Maravi

Rupiah has failed to run the country, charges HH

Rupiah has failed to run the country, charges HH
Written by Moses Kuwema
Monday, March 30, 2009 7:07:19 AM

OPPOSITION UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has said President Rupiah Banda’s argument that not even a magician can build a school in four months
was a sign of a failing government.

And Hichilema has noted the need for consolidation of existing political parties in Zambia and not the formation of new ones.

Commenting on President Banda’s recent argument that not even a magician could build a school in four months, the time that he has been in office, Hichilema said President Banda had failed to run the country.

“These are words of a failing government because as a government, you need to put in place measures that show or give hope to the people, you don’t need four months to cut Cabinet expenditure, you don’t need four months to finish the NCC on time, so these are uninspiring words,” he said.

Hichilema wondered why President Banda was complaining that four months was not enough when it took him a few days to increase salaries for his Cabinet.

“He increased salaries for himself and his Cabinet under four months and that was the first law he signed, so its a question of priorities, because in four months he could have done a lot, because us in the UPND at the end of 100 days, we could have come up with ten major policies,” Hichilema said.

“The MMD has failed to run this country and you don’t need a rocket scientist to see the failure of this government. So its high time people rose above pettiness of saying its just this one who should rule...because of pettiness, Zambians are made to suffer and yet we can come up with the best team.”

Hichilema said people needed to be judged based on their ability and not where they were born.

“There is no way people should be discriminating each other because of God’s making but its good that Zambians have woken up and will not agree to be taken backwards,” Hichilema said.

He said the MMD had reached a point of diminishing returns, adding that there was no continuity of late president Levy Mwanawasa’s legacy.

“There is no continuity because all Levy’s people have been silenced, they have gotten rid of them...so the current leadership has abrogated Levy’s principles,” he said.

And commenting on the opposition political parties in Nigeria who had agreed to unite to compete against the governing People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in elections due in 2011, Hichilema said there was need to consolidate the existing political parties in Zambia.

“This should be the time to consolidate the already existing political parties and not forming new parties. Much as it is a democratic right for people to form their own parties, they should also bear in mind the lives of Zambians,” Hichilema said.

“But this should not be a question of bringing in any person as president, you need to bring someone who can deliver by bringing economic development because that’s what we want.”

Hichilema said there was need to bring together leadership with different mindsets and one which had the capability of bringing change to the Zambian people.

Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, RUPIAH BANDA, UPND

posted by MrK @ 6:07 AM