Maravi

(LUSAKATIMES) Stop red card campaign, Shikapwasha

Stop red card campaign, Shikapwasha
Sunday, March 21, 2010, 12:30

GOVERNMENT says the red card campaign has no direction and has urged people on the Copperbelt to desist from wasting their time on unprofitable ventures and instead take advantage of job opportunities being created.

Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Ronnie Shikapwasha said yesterday that the campaign is in vain.

“Why should people go for the red card campaign when Government has created jobs? The Government has done so much and there are many companies coming up to provide employment for our people,” he said.

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha, who is Government spokesperson, told journalists yesterday that people should expend their energies on constructive issues that will foster peace and development in the country.

He said Government is ready to dialogue with any citizen on issues of governance.

“The red card campaign has no direction. People want peace and to work hard. Copperbelt had become a ghost province but Government has now brought empowerment in Luanshya, Chingola and Kitwe,” Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha said.

He said it was not Government’s fault that Father frank Bwalya did not go to National Constitutional Conference (NCC) because everybody had a chance to go and contribute to the constitution-making process.

“If it is the constitution that Fr. Bwalya is concerned about, it is not our fault that he did not go for the constitution-making process. If it is to do with governance, our doors are always open to anybody who wants to discuss such issues,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bible Gospel Church in Zambia presiding bishop Peter Ndhlovu has condemned the red card campaign against a legitimately elected Government.

Bishop Ndhlovu told the Sunday Mail that the red card campaign is a recipe for anarchy and should be condemned by all peace-loving Zambians.

“We only have one country, Zambia. We need to do everything to preserve the peace that we are enjoying,” Bishop Ndhlovu said.

He wondered what some clerics are up to by waging a campaign aimed at toppling a lawfully elected Government.

Bishop Ndhlovu urged the clergy to preach the message of repentance and love instead of fanning anarchy.
He said it is the ordinary citizens who will suffer the consequences if the campaign degenerates into civil unrest.

“People want development, not the red card campaign. There are flood victims who need attention, some people have no food; those are the things we must concentrate on,” Bishop Ndhlovu said.

He said the people who are agitating for trouble in the nation have the means to flee the country if the peace Zambia is enjoying was to be lost.

He said the church should be in the forefront of uniting the nation instead of dividing it.

The bishop urged servants of God who have abandoned their flock to go back to the pulpit and preach the gospel.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

Labels: RED CARD CAMPAIGN, RONNIE SHIKAPWASHA

posted by MrK @ 11:38 AM