Maravi

Rupiah goes for HH, Sata and The Post

Rupiah goes for HH, Sata and The Post
Written by George Chellah
Thursday, June 25, 2009 3:59:09 PM

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda yesterday attacked UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema, PF leader Michael Sata and The Post newspapers. During a press conference at State House, President Banda said Hichilema and Sata insulted and called him names almost on a daily basis while The Post was fond of publishing lies.

He said Hichilema was as good as his son and wondered what sort of culture he wanted to bring to Zambia. President Banda said it was a shame for Hichilema to be insulting elders like him.

"I have also noted from yesterday's newspapers that they are now calling him 'Prince Cobra' which is bad for a young man like him to carry a name that is full of insults," said President Banda in apparent reference to anonymous analysis that are usually posted on the Internet and suspected to have blessings from State House. "As for... Sata, I always ignore his insults for two reasons. First, I usually take his attacks and insults as part of the usual traditional cousinship jokes between the Bemba and Ngoni. Secondly, he is my age-mate and I don't usually take issues with his utterings."

And President Banda said The Post was a malicious newspaper, which had even gone to the extent of publishing pornography.

He also made some minor reshuffles to his administration especially at permanent secretary level.

President Banda promised to increase the funding to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to make it more effective.

President Banda also allowed former local government and housing minister Sylvia Masebo to say what she knew about the procurement of hearses by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing as he did not know anything about the matter.

President Banda said there was an attempt to show that his administration were corrupt when all cases of corruption being exposed did not happen in the last eight months he had been President.

He urged the civil servants to sacrifice as he announced what he termed as cost saving measures.

According to President Banda, government officials entitled to personal-to-holder vehicles should use them for their intended purposes instead of parking at home and that there should be no purchase of expensive luxury vehicles as utility and duty vehicles.

Other measures include a reduction in trips abroad by government officials which he said should be undertaken only when absolutely necessary and delegations should be reduced in numbers and that the number of workshops be drastically reduced.

President Banda also announced his desire to see the budget start running from January.



Below is the edited version of the question and answer session of President Banda's press conference.



Special assistant to the President for press and public relations Dickson Jere: Thank you Your Excellency, we will now get questions from the press. You ask one question we want to accommodate as many people as possible. Introduce yourself and the media you represent, no riders please. I will begin with Shapi Shacinda Reuters, Chris Mfula Times of Zambia and I will have Angela Chishimba Zambia Daily Mail, thank you.

Shacinda: Your Excellency, good morning.

President Banda: Morning.

Question: I am Shapi Shacinda from Reuters, I just want to find out from you on economic matters particularly whether the government is going to engage in more domestic borrowing and whether you are going to revise the fiscal deficit as a result and also inflation is targeted at 10 per cent, what is your take on inflation, is it going to rise or to be achieved at 10 per cent? Thank you.

President Banda: It really depends upon what we all do as Zambians, it depends upon the plans that the Ministry of Finance colleagues in the other economic ministries, how they are allowed to perform and to carry on their plans so I believe that we can achieve the levels that had been predicted.

Question: [Chris Mfula Times of Zambia] Your Excellency there have been calls by the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) to audit the millers who benefited from the subsidies for maize to find out whether it will trickle down to the consumers. What's your comment?

President Banda: As you know this is a private organization and they are quite free to ask for whatever they want to pursue the audit and the public institutions that carry out these are available to them, they are quite free to ask that audit in order to find out the questions that they want answered.

Question: Good morning Your Excellency my name is Angela Chishimba from Zambia Daily Mail. I would like to find out Your Excellency the strikes by health workers is worrying and their problems is not the 15 per cent, they are saying that they want their allowances to be increased one of them is night duty allowance which is as low as K30,000 and they are saying they will only go back to work when the government signs a commitment agreement. So I would like to find out whether government is ready to sign this commitment agreement.

