Maravi

Magande asks Rupiah to address people’s demands

Magande asks Rupiah to address people’s demands
By Patson Chilemba
Mon 22 Mar. 2010, 04:01 CAT

NG’ANDU Magande yesterday asked President Rupiah Banda’s government to address the people’s demands rather than threatening them with arrests over the Red Card campaign.

In an interview, Magande who is former finance minister and currently the ruling MMD’s Chilanga member of parliament, said instead of threatening people with arrests, leaders like home affairs minister Lameck Mangani should get to the root cause and find out why people were disgruntled and what they were really saying.

“That is why somebody in government must sit down. There are a lot of civil servants who are trained to analyse statements and they should tabulate, what are they saying about these people’s grievances? If in the statement which the governed are saying, ‘we citizens are not happy’, they are talking about President Banda’s trips,” Magande said.

“Why can’t someone in government sit down and say ‘these are the trips President Banda made. This trip when he went to talk about Great Lakes Region, it is because Zambia will benefit like this. This trip when he went to Malawi, you know this is what was discussed. This is the benefit’, the benefit, not only to the President or those who traveled, but the benefit to those who are governed, who didn’t travel.

“So then the whole issue of too many trips by the President will die down because amongst the reasons which will be given, perhaps there will be more good things that citizens are going to benefit than the negatives which they are saying ‘you are now spending our money on just travels’.”

Magande said citizens in a democratic society should not be threatened with arrests whenever they raised questions on how they were being governed.

“Instead of honourable Mangani saying ‘the police will arrest the people’, why can’t we have the minister of education saying she is going to meet the education association to discuss the issues in the education field?” Magande asked.

“Because we might deem this thing on Fr Frank Bwalya, one person cannot manage to come up with a thought, and then just alone implement that one thought, and then that one thought from one person disturbs the peace of the country, no. It means there are other people who believe in that one thought.”

Magande said Fr Bwalya was just expressing displeasure that there was information break down between the government and those who were governed.

“So let that information come out from government, not through press statements, not through sending to the police, not through mass rallies or at the renewal of cards, or at a Bible sort of meeting in Matero, where there are only people who believe in that priest. But just say ‘look, this is what we are doing’, and explain,” he said.

Magande said threats of arrests would just cause more confusion, as it would put one group of people against the other.

“Unfortunately for the security people, they will just get instructions because the people that will give them instructions have more powers. But do they understand that those people they are giving those instructions do not support what the other people who are also governed are doing?” asked Magande.

Recently, Mangani said the government had instructed police to arrest those who demonstrate in favour of the Red Card campaign against President Banda.

Labels: CORRUPTION, LEADERSHIP, MAGANDE, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 3:35 PM