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Banda failed to discipline Konga, says HH

Banda failed to discipline Konga, says HH
By Chibaula Silwamba
Sun 25 Oct. 2009, 04:01 CAT

UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has charged that President Rupiah Banda has failed to discipline energy minister Kenneth Konga over the fuel crisis because he corruptly meddled in the fuel contracts leading to the ongoing crisis.

Hichilema said President Banda’s apology to the nation over the fuel crisis was hollow, meaningless and insincere. Commenting on President Banda’s statement that he could not take punitive actions against Ministry of Energy officials for causing the fuel crisis and giving inaccurate picture about the problem, Hichilema said President Banda was a culprit in the fuel crisis, therefore, he had no guts to punish Konga.

“How will he discipline the energy minister because the energy minister knows that it is the President’s meddling and interference that has caused the fuel shortage? Konga knows that it is the President who has been meddling. So it is difficult for him to discipline Konga. If it wasn’t the case, why would Konga get away with it? At first Konga said there was no crisis but we have seen the crisis and Konga has been assuring the nation that the crisis is over, it’s not yet over,” Hichilema said.

“So the President is now, if you like, compromised. He cannot discipline Konga because Konga knows that it is the President who has been interfering.

That is what corruption does. It creates a situation where even those that are supposed to do the work can get away with it because the top leadership, the President in this matter is meddling with the supplies contract, not just in fuel but also in maize and in contract of services such as RP Capital Partners. So the President is compromised. And because he knows that he is compromised he has no capacity, he has no guts to discipline Konga.”

Last Wednesday, President Banda said he would not take disciplinary action against officials that caused the fuel crisis but he wanted them to know that they had responsibilities to Zambians.

Hichilema said President Banda’s apology was like crocodile tears.
“Just a few days earlier, he was saying nobody should be blamed, now he apologises after the opposition leaders, after we put pressure on him, he tries to apologise. That apology is meaningless. It means nothing and it’s absolutely empty. He doesn’t mean it,” Hichilema said. “I can liken his apology to crocodile tears.”

He said President Banda’s poor leadership had affected Zambians.

“In essence, Rupiah Banda has already damaged the lives of Zambians because of his poor leadership, corruption, low thinking because he should have looked at the issues of strategic reserves,” Hichilema said.

“The President is abrogating his chief executive responsibilities in the country, so he is admitting that he is not chief executive of Zambia because he believes that the country should run blindly without someone running it. By him being the first person saying that there was nobody to blame over the fuel shortages means that he does not understand that he is the chief executive of the country and that is the fundamental problem that we have with Rupiah Banda.”

Hichilema reiterated that President Banda artificially created the fuel crisis so that his children could get contracts.

“… Can he come out that he did not entangle himself in the RP Capital Partners contract?” Hichilema asked. “I challenge him to go back to the Zamtel saga if I am not telling the truth.”

Labels: FUEL, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, KENNETH KONGA, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 5:53 PM