President Banda: Let me answer the first question. It's easier for me...the one on the health workers. The current strike has been going on with the health workers and according to you it's not about the 15 per cent, is about all the other questions that bother them...the allowances, night duty, overtime whatever they call it. I just want to say this that we are talking to them. We have always been talking to the unions so the impression given to the country that this government does not talk to the unions and to the various workers who are involved is an erroneous one Deliberately sent around to give us a bad name. However, I want to say this that our Minister of Labour and Social Services had a meeting with the nurses at which they seem to agree, I have not received a written report on what was agreed upon of course the 15 per cent and that these are the issues that need to be attended to will be discussed. This applies to all other unions and other workers we have asked to accept the 15 per cent and if there are any other issues let's them. We should not hold the country to ransom just because we have not agreed on everything. First of all you know that we cannot agree on everything at one time, now you know that we don't have the money. And for nurses I would like to appeal to their own conscious, they chose to become nurses, they chose to look after the sick. Nurses are so important to any society because their duty affects the most helpless. All of us when we are sick we are most helpless, most vulnerable at that point and that it is not good for their reputation as a profession to be involved in continuous wrangles especially where there is agreement to sit down and talk. So I am hoping that you are wrong that they have gone back to work. Am hearing that many of them have trickled back to work all over the country. I am hoping that they will give us a chance to talk with them and see how we can resolve these problems. This country belongs to all of us. At one time they will be one of a President and another time another one will be a President. These problems will never run away unless we Zambians accept the fact that there is no money. Finally, I want to say this: these problems that you have referred to young lady have been in existence in these hospitals with these nurses with these doctors not starting with from this season when they have gone on strike. They have been there all the time. Why are they choosing for all their demands to be met at a time when it is known that the global economic situation is not favourable to us? I would like to ask them to refrain from politics and do their business for which we bless them, we pray for them and that the government will attend to their problems. Everybody is making sacrifices especially the unemployed, the poor, the people out there are expecting a service. So I hope that the health workers have since gone back to work or if they haven't that they will go to work as agreed in the discussion with various government officials with whom they have negotiated. Thank you.

Question: Your Excellency good morning. My name is Grevazio from ZNBC. I note in your speech that you have emphasized that ACC will be a leading prosecution agency in corruption matters and I would like know where this leaves the Task Force.

President Banda: Thank you very much. As you know it's not just the ACC and the Task Force, it is all institutions, all security organs are involved in this exercise. What we are saying is that the primary investigation for corruption cases will be pegged to be done by the ACC. We are saying that we are going to fund them more, we are going to give them every opportunity, we will staff them adequately, we will give them transport so that they can be beefed up for the many tasks. Now that we have found out what has been happening like in the Ministry of Health we believe that the problems are widespread, we need to have a starting point. This means that everybody who is involved in the investigation continues with their work, the police are there, the DEC are there, the CIDs are there, everyone will continue to work together, we have been working so far. What we are emphasising is that the ACC becomes the...the Task Force has a limited mandate we all know it was created especially to investigate the cases, misdemeanours that were carried out during a ten-year period that's what they were created for. You are our journalist you are more informed about these matters you can confirm that their task was for the ten-year period. They were given a ten-year period in which to investigate. So I think that question doesn't arise, they are in existence now, they are continuing, they are prosecuting their cases and we support them to do so.

Question: Good morning Your Excellency, my name is Billy Kazoka I’m from Radio Phoenix. Your Excellency there are calls that you intervene with regards the issue of paying mid-term gratuities to Parliament. They are saying that you do this as a cost cutting measure in view of the current economic situation in the country, what's your reaction?

President Banda: I have had a lot of appeals. I agree with you there has been a lot of talk about this and from very well meaning people about this issue of the mid-term. I think you will allow me to hold consultations with all involved to discuss this matter. As you know this is something, which is a law, which was passed a long time ago. It's not fair to those who are involved just to make a decision without having them involved in the preparation of an answer, the reply to the calls by people that at this time perhaps something should be considered. I will hold consultation initially from my own party and after that we hope that the rest of country will participate in other words the political leaders will participate and support whatever decision we will make ourselves.

