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Harrington urges presidential advisors to assist Rupiah make informed decisions

Harrington urges presidential advisors to assist Rupiah make informed decisions
Written by Maluba Jere in Lusaka and Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Sunday, August 16, 2009 3:57:55 PM

FORMER transport and communication minister William Harrington has said President Rupiah Banda’s advisors should assist him in making informed decisions and avert unfortunate situations at the country’s highest learning institutions.
And former Copperbelt University Students Union (COBUSU) secretary general Christopher Kang’ombe has said the closure of CBU should have been the last resort.

Meanwhile, COBUSU president Kasonde Mwenda has observed that the closure of the institution would trickle down to every taxpayer in the long run, especially if management decides to prolong it beyond two weeks.

In an interview yesterday, Harrington said the protests by University of Zambia (UNZA) and Copperbelt University (CBU) students against the appointment of Dora Siliya as education minister could have been avoided if President Banda had serious and committed advisors at State House.

“The Presidents’ advisors should assist him to make informed decisions on important and sensitive national issues such as in the Dora Siliya case, to avert the unfortunate situation at our two highest institutions of learning,” he said.

“I say so because as first petitioner in the Judge Dennis Chirwa-led Tribunal appointed to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of office leveled against Ms. Dora Siliya, I recall that whereas Justice Philip Musonda delivered his judgment on Ms. Siliya’s application for judicial review on 16th June 2009, the President speedily went ahead to announce his decision to appoint Ms. Dora Siliya MP as new Minister of Education on 18th June 2009, replacing Mr. Geoffrey Lungwangwa MP who was transferred to the Ministry of Communications and Transport.”

He explained that he was not speaking as a spokesperson for the students but that he could only take a wild guess that they (students), just like many other enlightened citizens, were alive to these facts.

Harrington also said it was misleading and prejudicial for President Banda and others to say that Siliya had been cleared by the courts of law since the matter was still in court following his filling of a notice of appeal.

He said it would have been better if President Banda just informed the nation that he had intentions of reappointing Siliya as minister, adding that he should have waited until after the court had completely disposed of the case.

“Barely a week thereafter on 28th June 2009, the President went ahead to swear in Dora Siliya as new Minister of Education and publicly congratulated her on being ‘cleared by the courts’ over the findings of the tribunal,” Harrington said.

“The question that begs an answer is, was the President advised that the matter was still in the ‘courts’ and his statement was therefore prejudicial to my appeal? If the President had been well advised, perhaps he may not have made that premature declaration.”

Harrington further said chief government spokesperson Lt Gen Ronnie Shikapwasha did not help the situation when he advised the consortium of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) who had written to President Banda complaining about his decision to re-appoint Siliya when he said those who were not happy should go to court.

He said Lt Gen Shikapwasha’s statement was not helpful to President Banda and the nation as a whole because the matter was yet to be decided by the Supreme Court.

“This statement by the honourable chief government spokesperson is misleading, prejudicial and most unhelpful to the President because, notwithstanding the fact that Dora Siliya has not been cleared by the ‘courts’ as the matter is yet to be determined by the Supreme Court of Zambia following my notice of appeal,” Harrington said.

And commenting on the decision by the CBU senate to bring forward the end of the second term, Kang’ombe who is also Riverside ward independent councillor, said the closure was unnecessary given the nature of students’ demands.

Kang’ombe said CBU management should have sought assurance from the students’ union body and had a round-table discussion with them in seeking a way forward.

He feared that as the situation stood currently, there was a possibility that the closure could be indefinite.

Kang’ombe added that the government’s accusations on students that they were being used by politicians would not solve the problems at CBU.

“I think there is need for stakeholders to appreciate each other’s concerns for peace to be guaranteed,” said Kang’ombe.

“It would not take a politician to tell the students to demand justice for their friend who was shot for example. I think issues should have been looked at separately. I don’t think students would wait for a politician to tell them what to do.”

And Mwenda described the closure as unfortunate.

Meanwhile, Mwenda called for a professional investigation into the alleged theft of K200 million from the man whose car was stoned and burnt on Thursday night.

Mwenda said as far as he was concerned, the students could not take responsibility for the lost money because it was far-fetched and based on hearsay.

“We just read about the issue of the money from the media but what I know is that if there was money involved, we could have heard it from the students themselves before we could even hear it in the media. I can only talk about what I can see which is the burnt car and not the money. It is unfortunate that the car was burned,” said Mwenda.

On Friday, the CBU senate brought forward the end of term two to allow management enough time to restore calm and bring back a conducive learning environment and ensure public safety at the institution.

This followed a demonstration on Thursday evening which resulted in students burning a private vehicle.

Labels: CBU, CHRISTOPHER KANG'OMBE, COBUSU, KASONDE MWENDA, WILLIAM HARRINGTON

posted by MrK @ 2:59 PM