Maravi

Rupiah’s performance disappoints Nawakwi

Rupiah’s performance disappoints Nawakwi
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 9:33:53 AM

FORUM for Democracy and Development (FDD) president Edith Nawakwi has expressed disappointment with the performance of President Rupiah Banda and his government.

Nawakwi, who supported and campaigned for President Banda in last year's elections, said the government had not lived up to people's expectations. Nawakwi said President Banda's honeymoon was over and people expected his government to work.

"I think there is a lot that we can do. We supported the MMD in the just-ended elections, we expected that the MMD will provide a bridge between now and 2011 without disruption, but you can see that things are not as expected. This is a disappointment in our time that truly in terms of poverty I think we are going backwards," Nawakwi said in an interview last Saturday.

When asked if President Banda's government had lived up to her own expectations after she vigorously campaigned for the ruling party in last year's elections, Nawakwi responded:

"... I think there is a lot that can be done. That in itself shows that we believe they are not living up to the expectations. I mean the honeymoon is over, we expect them to work, we don't expect that the statutes of government have changed. When a minister is appointed, the Secretary to the Cabinet is supposed to give them the Cabinet's handbook and that should spell the dos and don'ts for the minister."

Nawakwi said it could not be denied that there was an economic malaise in the world but that something could be done locally.

She said the proposed 66 per cent increase in electricity tariffs by Zesco was unacceptable.

"I wonder where they are working from. Are they in Zambia or are they on Mars? Do they have the economic reality before them? That is an increase in production cost of up to 66 per cent, when the mines are folding," Nawakwi noted.

"They want to transfer that cost to the farmers, to the households, to the poor people in Kalingalinga and I think that is totally unacceptable."

Nawakwi said the FDD supported the MMD during last year's elections and that was just at the beginning of the planting season.

She said there was the issue of K150 billion for the agriculture sector, which she believed had not been properly handled.

"That is going to see more and more communities going into extreme poverty because the resources did not get to the right persons. I am sure everybody is aware that the Agriculture Support Programme did not work efficiently. So really we expect to see more, we expect to see that there is fairness, equity, a bit of sensitivity on part of the executive, in this context in the ministers, on what can be done and what cannot be done in terms of delivering the services to the people," Nawakwi said.

On International Women's Day, which fell on Sunday, Nawakwi said it was always great to dedicate time in March to the day for women. She said for all the distances covered, women in the world had come a long way.

Nawakwi said there was a woman in Cabinet in one of the Middle East countries and that Africa had experienced the ascendance of authority of one great woman, the Liberian president - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

"But there is still a lot of violence both against women and men. This is a time when we need to work together. We need to get men who are sensitive to the plight to join us so that this agenda of women is carried and executed in a shorter time. I think as I have said in the past, this is no time for advocacy, it is time for action and unfortunately power, the way it is, no one wants to give up that power because power is about authority,” said Nawakwi.

"We ourselves must go out and get that power and that requires unity. That the girl child must be supported even the boy child must be supported. We must be able to bring a society that has no prejudices. I believe we have reached a stage in our time, when we can see tangible progress in women emancipation."

Labels: EDITH NAWAKWI, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 9:33 AM