Question: Good morning Your Excellency, my name is Costa Mwansa from MUVI-TV. In your address Sir you did mention that you have the powers to appoint and relieve people of their duties without the consent of either people from the opposition or even students. My question is on the fact that you were presented with the Dennis Chirwa tribunal report of which the nation did expect you to comment on the findings but there were concerns that you kept rather silent on the tribunal findings and were very quick to reappoint Honourable Dora Siliya as Minister of Education in very short period of time after the case was quashed by the High Court. In relation to this there are also concerns that during the time that the tribunal had presented its report findings awaiting your comment the minister was still attending government functions such as the one in Livingstone just your comment on that Sir.

President Banda: Just the last bit to help people understand, the minister was not a minister when she attended the ZIBAC [Zambia International Business Advisory Council] she was a member of parliament. I think you know that she had never been suspended from her position and I would like the journalists to have these matters very clear so you can help the country out there to understand. Dora Siliya when she attended the ZIBAC meeting attended it as a member of parliament. But even private people, all the people that were sitting there were not ministers. There were many people from England, from all the provinces were attending I don't know what's so special about Dora Siliya that her presence there sends shivers to people. She was there as a member of parliament. Now with regards to the tribunal again I would like to ask my colleagues from the press to help, help us the Zambian people who don't have the facts. There was a tribunal and by the way my minister of...government spokesperson is listening to me carefully so that he can issue a statement afterwards. The issue of how long it took me to reappoint Dora Siliya after the ruling in the court. It took me just 24 hours because the ruling was like today I appointed her the following day. It took me five minutes from when Mr [William] Harrington asked for the tribunal to be set up and the judge-in-charge of that phoned me in my office here to say that we have had a citizen who has come to request for a tribunal to be set up in order to answer certain questions regarding Dora Siliya. It took me less than five minutes to say please go ahead and another five minutes to communicate with the minister of finance give them the money to go ahead and do it. So these facts I think need to be put out tomorrow to know that I have always been willing to allow citizens to settle their problems to the courts. I thought it was a good thing that Mr Harrington went to court. I believe sincerely that Mr Harrington would accept the resolution by the court, in other words the tribunal that he would agree whatever their decision was and this case so happens that Mr Harrington's requests at the court over Dora Siliya, the first was that she was found innocent on all the issues that Mr Harrington raised about her conduct in her constituency, her conduct at the airport and her conduct in the ministry. She was absolved of any mistake, she did not commit anything, everybody agrees on that and so the tribunal went on to say that however she did this and that and that something must be done to her. I also accepted that within 24 hours, I accepted her resignation. So what is peculiar about me accepting when Dora Siliya went to court to ask for judicial review and the judge ruled as he ruled? What is wrong with me accepting that? All along everybody said we must accept the court, I have accepted the court so those who are so adamant about this and I am sad that some women are not standing up for their fellow woman who is being victimized. There are so few of them and everyday we are talking about how many women should be in government and they are not standing up to say look one of us was victimised and the courts have proved that and she has been reinstated. I don't understand this I really find it very difficult to understand what the real motive is. So that's what really happened that Dora Siliya was found not guilty, found that the decision by the tribunal that she should be gotten rid of or she should resign because of this and that was wrong and therefore I acted because I believe in the Judiciary, the others don't believe in the Judiciary, it's obvious from their behaviour that they don't believe in the Judiciary. But we have to accept their decision. We accept, you can even go into prison as individuals when the Judiciary say you are guilty, you go into prison because you know that in the country the ultimate is what the courts decide so they have decided that is why Dora Siliya is there. So please help me in explaining and I like your question because perhaps this will help me to explain that she was at ZIBAC not for the pleasure of sitting next to me which she didn't. There were many witnesses. It was like we have got many diplomats who were there with us from all over the world, from all the countries that are accredited to Zambia. They know that Dora Siliya was sitting at the back and you know I’m so big so I don't turn around I didn't even have the pleasure of looking at her. I saw her in the paper sitting next to me, this manipulation, this is lies, everybody knows that The Post lied. Dora Siliya did not sit behind me...next to me. Next to me was sitting Honourable minister Mutati, minister of commerce, on my left was sitting Dr Mwanza and the other day was sitting the treasury...the deputy secretary to Cabinet Evans Chibiliti. At no time did Dora Siliya sit next to me. In any case what's wrong with Dora Siliya sitting next to me? What are you trying to imply? Just because you are morbid and peculiar you sent photographers to go and take pictures of your mother naked, shame on you! And I hope that there are laws in this country to stop the young men from taking pornographic. I hope those responsible for the law of this country will pursue this matter. Shame on you photographer who took the pictures of our mothers naked. I couldn't look at it, when I looked at it I threw it away and you wanted to be sending it round...it means that you are sick yourself and don't pretend to be worried about the people in the hospital. You are the same people who are saying the nurses should continue to go on strike, the doctors. Who is going to look after our sick? This is not fair for us to be subjected to trash and call it journalism. Wamene uyo mwana...that child who took that picture of the mother I wish him good luck. You cannot go and take pictures of a woman who is my mother, all of us are from women, and send it round without shame. How do you think? I would be ashamed to show it even to another person.

