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Rupiah will be a danger to zambia – Sondashi

Rupiah will be a danger to zambia – Sondashi
Written by Patson Chilemba
Saturday, March 07, 2009 10:32:07 AM

FORMER works and supply minister Ludwig Sondashi yesterday charged that President Rupiah Banda will be a disaster to continue to lead the country after 2011. And Sondashi said some prominent people in the country, including Dr Kenneth Kaunda, have remained mute over the corruption allegations in President Banda's government.
Announcing his resignation from the MMD at a press briefing, Sondashi said President Banda was not suited to continue to lead the country after the 2011 elections.

Sondashi charged that if President Banda had failed to improve on late president Levy Mwanawasa's legacy in the four months he had been in office, he would be a disaster if given a longer term in office.

"The nation was promised during the election campaign that he would continue late president Mwanawasa's legacy. I am sad to say that Levy Mwanawasa must be turning in his grave at what has come of his legacy," he said. "As a founding member of the MMD, I am ashamed at the fact that our party is no longer the beacon of hope and the flag-bearer of democratic values."

Sondashi said President Banda's government - with only four months in office - had been embroiled in scandals and the MMD was now a subject of ridicule throughout the country.

He said while president Mwanawasa raised the bar on the fight against corruption, President Banda had lowered it to very low levels.

Sondashi further cited the importation of Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) type maize by a company allegedly closely associated with President Banda's son, James, communications and transport minister Dora Siliya's alleged corruption scams and MMD deputy national secretary Jeff Kaande's corruption allegations, which he said had not been handled properly.

"Public confidence in his government has been seriously undermined by the manner in which he and his ministers have handled the recent alleged scams widely reported in the media. Allegations against Dora Siliya are of a criminal nature and it was expected that she would either voluntarily resign or be relieved of her duties as a Cabinet minister," Sondashi said. "It is common knowledge that when a member of government is implicated in a criminal case, they are asked to tender their resignation to enhance the integrity of government. That this has not been done, despite my advice to the President given only three weeks ago, raises questions about Rupiah Banda's complicity in the alleged transactions. The President has not condemned the scams, especially the ones in which his children are involved."

Sondashi further disclosed that Siliya had reportedly undertaken to concession Tanzania Zambia Railways (TAZARA) to Railway Systems of Zambia (RSZ), which had lamentably failed to run railway services in the country.

"It is therefore not surprising that Rupiah Banda recently went to Tanzania to persuade the unsuspecting and clean President Jakaya Kikwete to concession TAZARA. This TAZARA thing also stinks of corruption," Sondashi, who is immediate past board chairperson of Zambia Railways, said.

Sondashi said he was distressed at the fact that Kaande was reportedly encouraging corruption and abused his authority in directing the government to pay debts to favour MMD sympathizers.

He said MMD was now involved in corruption and this gave it little moral authority to fight graft in the country.

Sondashi said it was shocking to witness President Banda embrace Kaande with MMD supporters at State House as though nothing had happened.

He said this showed that President Banda was failing to provide leadership and was playing to the gallery.

"I wish to advise him that the honeymoon is over and he should wake up and provide leadership," Sondashi said.

He said many prominent people in the country had remained mute over the corruption allegations in President Banda's government.

He said Dr Kenneth Kaunda had not said anything on the crass corruption when he was a prominent critic when late president Mwanawasa erred.

"Does it mean all is alright or is it a matter of supporting one's relative?" he asked.

However, Sondashi said he was not surprised by President Banda's action because this was expected from a man who lacked vision.

He said it was not surprising that MMD had been embroiled in so many scandals because the party had been hijacked by outsiders and had lost the vision upon which it was established.

Sondashi said late president Mwanawasa contributed to the disintegration because he brought in outsiders, including President Banda, to occupy senior government and party positions.

He said President Banda and the people surrounding him were leading the MMD astray and that the level of indiscipline and impunity that had got into the party was unprecedented.

"Some people seem to be untouchable, even when they make damaging statements against the party leadership," Sondashi said. "Many NEC members have chosen to remain silent as they have no livelihood of their own and are dependent on handouts from the President through government jobs and contracts."

Sondashi said at the rate things were going and based on past experience, he did not expect democratic elections to be held in the party in 2010 due to corruption and manipulation of party rules and sycophancy.

He said this was witnessed during President Banda's election to become presidential candidate in 2008.

Sondashi said there would be a fixation with keeping President Banda as party leader and this would mean that those challenging him for the position would be harassed and hounded out of the party.

He said MMD had lost its usefulness and no longer had the legitimacy to lead the country.

Sondashi charged that the MMD was fatigued and had run out of ideas.

He said other than failure to address corruption in government, President Banda had also shown to be partial, exclusive and tribal in his manner of governance.

"Recently at Chipata airport on arrival to attend the Nc'wala ceremony Rupiah Banda was shown on ZNBC television telling MMD cadres that; 'Bafuna kumilanda ichi chintu'. What did he really mean by that?" Sondashi asked. "The literal meaning of what President Banda said is that: They want to take this thing, the Presidency, away from you."

"Given the closing of political space within my party, undemocratic tendencies and corruption, I am no longer able to associate freely with such an organisation. I therefore wish to announce my decision to resign from the party with immediate effect. I will soon embark on a nation-wide consultation on the formation of a new political party, as an alternative to the MMD," Sondashi said. "The MMD has no future and going by its current electoral performance will not survive after 2011, more so with Rupiah Banda as its presidential candidate."

Sondashi also said he would extend his consultations to Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata and UPND president Hakainde Hichilema.

He said he fought dictatorship in the UNIP government, corruption in Frederick Chiluba's administration and differed with president Mwanawasa over undemocratic practices in the party.

Sondashi said he realised that President Banda enjoyed enormous power under the Constitution but the President should not use it to victimise other citizens who were exercising their rights.

He said he was conscious of the fact that there had been unexplained deaths of political opponents in the past.

On Nchelenge National Democratic Focus (NDF) member of parliament Ben Mwila's accusation that the Task Force on Corruption and some donor countries had hijacked the Zambian judicial system, Sondashi challenged Mwila to provide evidence over his claims. Sondashi said it would not do to defend relatives just because they were about to be convicted.

Labels: CORRUPTION, LUDWIG SONDASHI, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 10:33 AM