Shikapwasha won't stop me speaking out, says HH

Shikapwasha won't stop me speaking out, says HH
Written by George Chellah
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 6:14:49

UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema on Wednesday vowed that chief government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha's one-party state tactics of silencing citizens will not deter him from speaking out. And Hichilema insisted that he stands by his statements on the strike by health workers and dared the police to arrest him for treason.

Reacting to Lt Gen Shikapwasha's remarks that his statements on the strike by health workers border on treason, Hichilema dismissed the information minister's assertions.

"It's Rupiah Banda and Shikapwasha who are committing treason by their greedy actions and corruption as a government and by paying themselves higher salaries. When we tell them to cut their salaries so that they pay workers, is that treason? When we tell them not to buy mobile hospitals, is that treason?" Hichilema asked.

"I stand by what I am saying. There is no seriousness in him, he is a scared man. They are still worried about the UPND/PF pact these chaps. Shikapwasha is a disgrace. In fact, I am praying to God that he dismisses that Reverend from his kingdom. Those are one-party state tactics and they will not work.

"We are not scared of them. It's them who are acting in a treasonable manner through corruption. They know where I am. Why are they not sending the police? They know where I am."

He said Lt Gen Shikapwasha needed to learn to analyze things correctly.

"Many times he speaks on impulse and threatens people. He will not scare anybody. They want to digress public attention from the pact. No sensible leader would want people to die in hospitals. Hakainde does not want Zambians to die because of the poor medical services because that's what we stand for," Hichilema said.

"We have never said the strike must continue. We have said that the government is not doing enough to end the strike. Shikapwasha is exhibiting so much shallowness in his analysis. All the people on strike are intelligent enough to know that the strike is the last resort. They don't need me to encourage them. They are encouraged by poor management of affairs by Shikapwasha and his MMD team."

He said Lt Gen Shikapwasha lacked the capacity to comprehend simple arithmetic.

"I can forgive Shikapwasha. I don't think he is articulate in numerals. I can only urge him to go to night school and enrol so that he can learn arithmetic. He should also read. Some of these guys don't read you know? If Shikapwasha had gone to night school he would have understood that the Auditor General's report is a government document. Shikapwasha is not analytical," Hichilema said.

"I am urging Shikapwasha to go to night school so that he can learn to read and confirm that the government's spending control has collapsed. Let him go to night school and understand how to interpret figures."

Hichilema said the issues Lt Gen Shikapwasha was failing to comprehend were simple.

"When the report came out at the Ministry of Health. You know that initially it was K10 billion and when the Auditor General did a quick sampling the figure increased to K27 billion, more than 100 per cent. I just did a further analytical extrapolation to arrive at those figures. It's very simple arithmetic but Shikapwasha can't understand it," Hichilema said.

"I challenge them to fund the Auditor General's office to do a 100 per cent audit in all government ministries for the period in question and you will see that my figures are even much lower. My figures are under-quoted actually. When I look at them I say Zambia is a very beautiful country, God help us if this is the kind of mediocre leadership you have given us."

He said the situation was grave and that the problem was about poor management of resources.

"There is no doubt MMD is panicking. Everything they touch is a mistake because we think ahead of them. When a crisis happens they say we are inciting," said Hichilema.
On Tuesday, Lt Gen Shikapwasha accused Hichilema of inciting health workers to continue with their strike, saying the comments were treasonable and the law could take its course on the UPND leader.