Jere interjects. Thank you, Your Excellency...

President Banda: Don't stop me I want this to stop. In this country that's why I agree with the mothers whoever has come to introduce into our country journalism of showing naked pictures of mothers and children is a sick person and he should be watched and arrested if caught up with this. This is something unacceptable.

Jere: I think most of you may not know the background where the President is talking about...it's that one newspaper has been distributing these pictures to different organisations showing our mothers giving birth at UTH. And some of the pictures have been sent to us and I think your guess is as good as mine, which that newspaper is. I will take more questions.

Question: Your Excellency good morning, my name is Davies Mataka from the Times. Your Excellency are you happy so far with the pace at which the investigations over Zambian Airways are going?

President Banda: Of course I’m not happy. I would like them to have been instantaneous but then they would not have been thorough. I think we have to give our investigators a chance to investigate these matters and I have sat back as is my style, which is mistaken for passivity. Let the people investigate, let them tell us all the things, who did them, how did they do them so we know what to do with them. I am not happy that they are taking so long but they are working. I know that they are working very hard. We will get the report soon, we will know what took place. Next question please.

Question: Good morning Your Excellency, my name is Ng'andwe Talent I’m representing the Germany Press Agency (DPA) I want to find out there have been calls of late by the local government minister that you extend the corruption probe to the tenure of the late president Levy Mwanawasa, what's your comment?

President Banda: Thank you very much. First of all, we must understand what he was trying to say. I understood him because I called him to find out. There was no intention whatsoever to imply that investigation like in the case of the Task Force should be targeted at the period when President Mwanawasa and so on - may his soul rest in peace - I don't think that was the intention. However, the point that the minister meant to make was that these cases are not for this period.

They didn't happen in the eight months, even since I was Vice-President these are cases which we can established, we are already establishing that they started a long time ago and so I think that's what the minister wanted to say and I find it a little bit in bad taste for me and yourself for all of us to be talking about our late president. Let him rest in peace. He led us well and he did his best and so on and even himself if he was here am sure he would say that he didn't know some of these things were taking place. A President is not a God even in England, even in England recently they found out that members of parliament were doing all kinds of things, which are not acceptable. It doesn't mean that Blair knew about it and the other they thought everything was okay until it was exposed. I really would like us to remember our president and in a grateful manner and in a manner that shows...let me speak on another question, which may not want to ask, the appointment of Evelyn Mwanawasa. I did not appoint Evelyn Mwanawasa because she was a Mwanawasa. I appointed her because Evelyn Mwanawasa is a staunch member of the MMD that's why I appointed her to the NEC. I never met young Patrick myself. I never met him at any of my rallies. I never saw him during the time I was campaigning but I saw Evelyn everywhere on the Copperbelt she was in the forefront so she made it to be appointed. And when I’m consulting I don't consult those who are not my members either. I consult only members of my party, what do you think if I appoint Evelyn? And I did consult even some members of the Mwanawasa family who are members of my party, who are very active in my party whom I know some uncles some are sitting here I consulted them and we are very happy about it so let's not take little individual things and try to make them into...that's not the case. Anyhow, does it mean that because she is a Mwanawasa she should never be considered for any leadership role? So I thought I should explain that because that's an issue anyhow you know that everything that I say is an issue.

