It was a blunder to make Rupiah a leader – Mpombo

It was a blunder to make Rupiah a leader – Mpombo
By George Chellah
Tue 11 May 2010, 04:00 CAT

GEORGE Mpombo yesterday said President Rupiah Banda has come to destroy the country. And Mpombo said Vice-President Kunda should direct his anger at President Banda because the government mishandled his medical issues.

In an interview, Mpombo said the termination of former Task Force on Corruption prosecutor Mutembo Nchito’s contract was a slap in the face of the international community.

"The donor community have been funding the fight against corruption and also the Task Force on Corruption. But what they should know is that the people of Zambia are not stupid to be bamboozled by these cheaps’ political tactics," Mpombo said.

He warned that the issues surrounding the handling of the fight against corruption would definitely be top of the agenda for next year's election campaigns.

"These issues of the Task Force and Mutembo...these are serious campaign issues which will be used to dislodge Rupiah and his group. This is just another example of Rupiah's stubbornness and that attitude will destroy MMD. Rupiah has installed himself as the supreme leader of the MMD," Mpombo said.

"Now he thinks that even the sun shines on Zambia through him. He is too proud and yet he has been a total political disaster in this country. In fact, it was a blunder of a major proportion to even have made him a leader.

“Rupiah has come to destroy the country. He is not a leader. But he must be careful because through his action, he will be reduced to a mere statistic. The stance against corruption will dislodge him out of office. His handlers must know that next year he will be degazetted from the presidency.”

Mpombo said President Banda had been trying to fix Mutembo Nchito for a long time.

"Mutembo's dismissal is a vivid manifestation of the government's lack of attachment and commitment to the fight against corruption. The government clearly now is coming out that they do not share the late Levy Mwanawasa's legacy," Mpombo said.

"Now they have gone out of their way to sponsoring programmes on Muvi TV where Levy's legacy is being questioned. The government is trying to bamboozle the people that they are still committed to the fight against corruption.

"Now here are some questions: what will happen to the cases that Mutembo handled which are at appeal stage, including the London judgment what will happen to these cases?"

On Vice-President George Kunda’s attacks, Mpombo said the utterances were below decency.

“If Zambia was in the Premier League in terms of governance, I can safely say this government has relegated the country to a political dungeon. How can a Vice-President speak like that?

That was below decency. There was no need for him to go into a tantrum,” Mpombo said. “As leaders, we have to project decent leadership. Where on earth do you say things like that as Vice-President? That’s why in civilised countries, leaders holding such positions do not speak anyhow.

If they have to speak, they will stick to written text prepared by their handlers. Now you have a Vice-President throwing tantrums and using very negative language. What example is he showing the children? Those tantrums were absolutely unnecessary.”

Mpombo said Vice-President Kunda should direct his anger at President Banda because the government mishandled his medical issues.

“The government handled the whole thing in a very lackadaisical manner. First we were told that they were not aware, then we were also told that he had gone for review. After that the next thing was that he is admitted,” Mpombo said.

“He should blame the government, those who were issuing statements because they were feeding the people on a diet of lies. In fact, to avoid such embarrassments in future, let them limit it to the Ministry of Health to handle his medical issues and not allowing every Jim and Jack to stand up and speak anytime. So he must direct his anger at Rupiah because a government must be orderly. They are just showing that theirs is a government made simple.”

Mpombo said Vice-President Kunda showed too much hatred.

“The best thing should have been to keep quiet. Now he is opening up a Pandora’s box. In fact, it’s the first time I have seen people going to the airport to welcome the Vice-President that way. He should be calm and not show excessive bitterness because by doing that, the whole issue is left to an open debate,” said Mpombo.