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Inclusion of cadres in AU summit entourage a waste of money – Sata

Inclusion of cadres in AU summit entourage a waste of money – Sata
Written by Moses Kuwema and Chibaula Silwamba
Tuesday, February 03, 2009 9:03:06 AM

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) president Michael Sata yesterday said the inclusion of FDD president Edith Nawakwi and MMD cadre Judith Banda Simuziya on President Rupiah Banda's entourage to the African Union (AU) summit is a wastage of taxpayers’ money.

And chief government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha has confirmed that Nawakwi and Simuziya are in President Banda's entourage at the AU summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In an interview, Sata said the MMD cadre's presence at the AU summit was irrelevant. He said it was clear that President Banda was trying to satisfy the women who would be campaigning for him to become MMD president.

"We know [the President's chief analyst for press and public relations] Dickson Jere's function; he is advising the President on how to respond to certain issues and we know [the President's political advisor] Akashambatwa Mbikusita Lewanika is also advising the president but when you come to madam Simuziya, she is wasting taxpayers' money for nothing. What is she doing there, apart from exhibiting her beauty?" Sata wondered.

Sata said he sympathized with Nawakwi because she was just obeying instructions from the founding leader of FDD, Lt Gen Christon Tembo.

"When they [Lt Gen Tembo and Nawakwi] united at the former vice-president's residence, he ordered FDD to dissolve and join MMD and she has been doing that to the letter. In any case, when she is there she has not gone as opposition. She is a very insignificant leader of an insignificant political party with an insignificant representation in Parliament," Sata said.

"As I have said before, when General Tembo was the president of FDD, he had 11 members of parliament and when she took over she 'improved' on General Tembo's 11 MPs to two. That is a great improvement from 11 to two MPs representing less than 30,000 votes."

Sata said Nawakwi enjoyed good food when she campaigned with President Banda last year.

"So three months after the elections, she must have missed staying in expensive lodges, free ride in government vehicles and choppers, and today she is in Addis Ababa. What is she doing? Only God knows," Sata said.

"Her [Nawakwi] secretary general Newton Ng'uni is the secretary general of NCC and all other MPs; the vice-president of FDD Chifumu Banda is the chairman of the NCC. So when it comes to enjoying on the heads of the people, that's FDD's policy! That's their manifesto and now if she is in Addis Ababa, we don't know in which position she has been to Addis Ababa. And if there is something the opposition requires to oppose, is she going to oppose?"

Sata said opposition political parties in Zambia had been badly hit by poverty and that Zambians had no alternative apart from PF.

"Zambians have only remained with one true opposition party to speak for them, the Patriotic Front because there is no enmity between us and the MMD or the ruling government. Our job is just to provide checks and balances. But if you are eating with them in Addis Ababa and during campaigns, how do you oppose them?" Sata asked. "For example, Edith Nawakwi as former minister of finance, where would she get the courage to oppose Rupiah Banda and [finance minister Dr Situmbeko] Musokotwane on this budget of the leaders because the way I understand the budget, you only abandon the projects after they have been completed. But in Musokotwane's budget, money has been reduced from the police, Zambia National Service, Zambia Army, Zambia Air Force, Office of the President."

Sata said Nawakwi could no longer function as an opposition leader.

"Edith Nawakwi will have to come and justify because the people who are not going to justify on that trip to Addis Ababa is Akashambatwa, Dickson, the first lady, the minister of foreign affairs. Those are there to accompany the President," Sata said.

But Lt Gen Shikapwasha said Nawakwi and Simuziya would contribute to the agenda being discussed at the AU summit.

"As far as the government is concerned, those people [Nawakwi and Simuziya] are part of the entourage of the President," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said. "They are there purely to deal with the issues that the President might want to consult from them."

He said Nawakwi was included on the entourage as an opposition leader in the country.

Asked in what capacity Simuziya was at the summit and what contribution she would make, Lt Gen Shikapwasha defended the MMD cadre.

"I don't think you should ask me so many questions because those people will help the President on issues he wants to consult them on," said Lt Shikapwasha. "Those people will contribute to the agenda being discussed there."

But FDD vice president Chifumu Banda said he did not know why Nawakwi was at the summit.

"I don't know," said Banda. "But even [UPND Mbabala member of parliament Emmanuel] Hachipuka is also there. So ask [UPND president Hakainde] Hichilema why Hachipuka is there."

Nawakwi was among several leaders of opposition political parties who campaigned for President Banda in the October 30, 2008 presidential elections.

Simuziya was a receptionist at MMD's campaign centre on Bwinjimfumu Road in Rhodes Park in Lusaka.

Labels: AU, CADRES, EDITH NAWAKWI, FDD, RUPIAH BANDA, SATA, SHIKAPWASHA

posted by MrK @ 9:03 AM