Question: Simon Mwila from ZNBC I am also president for the Zambia Union for Broadcasters. I wish to commend you for having thought about appointing a salaries commission but I would also urge you Your Excellency that part of the mandate of this commission should look at the possibilities of making an amendment to the labour and industrial relations Act to the fact that when unions present their proposals to the employer the employer should in turn respond by giving an indication of what is it that they want or are able to offer back to the union because the current position is that only the union are able to give this proposal to the employer. And when they go for negotiations the employer will go with a file under the armpit without showing the union what is it that they want to show. I am convinced that if this is going to continue the strikes may not be abated. Thank you.

President Banda: Thank you very much for the advice. I am not very competent in these matters of negotiations and so on but I take what he is saying. In fact you are saying it in good spirit to make sure that there is understanding. But also just to add that when there are these negotiations everywhere, even in a home where you don't have a union you have got two workers there and they are asking for a little bit more money it's understood that it is between you and them and that if you can afford it, why would I not give somebody who is looking after my children an increment if I’m satisfied that she is doing a good job? Or he is doing a good job, somebody who cooks the food? If I don't have the money on the other side I should be able to say no, what you are asking for is beyond my ability to pay you. I don't have the way to be able to pay you that money but I can increase a little bit that's what negotiations is all about. But unfortunately there are people out there waiting to feast on any disagreement between the employer and the employed. I think that is cheap politics because you will never know sooner or later they may become the government. What are they going to do? And when you remind them some of them I know them very well like Mr Sata when you remind him that you told us that when you come we shall receive a lot of money he will lock you up and some of you don't know because you are young, we have grown up with that man, the name King Cobra didn't come from up there where the monkeys are playing. It comes from the fact that...that's why I always ask why is he always talking about the MMD and its candidate. Have you ever had a discussion about the candidate for PF in the next election? I will send him one of these monkeys to cook for lunch today after talking so much about him. So they don't talk about democracy, about fair play they don't about anything. When they come into power they will tell you what to do and it will be too late you will be coming to my farm if am still alive and say ha amudala pepani we wish we had listened to you. It will be too late.

Question: Good morning Your Excellency, I would like to find out whether you are unsettled by the electoral pact between the PF and UPND, thank you.

President Banda: Good luck to them. Like I said it's not the first time that pacts have been made. Zambia is...examples of pacts, which have taken place in the past and it's also replete with the collapse of those pacts. So I think that naturally...I have been approached for your own information. Mr Hakainde asked me for a pact in case you don't know, what matters is if he can get a pact and become the president that's what matters. He came to me before the last elections and asked for a pact and I said no, there is no basis for it and that it would create problems in my own party. My people would say how did you arrive at this? What happened to this and to that? So this is not the first time that we have heard of pacts. I wish them good luck, I really do, I made a joke. Some of you may not have heard it that the two of them are so ambitious to become president, this should be their third round in 2011 for some of the...the fourth round to want to become president of this country and they failed each time. So what will happen now is that the two of them will make a joint presidency it will be called Hakasata that's what it will be called because none of them will give up to the other. You know that and you will see it. You will say that old man was telling the truth. There is no way Mr Sata and Mr Hakainde can go together because he has shown already Mr Hakainde has no respect for old people, where will he get the respect for Mr Sata? And Mr Sata wants to be president before he says goodbye to all of us and he is not going to let him have it. He will tell him that I am the senior partner of this partnership, I got more votes than you in the last election, that's what he will tell him. And the others also and we will begin also telling people that you want to be ruled by people who obviously are from one section of a country. We want a national leadership all of us, we want a leadership. I don't care who it is as long as I am secured that whoever becomes leader of this country will not concentrate only in the area where he comes from. I am going to fight and they shouldn't forget that we all are politicians, we are going to go back where we come from and we will tell our people like we told them last time when Mr Hakainde came to power after the demise of our brother Anderson Mazoka, may his soul rest in peace.

