MMD has lost grip in E/Province, says HH

MMD has lost grip in E/Province, says HH
By George Chellah
Mon 03 May 2010, 04:30 CAT

UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema yesterday said President Rupiah Banda must calm down before anger and bitterness begin to affect his health. And Hichilema said it is clear from the Milanzi by-election results that MMD has lost grip in Eastern Province.

Reacting to President Banda’s statement that he is a desperate puppy, Hichilema observed that President Banda was extremely bitter.

“There is no question about that. It is driving him in a situation where he is getting at Hakainde. He told a lie about the churches, and the people of Mufumbwe are aware that it’s his cadres that burnt the churches,” Hichilema said.

“We were nowhere near there and the facts are known by the people of Mushima and the people of Mufumbwe. The people of Mufumbwe reacted against those who were brutalising them. Him going to Livingstone hoping that he could win their support.”

He said as an old man, President Banda would injure his health if he continued being angry.

“A man of his age needs to calm down. I advise him to be calm and accept that he has lost Mufumbwe and try and reorganise himself if he has the capacity. To continue calling me a dog, it doesn’t worry me,” Hichilema said.

“He calls me as being uncultured, I don’t know how uncultured I am. He is fearing that the international community has become aware that the situation in Zambia is degenerating. Let him reconcile with the people of Zambia. To unleash violence against your citizens does not help.”

He advised President Banda to realise that Zambians had changed.

“My advice to him is that he must calm down and reflect. Let him sit with genuine advisors not people from his clan like home affairs minister Lameck Mangani,” he said.

Hichilema said he would not respond to President Banda’s insults.

“When he had a press conference on the Copperbelt, he called Hakainde, Michael Sata, Change Life Zambia executive director Fr Frank Bwalya, former finance minister Ng’andu Magande as mambalas. We are now called mambalas. What was the basis of him calling us mambalas?” Hichilema asked.

“People have already decided that they want change. MMD lost Mufumbwe and they must accept. MMD won Milanzi and we have accepted.”

And Hichilema said Southern Province minister Daniel Munkombwe knows that he is a lovely young man.

“He knows that I love him, he knows that we will look after him. At Munkombwe’s farm if there are 30 people maybe 29 are UPND members. When I went to mourn his dear wife, may her soul rest in peace, he was chatting with me that, ‘Don’t worry about what you hear in politics, you are like my son. Here you are at my farm, even here at my farm my children and my wife they are your members’,” Hichilema said.

“He went on to say ‘look at this funeral you have come to mourn in a proper Tonga custom, you have brought an animal to feed the mourners. Some of these people you see have just come with their bare hands’ and for me I knew who he was talking about so I just smiled.”

On the Milanzi by-election, Hichilema said it was clear from the by-election results that MMD had lost grip in Eastern Province.

“MMD must not talk about landslide in Milanzi. If you add the opposition vote, it’s clear that they have lost grip in Eastern Province. MMD has performed badly there,” he said.
Hichilema also said the UPND would denounce violence and they do not want the MMD to continue with its violent acts.

On Saturday, President Banda described Hichilema as a mad man who was badly brought up.
President Banda said Hichilema was a desperate puppy and he had run mad because of his ambition to become Republican president.

Addressing MMD cadres at Livingstone International Airport on arrival to grace Labour Day celebrations, President Banda said Hichilema was full of insults and had proved not to be the person the people of Zambia thought he was.