Thursday, January 15, 2009

Tilyenji to re-contest UNIP presidency

Tilyenji to re-contest UNIP presidency
Written by Gloria Siwisha
Thursday, January 15, 2009 3:13:53 AM

UNIP president Tilyenji Kaunda yesterday announced that he will re-contest his position at the forthcoming party’s national congress.

Briefing the press, Tilyenji said he would shift the party's vision from independence to national integration once voted back into office.

Tilyenji said an imaginative, visionary and constructive national integration programme was needed to deal with the various challenges the country faced so as to bring about a transformed and integrated Zambia.

He said UNIP was currently engaged in a national conversation about the question of national integration in Zambia.

Tilyenji said integration was an important issue that concerned and affected all Zambians.

He also observed that there was need to move away from tribal politics, which he said had taken precedence during and after the last presidential elections.

He said the current political fragmentation had generated unacceptable levels of tribal and regional tendencies that could easily explode into something Zambians could not contain in future.

"There is need to detribalise the politics of the nation. Zambians need to come together to build the nation otherwise we are headed to the Rwandan situation," Tilyenji said. "We are currently preparing for a party national congress and I think that I will definitely contest for the position of party president. We are a party with a vision and now focusing on integration, which is the key to national development. So I will build on from what has already been done, expect more good things."

Earlier, while launching the UNIP TODAY a monthly party publication whose objective is two fold, Tilyenji said the first objective was to improve communication between the party and the public, and second among members.

He said accurate information on the party and its activities were vital for a balanced view and objective projection of the reality of UNIP and the political market.

"We intend to carry in the pages of UNIP TODAY the activities of UNIP leaders and members as well as our official position on many topical matters of national interest. We hope that both members of the press and our party members will find the publication as a useful platform for communication and better understanding of one another," said Tilyenji.

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