Do not think that just because you do not like your children then you can vilify someone. That is the only reason. Find a reason. And I respect all my colleagues and I respect women even more. My colleagues in Cabinet will tell you that... No because Dora was sitting next to... Dora, I have known Dora long time. I know her mother, I know her late father, I know the family very well. Why should I be very nasty towards Dora just because Mr Harrington... Mr Harrington was the one who took his mother to court over money. He thinks we don't know that? Daniel? He took his mother who was at the back of a truck while himself he was a minister driving to the court in Livingstone that she took more money than he did from his father. Where is that money?

Jere: Thanks your Excellency. We will take more questions.

President Banda: No because I like people to know some of these people. I know a lot but the time will come.

Question: My name is MacDonald Mumba from 5FM. I just want to get your stance on the attacks on journalist. Your standpoint on attacks on journalists

President Banda: I hope that you are saying that if I attack Mr M'membe and The Post that I am attacking journalists. I hope you are not saying that because we work with journalists every day. I think you have seen it even The Post journalists enjoy travelling with me although he has to do his work and send stories. There is no one who can say on my travels with Mr Banda abused me, they chased me or denied me food. We go everywhere, we sit together as a team. I have nothing against journalists. If there are individuals who attack the journalists, they have their own reason. If what you are talking about is what happened in Chipata where they ... I hear, I didn't see this, I was busy with Mr Zuma, I hear that The Post journalists were attacked, that is wrong. I don't think they should attack them. But you should understand. Don't provoke people and expect them just to look at you, I belong to a political party, a big political party with branches in the villages everywhere. So everyday they read they see the same boy with a camera and they want to take a picture of me and they say, we are Africans, what do you want here? You are the one who is always attacking him? But you see that is not right. I am saying that journalists are just doing their work, protect them. You should embrace them and I think I do embrace you. You cannot say that this President has kept us at a distance. I embrace you at all times everywhere. So I do not approve of that... You know when you are attacking a leader of a political party you must know that he's got his people.

Question: Your Excellency, you have reiterated that agriculture will remain on top of the agenda of your government, and I note that the NCZ has been rehabilitated and they are saying they are able now, they have the capacity to produce more fertilizer. But in your address concerning the issue of agriculture, I didn't hear you speak about NCZ or giving it a contract to produce more. And then I would like to know what the government is doing in the long term to make sure that the NCZ is operating viably and in a sustainable manner. Thank.

President Banda: Thank you very much. First of all in a speech, you don't put anything. Even yourself if I say come and address us, you will never be able to put every subject. But with regard to the NCZ, I am talking with the ministers responsible for agriculture and livestock and we have already agreed that we shall talk with the minister, and so on. So the question of contracts, you know better than I do. I don't know how you know about this, but I hope this is not manoeuvres to try and muscle in. we have our systems. Within our systems, we will agree what we are supposed to do. We have already agreed with the ministers that we are going to meet with the minister of finance and find out how we proceed on that. But I don't write everything when I talk to you.

Question: Sir a newly formed party, Zambians for Empowerment and Development and various sectors of society feel the future of Zambia is bleak under your leadership. What is your take on that your Excellency?

President Banda: Yah, I heard there is a new party. Good luck, they are welcome, this is a democracy. We will see, everybody can stand up to say I have formed a party, now to find members is the other problem. I am translating from vernacular, we will see them, they are welcome.

Jere: We will get the last question Mr President.

Question: Wamundila from ZNBC. Your Excellency, you talked of adjustment to the public service expenditure. The current housing allowance being offered to most public service workers are far inadequate to meet the exorbitant uncontrolled house rentals in Lusaka especially. What is government doing about it?

