Rupiah should have been given free man of the air status, says Musenge

Rupiah should have been given free man of the air status, says Musenge
By Speedwell Mupuchi
Sat 06 Feb. 2010, 04:01 CAT

COPPERBELT Patriotic Front (PF) chairperson Mwenya Musenge has said Kalulushi Municipal Council should have conferred President Rupiah Banda with the status of free man of the air.

Commenting on Kalulushi Town Clerk Maxwell Kabanda’s announcement that the council at a meeting on Monday February 1, resolved to confer the status of free man of the city on President Banda, Musenge described as foolish the decision by the council. Musenge said PF councillors did not support such a position.

He said although he had not been informed about a full council meeting that made the resolution, the decision was shameful.

“In Kalulushi council, MMD members are more by one councillor, so they MMD are using the arrogance of numbers to come up with that foolish position. Otherwise no single person in Kalulushi is supporting that position,” Musenge said. “We should try to move away from such appeasement, appeasing someone who is doing literally nothing. He should have been conferred as a free man of the air because he is always flying and it could have been accepted.”

Kabanda said the local authority conferred the status on President Banda for the positive economic policies he had made in the development of the town.

Kabanda said without President Banda’s political will, Kalulushi town would not have seen the emergence of the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) housing scheme at a cost of K220 billion and that of Mukuba Pension Trust.

About 438 houses are expected to be built under the NAPSA housing scheme while another 500 houses under Mukuba Pension Trust.

But Musenge said the construction of houses by NAPSA and Mukuba Pension were programmes initiated by late president Levy Mwanawasa.

“He was actually supposed to commission the construction of those houses but unfortunately, he passed on. It’s unfortunate that the town clerk lied to people in Kalulushi that these are developmental projects brought to the district by Rupiah Banda. If the town clerk is soliciting a promotion, he should come out properly, this is not the type of leadership we want,” said Musenge.

“Construction of houses, for how long has that project been idle for them to confer such a status on RB? There is no single foundation apart from two brick pillars in preparation of laying the foundation stone. As PF on the Copperbelt we shall not accept to be fooled by cheap propaganda to try and sell MMD on the Copperbelt.

“If these are the schemes they are working with Chiluba because he portrays himself as political dribbler, they are wasting their time. Chiluba, there is no way he can sway the thoughts of people on the Copperbelt.”

According to sources in Kalulushi, the proposal to confer the status on President Banda was moved by deputy mayor, Robby Machai.

According to the sources, there was no counter proposal but merely an observation by a PF councillor, Agnes Bwalya, that the move was aimed at getting political mileage.

The source said Bwalya wondered why a person who had just taken over the presidency should be conferred with such big title and that the response was that “if we have him President Banda, he will help us”.