondashi said.

"I would like to see the NCC tackle this question, as it does not seem to have captured their imagination."

Dr Sondashi said he was concerned about the trivialisation of important constitutional matters by members of NCC.

He said they did not seem to realise that they had an important task of understanding the reasons behind the disunity, greediness and pettiness in the country's politics and coming up with constitutional solutions to them.

Dr Sondashi said all the past presidents, including President Banda, had been building castles in the sand, suggesting useful principles without providing constitutional infrastructures upon which these principles could hinge.

He said Zambia needed a constitution that would unite the nation and achieve development.

Dr Sondashi said if a good constitution were not formulated, he would run for the presidency to bring about real constitutional changes.

He said the country was today more divided than at any time since gaining independence and that the spirit of nationalism was long gone as people were now increasingly viewing themselves on regional and tribal terms.

He said he did not think any meaningful development could be achieved with the kind of constitution that would emerge from NCC.

Dr Sondashi also said he would need an appointment with former president Frederick Chiluba to be educated on the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation.

And in a letter dated January 6, 2009 addressed to MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba, which prompted them to hand over the MMD presidency to President Rupiah Banda, Dr Sondashi stated that there was need for NEC to articulate party policy positions and ensure that government decisions were informed by the party policy directives.

"As it is, we appear to lack direction and the party is failing to provide leadership. This explains why the government of President Banda has been the subject of ridicule and criticism from the time he took office," Dr Sondashi stated.

Dr Sondashi stated that even last year's nomination for President Banda as MMD presidential candidate was characterised by rampant corruption.

He further stated that he had watched in disbelief a worrying trend, where 'foreigners' had been given preference in appointments to top positions, leaving out founding members and other committed members of the party.

"It is also disturbing that the debate on the filling of the vacant positions has stifled and some party cadres have encouraged President Rupiah Banda to ascend to the position. Nowhere in the party constitution is such a provision that any person who occupies the position of Republican President should assume the party presidency," Dr Sondashi stated.

"In 2001, the position of party president and that of Republican President were deliberately split. But political opportunism and sycophancy prevailed over reason and in early 2002, the party handed over Levy Mwanawasa the acting presidency, even when he was only a trustee, by-passing Enoch Kavindele who was substantive party vice-president."

He urged NEC members to take leadership by ensuring that the vacant positions were filled in a democratic manner and in accordance with the provisions of the party constitution. He further stated that it was only in MMD where a person without a vision could be elected as President of the country.

"I must admit that when I was campaigning for President Banda's election, I expected that the President will be above these simple and straightforward challenges and I regret that this is not the case. It is my view that the government should be responsive to people's demands and show humility in its relations with the public. President Banda should therefore get rid of those who have hindered him and those who do not help him run a better administration but more concerned with personal agendas," said Dr Sondashi.

However, most MMD NEC members declined to comment on the appointment of President Banda as interim president, saying they would express their reservations at the NEC meeting to be held next month.

Kalumba on Sunday announced that President Banda had been appointed interim party president until the next convention.

During the October 30, 2008 presidential election campaigns, the MMD and President Banda appealed to Zambians to vote for him [President Banda] to enable him to complete late president Mwanawasa's term.