President Banda: Well you know, first of all these properties whose rentals are going up are really not ours. They don't belong to the government, the market out there determines how much money should be paid on rentals. So we are very sorry that the rentals seem to be going up and specially public servants, but imagine even the unemployed, they also have to sleep in a house. They have to find money to pay for these exorbitant prices. We are going to give some thought to that as well. How we can ensure that rentals remain within levels of affordability but you know we have learnt from the many years we have been independent that some of these things you can't control them. And you just create more problems trying to control them. With regards to the civil servants, I said it in my speech that we know that they are living under very difficult conditions. We know that the amount of money that they are getting, not only themselves but many other sectors of the public service, is not adequate, we know that. But we are saying we are all Zambians, let us sit down and find a solution. Let's not ruin our country. Let's not wreck our country. Let's not lose anybody for the nation. If I was a nurse or a doctor, the thing that would really bother me is that what happened if after one week of the negotiations, when we have been striking, we have been on strike, 10 people have died? Those people will never come back. So you could have gone on with your work, and continued the negotiations. This is all we are saying, let us talk. We are not saying that there is no case, that their issues have no merit, no. We understand how difficult it is, how difficult their lives are under the conditions in the country. But let us talk about it. We have agreed on 15 per cent, and we are going to continue negotiating. All our ministries know that they have to negotiate with their workers. So there is no need for individuals to want to make political capital out of this. That is all we are attacking. We are not attacking the people, no.

Question: Yes, good morning your Excellency, my question is with regards to the current hiccups in the health sector. On Monday, the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) demanded that all government leaders and politicians access medical services locally as opposed to being rushed to South Africa. I just want your comment on that one.

President Banda: Well, why don't you even refer to mine? I'm in a plastic just as it is now over my knee. You know these things are very nice and very easy to say, tomorrow it could be you. And when I say you, I mean every Zambian. Every day I am faced with questions, whether to move somebody out or not, to better condition. And Hallow [somebody shouts Sata]. Yah, good example, exactly. For me even tomorrow, if it happens to him again I will be the first one to say Mupelekeni. It's not a pleasure.

It is easier said when you ask questions like you are asking. It is easy for you to say no, no, don't send people out. What happens to you personally, you standing here if tomorrow you are involved in a crash? And if we took you out to a hospital in Johannesburg would save your life, and if we kept you here we would fail to save your life, what happens, that is what is happening. Everywhere, every day all over the country, I know you know about the big names, if it happens to Mr Sata, everybody knows that he has been taken. But Mr Sata like any other Zambian is entitled to be taken for better medical facilities until we have reached that level. You can't say that because we are Zambians, we should let them die, and just go to the hospital here. If we can do something about it, we do it, every day. So my feeling is that when you are talking about me, I just, I have been walking on this thing for a long time, but it was getting worse and worse and I was saying it will be over. If I exercise, if I get massaged, it will be over and so on. By the time I got to Cape Town, I could hardly carry my leg. So unless somebody says no, no, you should have come back here all the way. But the doctors are right there. And so I went and had mine. We have a colleague who went to a conference in Swaziland and was taken ill, seriously ill. They phoned me, what do we do because we need money? I said put him in the nearest hospital there. Let him be assisted. We have, we are a society and we have to care for our people. So that is my feeling about it.

I think what we should do is to spend more money when we have it on our health services so that more and more of these problems can be resolved here. But also, if you have a strike, if doctors in other countries we don't hear of doctors going on strike. So if all the doctors are on strike, like when I was in South Africa, the doctors were on strike here and the nurses, I should have brought my broken leg and say akanikonze when there was a strike here? How would I have done it? So all of us have to realise that health is a very special field, that is why we spend so much time and money on the issues of health.

Question: [Inutu Himanje from ZNBC]. Still on the health sector your Excellency, with revelations from the Ministry of Health, donor support has been withheld or delayed as they like to put it. We would like to find out from you what your government is doing to mitigate the impact, and if at all the national budget will be on course as it was presented in February this year. Further on since I am the last person your Excellency, I would like you to comment on the acquisition of mobile hospitals. Thank you very much.

President Banda: The first question was, the first question was?

Jere: On the health and withholding of donor support.

President Banda: Withholding of donor yah, I have had long discussions with some of the colleagues in the donor community and I have been assured that it's not intended to punish the Zambian people or to make things difficult for us. But these problems were there and this money, which they give us comes from their taxpayers. They have to explain, when something blows up like this where you hear 10 billion was taken by one young man and from the coffers of donors, naturally their people are interested too.

