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Lambas are hurt, injured and frustrated – Namulambe

Lambas are hurt, injured and frustrated – Namulambe
By George Chellah
Tue 24 Nov. 2009, 04:01 CAT

SCIENCE and technology minister Gabriel Namulambe has said the Lamba people are frustrated, hurt and injured by constant attacks on the late president Levy Mwanawasa's legacy.

And Namulambe has demanded that the Lamba people deserve to be respected both in the government and in the MMD. In an interview over the weekend, Namulambe attributed the MMD's victories of 2001 and 2008 to president Mwanawasa's name.

“I want to state that for MMD to have won in 2001 it was as a result of the name of Levy Mwanawasa, which came on board that the MMD was able to regain its lost glory at that time. It was as a result of the failed third term bid for the former president.

We thank president Frederick Chiluba for having thought of the name but of course there was no other choice because Levy had a clean name at that time,” Namulambe said. “When Levy took over government of course, there was a lot of criticism against his administration but he stood his ground because he knew what he was doing.

It was unfortunate that at the time when most Zambians appreciated his rule, his principles, that was the time God had to take him away from all of us.

“Now, of course, during the time when they aired his will, he mentioned to say that if during the course of his duty he injured certain people, he apologised. And it's up to those individuals if they are God-fearing people to take his apology because whatever he did, he didn't do it for his own personal gain but he was doing it for the nation and that is Zambia.”

He said Lambas feel frustrated, hurt and injured that some people had publicly declared that they hated the late Mwanawasa.

“I think even you at The Post, you have carried that story of some big personality that has said that they hated president Mwanawasa. And these are the same people who champion that they are Christians so I wonder if they are really Christians, and that has hurt us. That statement to say that they hated president Mwanawasa and these are the people who are showing some sort of alliance with us as MMD,” Namulambe said.

“We are feeling bad that it's either they are teasing us especially that us we have lost, we are still mourning and this is when we are feeling it that 'really, this man has gone'. Worse still, there are some other people who at that time used to praise the late president, but they are trying to lump him to say that some of these financial scams that are being unearthed now they happened during his rule. Implying as if it was president Mwanawasa who was responsible for these financial scams, yet not.

“I remember at one point in one of the fora the late president stated that 'after the Ministry of Lands, we are moving to Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Works and Supply I don't want this corruption to continue'. Some of these ministries this is why we are experiencing these financial scams.”

He insisted that Lambas were injured by the insinuations that president Mwanawasa was corrupt.

“To hear some people again insinuating that we are celebrating certain people as heroes yet these things of financial scams happened during their time. I think you carried this story as The Post some time last week. It has really injured us and I want to warn…I have got no apologies to make.

I want to warn that we who were of the same tribe with the late president, we feel greatly injured because that person was a nationalist who did not know tribal politics or anything. He appointed people on merit, some of us for instance,” Namulambe said.

He said he believed in president Mwanawasa's principles.

“I won't mention what action we are going to take. But I just want to warn that we must be respected as Lambas. That man ruled Zambia and he put the name of Zambia on the world map. People at least realise that we had potential leadership in the name of president Mwanawasa. So whoever didn't like Mwanawasa at the time and they didn't speak out, I think that is their problem but I want to warn that we will not take kindly anything that will jeopardise the name of the late president. He stood for what was right, he died on duty for the right of the Zambians,” Namulambe said.

“And also he stood for the truth, he was a principled person. For any person to lump him and say he was corrupt and what, it is themselves who are corrupt, those who are saying so. This is a very friendly warning that I am sounding now that they must stop it, we are injured. It's not only in the Lambaland but in other provinces as well where they liked Mwanawasa, I think people are injured with these sentiments. So those who are talking ill of the late president must stop it. What we are saying is that at least let the man rest in peace, let him be respected.”

During the launch of Transparency International (TI)'s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2009 at Chrismar Hotel in Lusaka last week Tuesday, President Rupiah Banda's chief policy analyst Dr Francis Chigunta expressed displeasure that the anti-graft body had attributed Zambia's slight improvement in the CPI ranking to president Mwanawasa, ignoring the efforts that President Banda had put in place to fight corruption since he came to office.

“…You are quoting documents which were produced in the year 2008 and you attribute all that to the late president. Please! Let's appreciate that much has been done during the short period that President Banda has been office,” Dr Chigunta said. “In any case, the fight against corruption should not only be attributed to one individual or government. It's about the whole society. It's about re-examining our values as Zambians. Zambians today celebrate corrupt people as heroes. But we should discourage that type of practice and attitude which defeats the whole purpose of fighting corruption.”

And Namulambe said even in 2008, the MMD won because of the Mwanawasa legacy.

He said the MMD campaigned that they would continue with the same legacy.

“Now if those people that are now benefiting as a result of the legacy of the late… and they are now trying to say all sorts of things just because he is in the grave, I think that is very unfortunate and that is the thing that is hurting us,” he said.

Asked whether he felt that as Lambas they deserved to be respected both in the party and in the government, Namulambe responded: “Very much and outside government we must be respected because at least that man did a lot for this country and did a lot for… In fact, all of us that are serving in this country...”

Namulambe said he would not sit back and smile when his mentor was being attacked. However, he said there was no need for him to resign from his ministerial position.

“The thing is that I am serving the people of Zambia. I was appointed by the President to serve the people of Zambia and I don't think I have found it difficult to serve in the capacity I am serving. I can only be dropped if they want to drop me, that is, if I have committed an offence,” said Namulambe.

“I will not resign. I will still point out to say that 'we are wrong here' inside not outside. I will still be able to speak out inside to say that 'I think here we have gone outside'… because if I am outside I am going to throw myself very much away from the powers that be to advise. Hence my insistence that I should stay inside and fight from inside.”

Labels: GABRIEL NAMULAMBE, MWANAWASA

posted by MrK @ 3:43 AM