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Politics being practised is very childish and rotten – Chongwe

Politics being practised is very childish and rotten – Chongwe
By Patson Chilemba
Wed 10 Mar. 2010, 04:50 CAT

LUSAKA lawyer Dr Rodger Chongwe has described the current politics in the country as being very childish and rotten.

Commenting on assertions by home affairs minister Lameck Mangani that the government would probe Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata to find out if he was a convict in the 1950s, and if so established, deem him ineligible to contest the 2011 presidency, Dr Chongwe described this as cheap politics.

"I would rather be involved in something which is for the good of the country, and for the good of the future of our country. I am not here to discuss what somebody did in 1958, and we Zambians were not in government then.

We were not even independent at the time. I don't want to discuss those issues because I feel, for me, that is childish dirty politics, and I am not going to be party to dirty politics. I have never taken part in it," Dr Chongwe said.

"I will leave it to those who believe in telling things about each other which they cannot prove, but try to destroy each other's names."

Dr Chongwe said he was not supporting anybody to be in office but that what he wanted to see was honesty, integrity and dignity in Zambian politics.

"And for me dignified politicians don't waste time discussing what happened to each other in 1958. They discuss what is happening now, what is the future of Zambia?

What are they going to do for us in the event that they were elected into power or remain in power, not what a political leader did in the 1960s, 1958," Dr Chongwe said. "Because I remember 1958, I was still a student at Munali Secondary.

So what has that got to do with elections in 2011? It is childish, it is rotten politics, and I don't think anyone is going to win by telling intelligent people about what someone did in 1958.

I don't believe that what someone did in 1958 has anything to do with the governance of Zambia in 2011. None of those, but those are the politics of today."

Dr Chongwe wondered how people could talk about the offences of one politician during the 1950s when the country was not even independent.

"I want someone to be blamed for what he has done as a politician or civil servant in modern times, not in 1958," said Dr Chongwe.

Recently, Mangani said the government would probe to find out if Sata was once a convict, and if that were the case, he would be barred from contesting the presidency.

Labels: POLITICS, ROGER CHONGWE, SATA

posted by MrK @ 6:21 AM