Maravi

Shikapwasha cannot be trusted – Sata

Shikapwasha cannot be trusted – Sata
Written by Patson Chilemba
Friday, March 20, 2009 2:40:57 AM

RONNIE Shikapwasha cannot be trusted because he is just as disgraced as Rupiah Banda, Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata observed yesterday. Reacting to chief government spokesperson Lieutenant General Shikapwasha's accusations that Sata and The Post were misleading the nation because President Banda had more information on Zambian Airways, Sata said Lt Gen Shikapwasha and President Banda were instead misleading the nation through their lies on the airline.

Sata said Lt Gen Shikapwasha and President Banda had been disgraced because there was no corruption involved in the letter by former finance minister Ng'andu Magande, which the President said contained information on how the former finance minister proposed to forgive Zambian Airways' debt to the government.

Sata challenged President Banda to release the letter - if at all there was any - which showed that Magande wanted to write off the debt by Zambian Airways.

"First of all, Ronnie Shikapwasha is a disgraced general. He cannot be trusted. He's just as disgraced as Rupiah Banda. And as a disgraced general, that's why he's leaning on Chiluba because he knows that Chiluba can release a time bomb on his activities when he served as ZAF general," Sata said. "I have released the letter. He says it was published in The Times of Zambia last year. I don't remember seeing that letter. Shikapwasha is panicking because he thought I didn't have the letter."

Sata wondered why President Banda was wasting time by not setting up a tribunal or arresting Magande, if he committed any corruption over Zambian Airways.

He said President Banda and Lt Gen Shikapwasha were misleading, fooling and deceiving the nation that they had another letter on Magande other than the one he [Sata] released to the Post.

"I don't say anything without facts. If he [President Banda] has more information, produce it or arrest Magande or set a tribunal," Sata said.

He charged that it was unfortunate that while Lt Gen Shikapwasha and former president Frederick Chiluba claimed to be Christians, they did not believe in the truth.

Sata said it was sad that a reverend like Lt Gen Shikapwasha shamelessly issued contradicting statements on Zambian Airways in a space of hours.

"On one hand he says 'the President has more information on Zambian Airways'. But on the other hand he says 'the release of the letter confirms what the President referred to when he said he had documentary evidence showing that Magande wanted to bail out Zambian Airways where The Post holds considerable shareholding'," Sata noted. "He holds the Bible but does not believe in it. He's just like Chiluba."

Sata said it was madness for Lt Gen Shikapwasha to suggest that Magande attempted to give Zambian Airways preferential treatment when they [Zambian Airways] requested for the airline's debt to be deferred.

He said President Banda's argument over the firing of Magande was that the former finance minister had committed corruption and not that he attempted to give Zambian Airways preferential treatment.

"Now they are talking about 'irregular' when yesterday they were saying Magande had committed capital crime," Sata said.

On Lt Gen Shikapwasha's accusations that he was a shareholder in The Post, Sata said he did not need to be a shareholder in the newspaper to speak the truth.

"Are we going to say he is a shareholder in 'defunct' Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation [ZNBC], Times of Zambia or Daily Mail? Because they use those institutions to insult other people," Sata said.

And former Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Fackson Shamenda said if the letter Sata released was the one at the centre of controversy then it was unfortunate that Magande could be put in such an awkward position. Shamenda said there was nothing wrong with government ministers sharing correspondence on important national issues.

"If The Post is wrong, I'll be the first person to condemn you. If there was nothing wrong then those in government should apologise," said Shamenda.

Reacting to Sata's release of a letter by Magande which President Banda said contained information on how the former finance minister proposed to forgive Zambian Airways' debt to government, Lt Gen Shikapwasha said there was nothing new in the letter Sata released because the contents of the letter were published in The Times of Zambia last year. Lt Gen Shikapwasha described the revelation by Sata as a cheap shot, saying the President had more information on Zambian Airways.

Sata on Saturday gave President Banda a 48-hour ultimatum to release Magande's letter, failure to which he promised to release the copy in his possession. On Monday, Sata released a letter by Magande and said he would not be pushed around by Lt Gen Shikapwasha because the truth had to be known.

President Banda recently told MMD cadres that marched to State House as a show of solidarity that he fired Magande because he wanted to corruptly forgive Zambian Airways' debts owed to various government institutions and that he had correspondence to that effect.

Labels: RONNIE SHIKAPWASHA, SATA

posted by MrK @ 2:40 AM