Maravi

Our leaders are just serving themselves, says Col Panji

Our leaders are just serving themselves, says Col Panji
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Sun 20 June 2010, 04:00 CAT

OUR leaders are just serving themselves and not the people they are supposed to serve, Colonel Panji Kaunda has said. In an interview last Wednesday, Col Panji said the government had become that of politicians and not of the people.

“In my view, since 1991, our government has been a government of the politicians and not of Zambians. The reason for this is that if you compare the people in rural areas and what is in town, the lifestyles of our leaders both in government and parastatal senior civil servants, it’s like we are in a different country. Our government is so expensive,” Col Panji said.

“ I am saying this I am hoping that the next government whether it be the MMD continues or the pact, its better they tell us how they are going to lead us. I am saying this because I know very well that our leaders are our servants and we send them to parliament and State House to serve us, but as of now, our leaders are just serving themselves and not us Zambians,”

He said although many things had gone wrong in the country, leaders had continued to lead better lives than the ordinary citizens.

“Our roads are impassable, our hospitals in rural areas have no medicine, there is no blanket, the staff is ill paid, and teachers as of last week were not yet paid but there had never been a time when a minister or a parliamentarian delays to get the salary. And yet the civil servants are the ones who service the government, so I want us to look at what the next government is going to be like. In the first place I think we need to trim down the number of ministers and these other things like cell phones, duty free vehicles from MPs must also be cut off,” Col Panji said.

He said Zambian workers went through some difficulties during the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) period and that the parliamentarians who were people’s employees should also be made to go through such.

“The pay that MPs get, that ministers get and that the President gets must be taxed and the servings should go towards buying equipment in hospitals, desks in schools towards building new roads and bridges which is lacking in rural areas. We want are our new government that will come next year in 2011 to cut the costs, we want to see a stop in taking people to South Africa for medical treatment. The habit of flying our leaders or MPs to South Africa for treatment at the expense of our rural people in Sindamisale, Sinjembela or wherever they could be is immoral and it should stop, enough is enough,” Col Panji said.

He said the government leaders could take their children to school or hospital in London or anywhere else at their own expense and not using taxpayers’ money.

“If we are going to die because we have no machines in hospitals then we must all die in Zambia, my life, the life of the minister is as good as those in the rural areas but a villager will go to his or her clinic and find there is no medicine, find substandard education in schools and yet those are the people that send our President to State House and our MPs to parliament,” Col Panji said.

“Let’s take for instance 10 MPs and 10 voters in their constituencies and weigh them on the scale and after five years those MPs will not weigh the same, but at whose expense? We want a government that will look at these things,”
Col Panji also observed that the judiciary in Zambia was not independent and that the police command needed to be retrained.

Labels: LEADERSHIP, PANJI KAUNDA

posted by MrK @ 5:27 AM