Chibombamilimo denounces Rupiah

Chibombamilimo denounces Rupiah
Written by Moses Kuwema

People surrounding President Rupiah Banda will wreak havoc to this country if left unchecked, warned Lameck Chibombamilimo yesterday. During a press briefing, Chibombamilimo, who was fired as Deputy Minister of Energy and Water Development by President Banda on Thursday,said there would be uncontrollable mourning in the country when he spills the beans on the people he called self-proclaimed political puritans.

"They do not want us to tell the truth," Chibombamilimo said emotively. "I know a lot of things...the nation will mourn uncontrollably when I lay bear some of these things."

Chibombamilimo, who is MMD Mpulungu member of parliament, charged that President Banda had no respect for his fellow humans, especially that he could have the energy to fire ministers he appointed to run the country's affairs with him in front of cadres.

"It has never happened in the history of this nation," Chibombamilimo said. "Where are the advisors to the President and where is the Special Division to advise the President correctly, because he does not have respect to his fellow human beings."

Chibombamilimo wondered why President Banda made such a critical decision at a public rally, saying such places were not appropriate for such decisions.

"Public rallies are not appropriate places to make critical decisions especially decisions that speak to fundamental changes or affect lives and reputations of others that may not be readily available to defend themselves," he said.

Chibombamilimo said public rallies were emotional events where the risk of making statements that could be later regretted was high.

"For anyone that saw the President's address to the protestors and contrasted that with moments when he is addressing the media at the airport or other public gatherings, it should have been clear that such engagements should be curtailed thereby protecting the sanctity of the office," he said.

Chibombamilimo, who said ministers fired in such circumstances were not accorded the respect they deserve, explained that ministers were invited to help the President to govern and not because they do not have other things to do.

Chibombamilimo said he took long to comment on his dismissal because his temper was high and partly blamed some of his clansmen for his fate.

And Chibombamilimo said the people advising President Banda were a time

bomb and that by the time the President realises it could be too late.

"These agents are at work even as I speak and most unfortunately, President Banda has bought into their predatory politics, oblivious to the fact that these are but survivors who will do the same thing to him upon leaving office," he said.

Chibombamilimo said his dismissal had left him scared on the basis that even the highest office in the land could easily be duped to make seriously flawed decisions.

"I earnestly appeal to those engaged in such a dangerous trade to have mercy upon the innocent Zambian citizens who stand to suffer should the head of state make a decision that is based on faulty information," he said. "But should they continue on this path intent on gaining their political fortunes through fraudulent means, I call upon church leaders to commit the nation to prayer so that the God that has kept this country in peace all these years may come through for us at this hour of great need."

Chibombamilimo said he had already been found guilty and left to dry because of President Banda's announcement that he would take his name to the national executive committee (NEC) of the MMD where he would be expelled from the party.

"For anyone who knows the influence of the Presidency, my case is already decided and no one in the NEC will have the stomach to oppose what the leader wants done. I live it to the Zambian people to interrogate this brand of justice employed by a party in power and what signals it is sending to the rest of the country," he said.

He said should the party take this action against him, it will have crucified an innocent soul and its collective consciousness shall forever be guilty of a great injustice against him.

Chibombamilimo also said he was shocked that President Banda told him off and sent him to bed with The Post and yet his relationship with the newspaper was nothing more than any other news source.

"The paper sometimes chooses to publish or not publish my statements employing the same standard of news selection they apply to anyone. If the statements The Post has carried before that I have issued constitute collusion with them, then every minister whose statement has been carried by The Post must similarly be guilty," he said. "In any case, The Post's influence over public opinion is exaggerated almost to levels of paranoia. We all read The Post but in the end we make our own decisions. If one is influenced by what the paper writes, so be it."

Chibombamilimo said when The Post carried a story where Northern Province vice-secretary Jairus Simunyola accused him of being the source of the conflicts in the area, he issued a statement to defend himself, but the newspaper never published it.

"I called The Post managing editor Amos Malupenga and despite assurances that my statement would be carried, nothing happened, if indeed I was some special source for The Post, how could I be denied a platform when I need it the most?" Chibombamilimo wondered.

However, he noted that to shun engaging The Post in government's distribution of news and information would be a huge miscalculation, adding that as long as the story was newsworthy, The Post would carry the story even if the editorial comment was not favourable.

"In his first press conference when he announced his Cabinet, the President referred to The Post that all of us read the paper in response to a question he was asked by a reporter for his comments on a matter the paper had carried," he said. "If someone writes to The Post and chooses to shower praises on me, what has that got to do with my loyalty to the party? I have no power to control people's perceptions of me and how and where they choose to express them."

Chibombamilimo said for anyone who knew his personal sacrifices and risks to his life during the presidential elections, the president's remarks against him came as an earth-shaking shock.

He said he mobilised his own personal resources to campaign for President Banda in Mpulungu at the time when the political situation in the area had shifted significantly in favour of the opposition.

Chibombamilimo wondered why the President could not trust the relevant government wings to tell him the truth as they did when people lied to him that Chibombamilimo was campaigning for the opposition during last year's election.

Chibombamilimo further said former first lady Maureen Mwanawasa had now been isolated and was being treated like a leper.

"When her husband was in office, she was the darling of every Jim and Jack unknown to the family that all they need of her were favours to meet their never-ending thirst for material gain," he said.

Chibombamilimo warned that the politics being currently practiced in the country of using people for personal gain would eat up every fibre of morality leaving none for future generations.

He said he had the moral obligation to comfort those who lost their beloved ones.

Chibombamilimo said his source of legitimacy were the people of Mpulungu who elected him and not alliances within the party which were created to make the President believe that only certain people had the shoulders to carry the party to higher heights.

"It has so far become a way of life that every President that leaves office is isolated and treated as a liability and an enemy of the incumbent, and I wonder why those elected to this office do not want to confront this political cancer and dismiss the agents thereof the moment they begin to spread it into the circles of a new administration," he said.

Meanwhile, Chibombamilimo said any by-election that would take place in Mpulungu following his sacking by President Banda would be a bitter and fierce battle.

Chibombamilimo said he was shocked that he could be fired from government despite the hard work he put in of turning Mpulungu into a ruling party stronghold.

"I risked my life and the well-being of my family not for personal glory or any personal need. I could have sat back as many MPs did during the time because I was not campaigning for re-election," he complained. "And yet in the eyes of the President and those providing information about me, all the foregoing is vanity and does not amount to anything."

He recalled that just four days ago, he asked the nation to rally behind President Banda and his government and that contrary to his forced marriage with The Post, his remarks were extensively carried in both the Times and Daily Mail and not The Post.

He explained that under normal circumstances he would not be saying what he had stated in his statement but he was doing so because of the unusual circumstances he was relieved of his duties.

"This statement is not to question the legality of the President's decision...it is prompted by the fact that my reputation as a father, a husband, a Christian and a politician is at stake," he said. "But the reality of life is that Presidents like any of us are only human beings who can make mistakes and who can be lied to by people we trust."

Chibombamilimo and his science and technology counterpart, Jonas Shakafuswa, were on Thursday sacked by President Banda at a gathering for MMD cadres at State House.

President Banda said he was firing the duo because they had issues negative statements against the President and the MMD and they had also been quoted in The Post newspaper, as being good ministers.