Maravi

Mpombo challenges Rupiah to respond to Danish MP's query on aid

COMMENT - You have to wonder why the British High Commissioner needs to urgently meet with President Rupiah Banda, and why this is an 'important subject' to the British government. Why is it important that Zambia received and keeps receiving donor aid? Could it be that 'donor aid' is really a substitute for taxes on British owned mines, a substitute that keeps the Zambian government's finances in the hands of the same governments whose countries mining corporations take away Zambia's copper, cobalt and gemstones?

Mpombo challenges Rupiah to respond to Danish MP's query on aid
By Patson Chilemba
Wed 30 June 2010, 04:01 CAT

GEORGE Mpombo yesterday challenged President Rupiah Banda to respond to the challenge from Danish member of parliament Marion Pedersen on whether or not Zambia would like to continue receiving donor aid.

And British High Commissioner to Zambia Tom Carter on Monday stated that he would be seeking an early call on President Banda to have a confidential exchange on ‘this important subject’.

Commenting on the statement by Pedersen that President Banda’s government must state categorically whether or not Zambia does not need donor money, Mpombo - who is Kafulafuta MMD member of parliament and former defence minister - said if President Banda would not humble himself by apologising over his sweeping statement against the donors, he should ask them to stop giving aid to Zambia.

“If he President Banda doesn’t want, if we do not want aid, we should come out that ‘we do not want that aid’ rather than barking… we are a very vulnerable country economically. Even the schools information minister Ronnie Shikapwasha is talking about, ask Shikapwasha ‘where is the money coming from?’” Mpombo said. “We don’t have the economic muscle to stand on our own…the great majority in Zambia are more important than misleading statements from one or two individuals.”

And asked to comment on the relationship between donors and the Zambian government, High Commissioner Carter said: “The partnership between donors and the Zambian government is of key importance as we try together to deliver the long-term goals of reducing poverty in Zambia, and achieving the Zambian government’s target of reaching middle income status by the year 2030. However, we do not conduct our relationship with the Zambian government through the media.”

On Shikapwasha’s statement in yesterday’s edition of the state owned and government controlled Daily Mail that Mpombo had no right to make a strong statement based on distorted facts that he read in The Post and should have consulted him to enable him react from an informed point of view, Mpombo asked Shikapwasha to avoid being used as a political zombie.

“If Shikapwasha was saying I was commenting on the report by The Post, why didn’t they issue a statement to clarify it? Absolutely the same story was there in the Times of Zambia. Why did he wait until people started commenting?” Mpombo asked. “What he is saying now is that these guys have realised that they have put themselves in a deep mess, now they are just trying to wriggle out of this deep mess they have created. But otherwise this is taxpayers’ money in those countries…when this money comes to Zambia we must be reasonable. We should now categorically come out and say ‘we don’t want donor money’,”

Mpombo said to go with President Banda’s statement that nobody asked the donors to come and help Zambia was self-deception of the highest order.

He said there were countries in the SADC region who gave the impression that they would stand on their own but were almost failed states today.

“People are suffering so we do not need that kind of kamikaze politics. You know if people want to lead the country they must humble themselves and behave like servants of the people,” Mpombo said. “Confused Shikapwasha, if I was not raising any issues he would not have been responding. The issue I was raising was that the President raised a very negative sweeping statement which puts this country’s economic activity in peril.”

On Shikapwasha’s statement that instead of attacking President Banda, he should tell the nation why he was removed as energy minister, Mpombo charged that Shikapwasha suffered from a deeply embedded fragmented thought pattern.

“First I want to challenge the Reverend, the man of God to tell the nation what role he played in the financial scandal, financial irregularities that hit the Zambian Embassy in Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania when he was defence attaché because these were some problems involving General Shikapwasha,” Mpombo said. “Then secondly, Shikapwasha should not be used as a political zombie, yapping all the time without facts. You know people expect the man of his stature to be reasonable in analysing issues.”

Mpombo said he was not involved in any scandalous activities when he served as energy minister because even the crisis at Indeni was not caused by human failure.

“The shortage at that time became unjustifiable because it was threatening economic activity. The president late Levy Mwanawasa called me. When we discussed I said, ‘Mr President I will take full responsibility although it is not my fault’,” said Mpombo. “Actually, I was at that stage prepared to resign to take full responsibility but he said ‘no, no, no, it is not your fault, I understand what is going on but please accept me taking you to the Copperbelt’.”

Shikapwasha was quoted in yesterday’s Daily Mail reacting to Mpombo’s earlier statement that President Banda must be retired in national interest because his behaviour was putting the nation at great risk.

Mpombo was reacting to President Banda’s statement that nobody asked the donors to come and help Zambia therefore they should not blackmail the country.

Labels: DONORS, GEORGE MPOMBO, MARION PEDERSEN, RUPIAH BANDA, TOM CARTER

posted by MrK @ 6:04 AM