Fielding Rupiah will be a mistake - Prof Chirwa

Fielding Rupiah will be a mistake - Prof Chirwa
Written by Patson Chilemba
Monday, April 06, 2009 3:38:24 PM

MMD presidential aspirant Professor Clive Chirwa has said the ruling party will lose in 2011 if they continue with President Rupiah Banda as their candidate. In a telephone interview from England yesterday, Prof Chirwa said MMD spokesperson Benny Tetamashimba was making a terrible mistake by suggesting that the ruling party and the country should continue with President Banda after 2011.

He said people should elect someone who had a vision to drive the nation forward in the 21st Century. Prof Chirwa said the nation would lose the development momentum should President Banda be allowed to continue after 2011.

"We need people who understand the 21st Century situation and therefore our President who is a very good man... but what we need is someone who understands the 21st Century. Therefore, I do not see him lasting that long in the sense of saying, if we continue with President Rupiah Banda we will be losing the momentum of progress. I like him, he's a good man but we have to look at the country," Prof Chirwa said. "At the moment we are not moving, therefore we need to move to ensure our country progresses. Tetamashimba is a good man but lacks good understanding. Zambia does not belong to a single Tetamashimba. We need to make sure Zambians will elect someone who will have a vision."

Prof Chirwa said after 2011, Zambia would need to share the table with countries like the United States of America, thus the need for MMD to elect a leader who understands the 21st Century.

He said that vision was not there currently.

Prof Chirwa said President Banda was doing well but would not accelerate development after 2011.

He said the country should not remain in stagnation when it had abundant resources.

"[After 2011] we shall be talking of a different topic that Zambia must have technological development, nano-technology into Zambia. This means we must not only develop copper but create finished products," said Prof Chirwa. "Tetamashimba is making a terrible mistake by suggesting that we continue with President Banda. MMD won't be there in 2011 if we continue with President Banda."

Recently, MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba and Tetamashimba differed over the latter's statement that President Banda was the best candidate and MMD would lose if they did not adopt him in 2011.

Tetamashimba had said President Banda was the only capable candidate in the MMD and that should he refuse to stand for presidency, party members like himself [Tetamashimba] would push him to do so.

But in response, Kalumba said it was an insult to other party members for Tetamashimba to say that only President Banda was capable of contesting the presidency in 2011. Kalumba urged national executive committee (NEC) members not to allow themselves to start dividing the party and casting aspersions on the other party members who had presidential ambitions.