Maravi

Senior MMD officials are scared of me – Magande

Senior MMD officials are scared of me – Magande
Written by Patson Chilemba
Monday, September 14, 2009 5:47:13 AM

Former finance minister Ng’andu Magande has said some senior MMD members like Mike Mulongoti are scared of him contesting the party presidency at the national convention. But MMD deputy national secretary Jeff Kaande has maintained that he will discipline Magande and his Kafulafuta colleague George Mpombo, saying he does not want to quarrel with Mpombo because people will to tell who is a fool between the two of them.

Reacting to works and supply minister Mike Mulongoti’s statement in Friday’s Daily Mail where he said Magande was not popular to stand on the MMD’s ticket in the 2011 general elections, Magande wondered why MMD leaders were trying hard to postpone the convention if he was not popular. He said MMD was a democratic party and people should be allowed to choose their own leaders.

“If I am not popular then why are they scared of me going and standing at the convention?” asked Magande. “It [convention] is not the election of one person but the management of the party. One knows if they are popular or not when you subject yourself to an election. I got 11 votes in NEC. That is not a joke. He [Mulongoti] doesn’t know what those people who voted for me have been doing. Probably they have been campaigning for me.”

Mulongoti asked Magande to stop attacking President Rupiah Banda for the decision taken by MMD members to endorse him as the sole candidate in the 2011 general elections.

Magande had earlier said in The Post that those who were championing the postponement of the MMD national convention wanted the party to lose the elections because they would end up adopting a candidate who was not popular.

And in a letter dated September 5, 2009 to President Banda, MMD member Alfred Ndhlovu stated that the desire by some members to skip the constitutionally scheduled convention of MMD in 2010 was not convincing enough to abide by.

He stated that the convention was a supreme organ of the party which decided important matters such as amending the MMD constitution, electing leaders, ratifying appointments, including confirming the acting party president and approving the previous year’s financial reports.

“Certainly, it is not right, proper or being fair to ourselves to avoid holding the convention. I can also add that failing to hold a convention for whatever reasons is bad politics. The global financial crunch is not like a war situation. It is just an ordinary cycle of economic performance which is being rectified,” Ndhlovu stated. “I believe the MMD can do it even under difficulties. This country is stable, a vital ingredient to play party politics. The convention must be held as scheduled.”

Ndhlovu stated that internal democracy was exemplified by holding elections within the party at both local and national levels.

“The resolutions from provinces requesting the National Executive Committee (NEC), to decide on what the convention is supposed to do hinge on dictatorship of the now infamous 2nd Republic era when amphibians contested elections instead of fellow human beings!” Ndhlovu stated. “The MMD has a track record of practicing democracy and it will be unwise to break that record.”

Ndhlovu stated that the MMD should not jump on the bandwagon of avoiding elections like other political parties but live politically by example.

“As you may be aware, the former ruling party, UNIP, was routed everywhere except from the Eastern Province where Your Excellency hail from. If you accept to avoid the convention in 2010, the implications are too ghastly to contemplate,” Ndhlovu stated. “As a leader, you must explain this democratic position thoroughly. I am there to help you explain it. Let us defend the virtues of democracy for the system to survive. Leaders in this country were cheated enough before 1973 and we do not need a repeat of that experience.”

Ndhlovu stated that democracy was not cheap, and those who chose it must be prepared to seek and find resources with which to run it.

He stated that autocracy and dictatorship were cheap but unworthy of the effort to try them even for a day.

Ndhlovu urged President Banda to come to terms with timeless traditions of the MMD and go for the convention. He stated that no one won elections by stopping others from participating, but gathering more votes from supporters.

“A president of any Republic cannot fail to find money to finance his own political survival. The global financial crunch started in the United States of America in 2008. That country held successful elections and president Obama won. Israel is a country at war since 1948. That country goes to the polls when they are due. [Israeli] Prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu replaced [Ehud] Olmert recently,” stated Ndhlovu. “There is no credible reason in Zambia today why the convention should be thrown out of the window, just like that! Remember that leaders who go through the whole democratic process perform better in office.”

But Kaande said the MMD’s decision to postpone the convention would remain in force.

“We are the only party that goes to conventions. Why are you always concentrating on us? You have never taken to task the PF. They have never gone to a convention. Why are you taking us on?” he asked.

Kaande said he would take disciplinary action against Mpombo and Magande at an appropriate time now that they have reacted to the party’s decision to postpone the convention.

He said he would not respond to Mpombo’s assertions that he had demons in his head because he was disciplined and had manners.

“I have told you, the normal disciplinary procedure will be followed, and what I said in Mansa stands. I have not changed. And what I was waiting for is their reaction,” said Kaande. “I said when you quarrel with a fool, people will not tell the difference between the two of you. So, I don’t want to engage myself in a public exchange of insults with Mr Mpombo.”

And Chisamba MMD member of parliament Moses Muteteka asked Mpombo to stop planting seeds of confusion and cause conflict in the management of the party. He said Mpombo had privileges and should have used his Cabinet position to speak on party matters.

“For him to become talkative like a woman on serious national issues is not good for national development,” Muteteka said.

Asked if he saw no sense in the matters Mpombo was raising, Muteteka responded: “It is 50-50. There is some sense and to some extent there is no sense. This is why he should have remained in Cabinet.”

Labels: MAGANDE, MIKE MULONGOTI, MMD, PRESIDENCY

posted by MrK @ 4:50 AM