Maravi

Endorsements are getting to Banda’s head – Sata

Endorsements are getting to Banda’s head – Sata
Written by George Chellah and Patson Chilemba
Friday, June 12, 2009 8:30:42 PM

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) leader Michael Sata yesterday said endorsements from ruling MMD cadres are getting to President Rupiah Banda's head. And Sata said it was sad for President Banda to go for a minor operation in South Africa while some women are delivering babies on the streets because of the strike by health workers.

Appearing on 5 FM Radio's Burning Issue programme, Sata said some people were playing on President Banda's mind.

"When he wakes up in the morning he finds one man in Chinsali saying that 'we want RB for 2011', the other day he wakes up he finds one man says 'we want RB for President for 2011'. So that is getting to his head," he said.

Sata urged the government to address the countrywide strike action by civil servants.

"I don't like strikes myself because they reduce the wealth and integrity of the country. But at the same time you cannot help it. Rupiah Banda is under pressure let him suspend the National Constitutional Conference and pay the civil servants," Sata said. "The NCC is wasting time that they want a degree president. These people [education minister] Professor [Godfrey] Lungwangwa, [agriculture minister Dr Brian] Chituwos and others are forgetting about the village teacher who taught them how to hold a pen."



Sata said the biggest corruption was at the National Constitutional Conference (NCC).

He said it was unfortunate that the people surrounding President Banda were not serious.

"[Defence minister] George Mpombo is the man in charge of our security and [home affairs minister Dr] Kalombo Mwansa let them tell the President that 'let us hold the bull by its horns'. Let us remove excess fat," Sata said. "I was given pictures of a miserable and unfortunate incident which is not supposed to happen 42 years after independence. A lady is giving birth because there is no nurse at the hospital. Let us be serious when we deal with these things."

He said the last time the country experienced rampant strikes was in the UNIP days.

Sata dismissed assertions that the opposition had infiltrated the civil service resulting into the recent strikes.

"I don't need to infiltrate anybody. I have been vindicated. I have been talking about these things. I don't think I would use strikes to advance PF. It will be a foolish opposition party which would like to make the country ungovernable through strikes," Sata said.

And later in an interview, Sata said it was unfortunate that President Banda had opted to remain in South Africa despite the desperate situation back home.

He said it was sad that President went to South Africa for a minor operation whilst some women were delivering babies on the streets because of the strike.

"People here are delivering babies in the streets because of the crisis created by the strikes. And there goes Mr Rupiah Banda, he decides to go and have a minor operation in South Africa. Everything I say am always vindicated," he said.

On the PF/UPND pact, Sata said he and UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema would concentrate on things that were going wrong in the country and not 2011 elections.

"Who is going to vote for you in 2011 if everybody dies because at the hospital there are no nurses? Since we signed the MoU there has never been any contradictions between me and Comrade HH," Sata said. "We agreed 2011 is not our preoccupation because we have a lot of loose missiles. You heard one loose missile."

He said people criticising the pact were scared because their preoccupation was state scramble.

"Our pact is working and working very well. The two parties have a committee headed by a lady. Our preoccupation was not the presidency but to grade the road as we are going to the elections," Sata said.

Meanwhile, PF members of parliament attending the NCC yesterday said they had been vindicated by their decision to attend the conference, saying the party had entered into a pact with UPND whose parliamentarians were attending the NCC.

Addressing the press yesterday, spokesperson for PF parliamentarians attending the NCC, Peter Machungwa said it was a contradiction for the PF leadership to enter into a pact with UPND whose members of parliament were attending the conference.

Asked on Sata's statement that UPND made the decision to attend NCC collectively while those from PF defied the party position, Machungwa responded: "We are already at NCC and our colleagues from UPND are attending NCC. So there is no difference."

Machungwa said although political parties were entitled to go into alliances and pacts to increase their electoral chances, the policies and philosophies of the parties involved should be harmonised.

On the same matter, PF Bangweulu member of parliament Joseph Kasongo said PF 'rebel' parliamentarians were not party to the pact because they were not consulted.

Machungwa said Sata's utterances concerning the 'rebel' parliamentarians membership to the party were unacceptable and contemptuous to the injunction order granted to them by the Supreme Court. He said the 'rebel' parliamentarians were by law members of PF but the party had continued shunning them and publicly declaring that they were not members.

Machungwa said the draft constitution of PF as it currently stands was undemocratic and totally despotic.

But Sata said the rebels were being sponsored by MMD mercenaries.

He also said it was surprising that people who were condemning the beating of Sam Zulu had failed to condemn the violence against Post journalists and PF youth chairperson Kempengele.

Sata maintained that the rebels would not be allowed to attend the general conference because they had withdrawn their membership.

Labels: RUPIAH BANDA, SATA

posted by MrK @ 7:35 PM