So I think we are working together, you know that we are investigating everybody. And we are talking with the donors and we have been assured that this is not a permanent thing. And in any case, a donor does this of their own volution. The German people, the Swedes and all these people do these things because they are all human beings and feel they must help others who are in need. Of course, they get upset. It's like if I gave money to a father of a home where I know there is hunger, and then the father takes to go and drink and be with other women, I will be upset with him. I will tell him, look, next time, I will not help you because I gave you this help so that you can help your people. So what is really happening here, we should understand it all of us. What is wrong, what I think is wrong is that these matters should not be discussed in the press before we discuss them ourselves together. Because all our colleagues here they have sworn loyalty to me, and I have sworn to protect them also, to live with them here, and to work with them and to bring our two countries closer. I used to be a diplomat myself. I used to say this that a good ambassador is the one who represents his country in the first instance of course, concerned by his country, but also represents the country where he is because people out there don't know us, they don't know the Zambians. So it is them who everyday have to write. I don't know, Zambians are not as bad as you have said. But if a diplomat is the one in the forefront in his country telling people, these are very bad people, they are corrupt, they are like this and that, of course will not make us happy. I'm sure you wouldn't blame us for that if we were unhappy because you are accredited to us. And that is why we don't like it when we see in the newspaper, in foreign countries articles from where diplomats are mentioned. I think that is wrong. I am a former diplomat myself. I have deliberately not decided to pursue this matter because I think we can talk about it like this. If something is wrong, my doors are open and the diplomatic service knows that my doors are open to them, each one of them, collectively and individually to discuss these issues, so I am sure we will overcome these problems of the Ministry of Health. Unfortunately alone, we cannot do it. For the time being we had already budgeted for this and they put the carpet over us, but I hope with the measures that we have put in place, some of which I have announced today, and the investigations which are going, and the punishments that will follow. I hope that everybody will be satisfied and they will come back and assist us and also we must put permanent measures in place to ensure that our people don't take advantage of this support. But I really think that the Zambian people, we have had such a good name, thanks to them. They are the ones who tell the people, Zambia is a good destination, they are good people, they work hard, and so, so. So let's prove to them that this is not everywhere. It's just in certain places where people suddenly had money. But you know what is a problem here also, we make heroes out of people who do things which are not right, like I was talking the issue which irritated me so much about the photographs of the women. But you know you have people going around and spending money which it is obvious that according to his salary, they cannot have that money. And all of you are out there, and you see it every day. In fact befriend them. We should always be alert and stop these things. How can a human resource manager have a hotel, a big, big hotel? A lodge whatever you call it and nobody asks questions where did he get the money from, or report? It had to take his girlfriend because another girlfriend of his. No one of us in our society, so why are we pretending that we are against this kind of thing? As a society, we should fight, we should expose these kind of things so that.

Now with regards to mobile hospitals, I said it before and I was attacked for it. I was asked by a young journalist at the airport, what did I think about these mobile hospitals? Let me say this, first of all these mobile hospitals have not been approved by this government. They have not been discussed. The Secretary to the Cabinet is sitting over there. All that has happened like in many other cases is that businessmen have come and proposed that they can find money for this, for these mobile hospitals. And then of course it became a big issue. I was asked, what did I think about it? I thought that it would be a wonderful idea for the Zambian people to have more mobile hospitals reaching them. Because this is not new. It may be some of you are new here, and the younger people don't know.

We have always had mobile, taking medicines to the people. We have even an airline, what do you call it? Flying doctor service, it has been there ever since I have grown up. We even used to have, Ministry of Health used to send vehicles to the rural areas with medicines to help where the people, we have always had these, so why is it a bad idea because is bigger? So this is all politics, and I would once again say that we have not decided on this matter. But I think it is a good idea. If the prices are not way out, if it is something which and I have talked to some of the diplomatic colleagues and they have said, we are not against it either. But we just want to know how it is going to be done in the framework of procurement, in the framework of, because we already have in this country a

Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, RUPIAH BANDA, SATA, THE POST

posted by MrK @ 2:59 PM