Maravi

Seek election as ward councillor before presidency, Kunda urges HH

Seek election as ward councillor before presidency, Kunda urges HH
By Mutuna Chanda in Solwezi
Wed 11 Nov. 2009, 04:01 CAT

VICE-PRESIDENT George Kunda has said UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema should seek election as a ward councillor before gunning for the presidency. And North Western Province minister Joseph Mulyata has attacked Kansanshi Mine that it has employed PF cadres instead of locals.

Meanwhile, MMD Kamalamba ward councillor Emmanuel Chihili blamed the poor attendance of the rally that Vice-President Kunda addressed on farming activities that Kyafukuma residents had gone to attend to.

Addressing a poorly-attended rally at Kyafukuma Basic School which was attended predominantly by children, some clad in school uniforms, Vice-President Kunda said Hichilema's insatiable appetite for power had led him into a very dangerous alliance with PF leader Michael Sata.

"Mr Hichilema has been losing elections, every presidential election he stands and he has been losing," Vice-President Kunda said. "He's a young man but the problem with him is he's in a hurry to go to State House and his political strategy amuses me. …For example, when I qualified as a lawyer, I went to work for the Luanshya Municipal Council and I know how the local government system works and I have been moving eh!

Ask other ministers, this is how we move, some start as MPs members of parliament then you start moving, learning politics. Him, he should first start as a councillor, from there as an MP, from MP he can become a minister like that but him the only thing he thinks about is to be President. Now because he is panicking and because of his insatiable appetite for power, he has now made a very fatal mistake; he has gone into a very dangerous arrangement with a very poisonous and dangerous snake. This snake is Mr Sata."

He said Hichilema mistakenly thought that Sata was popular and that he would bring him into government once he won the elections.

He charged that Sata had lost ground.

"Even Northern Province where he claims to have support where he was campaigning on tribal lines in Kasama, we have 11 MPs meaning that a lot of people even in Northern Province they do not vote for Mr Sata because he has a lot of weaknesses, for example he's a very violent man," he said.

"The whole of Luapula Province is drifting away from Mr Sata. In Central Province many voters do not vote for Mr Sata..."

And Mulyata put Vice-President Kunda in an awkward position when he accused Kansanshi Mine of employing PF cadres.

Mulyata said instead of employing locals, Kansanshi Mine employed PF cadres and yet the government did not discriminate when employing people.

"This is Kansanshi and even Kansanshi Mine are not employing MMD, they are employing PF," Mulyata said.

"We are not going to allow such a situation, you are the nearest people here, we want you to be employed. When government employs, it does not only employ teachers from MMD...but they just employ PF, is that in order? That Kansanshi is in Solwezi. Solwezi mabwetu so the first people to be employed are Solwezians. We are going to talk to them because each one of us should get equal treatment."

Vice-President Kunda in response instead spoke of the good corporate governance and social responsibility that companies were supposed to abide by.

"Now about the issue of jobs at Kansanshi; it is part of our laws that investors who are coming to Zambia should practice good corporate governance and they should put into practice corporate social responsibility by looking after the local people, building infrastructure such as schools by way of helping the local people building of health centres and where the local people have problems try to help them, avoid pollution.

There are certain simple things which the company which is running Kansanshi Mine can help the communities here. These companies should not only make money but they should give a bit of what they are getting from the community back to the community, that is good corporate governance and good corporate social responsibility," said Vice-President Kunda.

And community development deputy minister Moses Muteteka warned civil servants against undermining government programmes.

He said the consequences for civil servants who were discovered to work against the government would be harsh.

Meanwhile, Chihili gave an excuse that the rally was poorly attended because many Kyafukuma residents had gone to their fields to cultivate.

He said Kyafukuma residents were very productive and had gone to their fields hence their non-attendance.
However, Chihili complained of the poor state of the road that led from Kyafukuma to the town centre.

He said the only source of water that residents in Kyafukuma had was at the clinic and that people from far flung areas had to make way to draw the commodity for domestic use.

He said many of the wells because of the activities in Kansanshi were drying up as the water table had been affected.

He said local farmers had not benefitted from the Fertiliser Support Programme.
Chihili said people from far-flung areas were serviced by one health centre at Kyafukuma.

MMD candidate Albert Chifita asked Kyafukuma residents for forgiveness if he had wronged them in any way.

He appealed to residents of Kyafukuma to vote for him on November 19.
Chifita is running against independent candidate Thomas Kafula, Watson Lumba of the PF and UPND pact and Forum for Democratic Alternatives' Muhammad Kalela.

At another rally at Tuvwang'anai Basic School in Solwezi on Monday, Vice-President Kunda said Sata had no credibility.

He said the PF lost in the Chitambo parliamentary by-election because its leader insulted people all over the shore.

"He's exporting to Solwezi and North Western Province, violence," Vice-President Kunda said. "He's a violent man. They've injured people here in Solwezi. We reject violence. MMD stands for peace."

He said Hichilema mistakenly thought that he could ride on Sata's popularity and yet the man was a spent force in North Western Province.

He said Sata was losing grip of areas that he traditionally had support in areas such as Luapula Province.

Vice-President Kunda congratulated residents of North Western Province for their enterprise and said that a lot had changed since 1976 when he first came to Solwezi for his national service training through to 2001 when he used to represent clients in the area through his law practice.

He said Zambians had built many lodges.
He encouraged residents of North Western Province to work hard in agriculture and that the government would provide the fertiliser that they needed.

"I like the Solwezi beans which is unique to Solwezi," remarked Vice-President Kunda.
He said the country was prospecting for oil in North Western Province and that Solwezi airport shall soon be expanded.

He urged Solwezi Central voters to vote for Chifita who would continue with the development projects that the government had embarked on in the area.

MMD deputy national secretary Jeff Kaande said UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema could not think as evidenced by his canvassing for support for Sata.

Kaande said Hichilema had brought Sata to North Western Province who insulted the people of that area.

Health minister Kapembwa Simbao who is in the Vice-President's delegation told Solwezi residents that the government had provided drugs to hospitals throughout this year and that it was not true that there were no medicines in public hospitals.

“I hear in Solwezi you are provided with prescriptions, I can't accept that,” Simbao said. “We have provided drugs throughout the year. I have been to Kyafukuma and they have drugs and the main hospital they have drugs. I want this talk of no drugs to stop! Solwezi General Hospital is the only second level hospital with 21 doctors. You can pick up the phone and call Kasama, Mbala you'll be surprised if they even have five doctors.”

Muteteka said the government's investment in Solwezi could only be protected if Solwezi Central residents voted for Chifita.

And communications minister Professor Geoffrey Lungwangwa said only the MMD had a development programme for Solwezi residents.

Prof Lungwangwa who is also former education minister said the government was aware of the congestion among pupils in schools such as Tuvwang'anai but that it was constructing new ones to decongest the existing ones.

Labels: CADRES, GEORGE KUNDA, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, KANSANSHI MINING PLC

posted by MrK @ 10:33 AM