Rupiah is not an angel – Mulongoti

Rupiah is not an angel – Mulongoti
By Jane Mwakasungula
Mon 26 Oct. 2009, 04:01 CAT

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda and his ministers are not angels but humans who make mistakes, MMD acting spokesperson Mike Mulongoti said yesterday.

Commenting on chief Bright Nalubamba of the Ila people of Namwala that government ministers were responsible for President Banda’s lying, Mulongoti said the current economic problems the country was facing were ordinary.

“President Banda and us in the MMD are not angels.

The President and his ministers are humans who are capable of making mistakes. After all, he (President Banda) is human like anybody else,” Mulongoti said. “We are in the global village where every country is facing problems. We should not behave as if we are outlandish. Yes we have made a mistake but people should understand that human beings are bound to do that at any time. My appeal is that we should be patient because the problem is not permanent. Even Tanzania and other countries are facing the same challenges.”

Mulongoti, who is also works and supply minister, charged that chief Nalubamba had no respect for President Banda by rushing to the press over the fuel crisis.
“That basically shows that his royal highness had no respect for the President and government. If he felt aggrieved, he should have come to us and we would have discussed the matter comprehensively. We do not rush to the press to complain about their royal highnesses, but rather do it the right way,” he said.
Mulongoti accused chief Nalubamba of trying to demoralise people over the MMD by suggesting that it was not possible for the ruling party to defeat the PF-UPND pact in 2011 with the current mismanagement of the economy.

“The chief’s sentiments are demoralisations. He is blowing the issue out of proportion and we are not going to bend to that,” said Mulongoti.

Chief Nalubamba on Saturday said President Banda qualified to be called a liar after taking misleading advice from energy minister Kenneth Konga on the fuel crisis.