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Rupiah’s call for unity should provide room for diverse opinions - Rev Chilekwa

Rupiah’s call for unity should provide room for diverse opinions - Rev Chilekwa
Written by Kabanda Chulu
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 7:16:48 PM

UNITED Church of Zambia (UCZ) St Mathews Congregation Reverend Mwape Chilekwa yesterday said President Rupiah Banda's call for unity should provide room for diverse opinions.

And Rev Chilekwa has challenged President Banda to provide funding for continuous voter registration if people are to take his pronouncement seriously.

Meanwhile, Patriotic Front (PF) spokesperson Given Lubinda has said President Banda's intention to extend the tenure of office for mayors would not solve the current problems faced by the councils in the country.

Reacting to President Banda's address to Parliament on Friday, Rev Chilekwa said the call for unity and reconciliation was positive but it did not mean that people should think alike.

"Yes if the matter at hand concerns the development of the country we will rally round together but in a united family where members do not express views freely then it is not united. I commend him for calling for unity but within that unity there should be room for diversity of opinions," he said.

Rev Chilekwa said the President touched on a number of issues but he did not give clear direction.

"It was his very first policy statement and it did give an indication of what he wanted to do and I commend him for that but in a number of areas he was not clear, for example, on elections, he stated that the Electoral Commission of Zambia [ECZ] will do continuous voter registration but this is what the law says and for the ECZ to carry out this mandate they require money," Rev Chilekwa said. "And we expected President Banda to say ECZ will get sufficient funding for them to undertake this mandate because all they need is money to implement that kind of work and this was what President Banda should have said and we hope when the budget comes ECZ will get enough money to carry out this mandate."

He said the call to fight poverty was long overdue considering that Zambia had enough resources.

"But this is one area we wanted to hear how this fight will be waged especially that we have enough resources but people still cannot afford basic needs but it is good that government will heighten this fight," Rev Chilekwa said.

On the mines, Rev Chilekwa said foreign investors could not afford to stay when they were not making profits.

"With people that invest in this country they have to make profits and if they are not doing that then they can afford to close down and go because they are in business maybe if we have more of local people running the mines things can get better because they will have other considerations apart from profits," Rev Chilekwa said. "Also President Banda talked about fertiliser being available early enough before planting season but this is one thing but the most important thing is that fertiliser must be affordable especially to small-scale farmers otherwise the staple food will not be secured for the reach of ordinary Zambians."

Republic of Korea Honorary Consul to Zambia Robinson Zulu said it would be nice if the MMD government achieved what President Banda announced last Friday.

"The President has set a high agenda for his government and it will be nice if what he spoke about will be achieved especially that he touched on all sectors," Zulu said. "But this calls for resource mobilisation since tax revenue will be a huge challenge because the mines' contribution to the treasury will be reduced hence government should energise potential sectors like agriculture and tourism so that they can be alternatives in tax collection."

Finnish Ambassador to Zambia Sinikka Antila said 2009 would be a very difficult and challenging year for Zambia considering the targets set out by President Banda.

"It will be very challenging and difficult year, in a way there is nothing much new in his speech but I understand that this is a challenging situation so the President cannot go on promising here and there things, his speech is realistic since he spoke about right things like poverty reduction, unity in this difficult situation, enhancing entrepreneurship for job creation, among other issues," Ambassador Antila said.

Meanwhile, Lubinda said extending the tenure of office for mayors would not solve the problems currently faced by district councils.

"Rupiah's intentions are cosmetic solutions for fundamental problems and extending the tenure of office for mayors will not solve anything because the solution lies in having executive mayors who will be directly elected," he said.

Lubinda said President Banda's warning to investors was misdirected since investors operate in a given economic framework established by government.

"Governments do not operate with threats and investors do not govern themselves but operate in a given framework and it is the duty of government to come up with measures to support private sector in this economic crisis," Lubinda said. "And we expected Rupiah to talk about fiscal measures which his government can put in place rather than threatening investors, we expected him to reduce his bloated Cabinet and related allowances and also to reduce the number of his family that accompanies him on holidays."

He said the PF would now read every text of statements issued by the MMD government because they contained half-truths.

"The irrigation story died a long time ago. Even the late President Mwanawasa talked about it but nothing materialised and Rupiah's statement about mechanised farming cannot work because where will the tractors come from when they are struggling with subsidised fertiliser. And mechanised farming affects soil fertility and yet Rupiah is talking about environmental preservation," Lubinda said. "And on infrastructure, we expected him to say something about the main railway line which has been given to Railway Systems [of Zambia] because it is dead and we don't see any more passenger trains."

Lubinda also said the turning of a police training college into a teacher training institute was wrong.

"We are happy that more teachers will be recruited but we are shocked to see that one police officer covers about 500 people and yet Rupiah has turned a police college into something when he knows that Lilayi has no capacity and also the police has no refresher college which their defence personnel counterparts have," said Lubinda. "Government should have instead built a new teachers college rather than taking away such an important facility from the police."

Labels: MWAPE CHILEKWA, RUPIAH BANDA, UCZ

posted by MrK @ 7:18 PM