Rupiah eager to take people to the cemetery – Sata

Rupiah eager to take people to the cemetery – Sata
Written by George Chellah and Patson Chilemba
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 5:33:11 PM

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) leader Michael Sata has said President Rupiah Banda is eager to take people to the cemetery than to provide food and better medical facilities.
And local government minister Benny Tetamashimba has admitted that his ministry paid for the vehicles in December last year.

Commenting on the procurement of 100 hearses from China's Beijing Auto Works (BAW), operating as Top Motors Limited in Zambia, at a cost of over US$29,000 each, Sata questioned the government's priorities.

"Ambulances are part of prevention and they come first. But Rupiah and this government instead of buying ambulances, they want to bury us first that's why these hearses are already here. Rupiah is eager to take us to the cemetery than providing us with food and better medical facilities. Let them provide food to the people," Sata said.

"At the moment we have to be very careful because we have no burial grounds and Tetamashimba is busy distributing hearses. In any case, its not the job of government to bury people we have undertakers and relatives to do that." He wondered how the newly procured hearses would be maintained.

"They are just providing jobs to the MMD and the Chinese. We don't have a Chinese workshop here to repair these vehicles. The Chinese have also been given a concession for timber in Western Province. So Zambians will very soon see containers full of coffins from China since hearses are already here," Sata said.

"How will those same hearses help the people because assuming that you distribute them to the 72 districts will they cater for everybody? How many mortuaries has Lusaka alone got? Tell them that in China there are too many people so you can pack 17 dead bodies in one hearse and they won't care because it's normal for them. But in Zambia death is respected, it's dignified."

And Sata said President Banda's orders to Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Joshua Kanganja to work with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and other agencies to get to the root cause of the alleged corrupt practices in some government ministries was just a mere 'cover-up'.

"Everybody now knows that its follow the leader on corruption, its forward with corruption that's the motto. The actions of the President don't lead to zero tolerance against corruption. So what is he talking about?" Sata asked.

"Yes, most of these alleged corruption cases in government ministries could not have started in the last six months but corruption has been rampant in the last six months. The President must lead by example, if the leaders become exemplary the civil servants will follow suit."

And Tetamashimba said the Ministry of Local Government paid for the vehicles in December last year.Asked if the programme to procure the vehicles was initiated under his leadership, Tetamashimba responded: "I am the minister of local government. They were bought last year. So for now everything that happens falls on my back. I paid for those things in December the money was paid when I was local government minister.

Don't blame honorable Sylvia Masebo, it's me. I have got those vehicles and I am going to give every district.

"Tetamashimba said it was his duty to buy vehicles for the local authorities and not ambulances that were under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health.But on Monday, Tetamashimba said although he was not aware of the procurement, the budget to buy the hearses was prepared before he became local government minister.

Tetamashimba said his director of local government informed him on Monday that the government had paid about K14 billion for the hearses last year and that it was true they were arriving in the country.Well-placed sources in government said each of the hearses was sold to the government at a duty free cost of about US$29,400 and that they could carry a maximum of three caskets at once.