Maravi

Sata is a crook who has failed to build even a toilet - Rupiah

Sata is a crook who has failed to build even a toilet - Rupiah
By Chibaula Silwamba and Christopher Miti in Milanzi
Sat 17 Apr. 2010, 04:00 CAT

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda on Thursday charged that Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata is a mere crook who has even failed to build a toilet.

And President Banda said UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema was deceiving himself that he will be the presidential candidate for the PF-UPND pact when the presidential candidate is Sata.

Meanwhile, MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba scolded Sata for walking on the presidential carpet last week in Lusaka and accused him of pretending to be head of state.

During a campaign rally at Kawaza to drum up support for MMD candidate Whiteson Banda in the April 29 parliamentary by-election, President Banda adopted the English-to-chewa interpreter’s statement when he (the interpreter) said Sata had even failed to build supplementary toilets at a nearby school which the MMD government constructed.

President Banda remarked: “Maka maka chimbuzi chumukanga, angaimange ng’anda. Mambala wakanthu. [Especially a toilet, he fails to build even a toilet. Can he build a house? This mere crook!”

President Banda castigated Sata for promising the electorate that he would improve their welfare within a short space of time if elected Republican President.

“Mr Sata was the national secretary of MMD the same position that my colleague here the national secretary Dr Kalumba is holding now. He Sata was in that position. He was, on top of that, minister without portfolio. He was a minister in the government.

You ask them what he did then or you can ask him why didn’t he do what he is saying we haven’t done,” President Banda said. “Why didn’t he build these houses here for the teachers? Why didn’t he build the secondary schools that we are building? Why didn’t he repair the roads that we are repairing?

He was there before us. Why didn’t he do it for him to come now and think that we have become so cheap and so easy to lie to that we will believe in that when he comes this time around he will be able to do this and that.”

President Banda said it would be a taboo for any President to do all developmental projects at once.

“No one will be able to fix all the roads at the same time. That will be magic. That will be maloza taboo. It’s not possible for anybody just to come and build everything at the same time. They have to build step by step in accordance with the resources that are available,” President Banda said.

“The other difference between them opposition parties and us is that we are the ruling party. We have been for the last eight years and our work can be seen by the people. Even just for yourself you can see what we have been able to do as MMD over the last eight years when we have been in power here.

[In power for 8 years - that would be 19 years since 1991 - MrK]

“We are, of course, not satisfied as to the number of schools that we have built, we are not satisfied as to the roads that we have mended or built, we are not satisfied with all the things we want to do, the amount of fertiliser that we are giving to the people of Zambia. We would like to do more. Many of the people that will come here, will come here from time to time they like to point at what we have not done and say, ‘look they haven’t fixed all the roads’.”

[In other words - give us more time. - MrK]

President Banda said opposition leaders that were condemning his government were liars.

“You can tell that they are telling lies. If you take Mr Sata, the president of the PF and the one who is going to stand for the PF-UPND pact who is going to be the presidential candidate is Mr Sata. It is not Hakainde, he may deceive himself and think he will be the next president. The one who is going to stand is Sata,” President Banda said.

“I just want to say that we have to expose these gentlemen; their purpose for coming into power is not to serve you or to build schools for you or to build roads for you or to unite the people of Zambia. That is not their reason because if that was their reason they would have done it before. They were in power and they didn’t do it.”

[Done what before, how? It has been the MMD that has been in power. - Mrk]

President Banda said PF and UPND parliamentarians and councillors in Copperbelt, Lusaka and Southern provinces were in charge but there was little development in the three provinces.

“They PF-UPND parliamentarians and councillors do nothing other than to earn salaries, other than to waste money as councillors. They have done nothing. They have not built any road. Every country you go to the roads of the councils are not built by the central government.

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda on Thursday charged that Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata is a mere crook who has even failed to build a toilet.

And President Banda said UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema was deceiving himself that he will be the presidential candidate for the PF-UPND pact when the presidential candidate is Sata.

Meanwhile, MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba scolded Sata for walking on the presidential carpet last week in Lusaka and accused him of pretending to be head of state.

During a campaign rally at Kawaza to drum up support for MMD candidate Whiteson Banda in the April 29 parliamentary by-election, President Banda adopted the English-to-chewa interpreter’s statement when he (the interpreter) said Sata had even failed to build supplementary toilets at a nearby school which the MMD government constructed.

President Banda remarked: “Maka maka chimbuzi chumukanga, angaimange ng’anda. Mambala wakanthu. [Especially a toilet, he fails to build even a toilet. Can he build a house? This mere crook!”

President Banda castigated Sata for promising the electorate that he would improve their welfare within a short space of time if elected Republican President.

“Mr Sata was the national secretary of MMD the same position that my colleague here the national secretary Dr Kalumba is holding now. He Sata was in that position. He was, on top of that, minister without portfolio. He was a minister in the government. You ask them what he did then or you can ask him why didn’t he do what he is saying we haven’t done,” President Banda said.

“Why didn’t he build these houses here for the teachers? Why didn’t he build the secondary schools that we are building? Why didn’t he repair the roads that we are repairing? He was there before us. Why didn’t he do it for him to come now and think that we have become so cheap and so easy to lie to that we will believe in that when he comes this time around he will be able to do this and that.”

President Banda said it would be a taboo for any President to do all developmental projects at once.

“No one will be able to fix all the roads at the same time. That will be magic. That will be maloza taboo. It’s not possible for anybody just to come and build everything at the same time. They have to build step by step in accordance with the resources that are available,” President Banda said.

[Well give me some of that magic. Really though, it is about good governance - taxing the heck out of the mines and giving the money to the most productive people, and decentralizing decision making, and making sure projects and budgets are monitored by people who are legally empowered to stop corruption. - MrK]

President Banda said PF and UPND parliamentarians and councillors in Copperbelt, Lusaka and Southern provinces were in charge but there was little development in the three provinces.

“They PF-UPND parliamentarians and councillors do nothing other than to earn salaries, other than to waste money as councillors. They have done nothing. They have not built any road. Every country you go to the roads of the councils are not built by the central government.

Labels: BY-ELECTIONS, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, RUPIAH BANDA, SATA

posted by MrK @ 4:50 PM