Maravi

PF-UPND pact youths question sale of Zamtel

PF-UPND pact youths question sale of Zamtel
By Florence Bupe
Thu 24 June 2010, 04:01 CAT

OPPOSITION Patriotic Front (PF) and UPND youths have questioned the sale of Zamtel, describing it as dubious. And Post editor- in- chief Fred M’membe has said the sale of Zamtel should have been authorised by the Zambian people who were the rightful owners of the telecommunications company.

Speaking when the pact youths paid a courtesy call on M’membe at The Post offices on Tuesday, UPND Lusaka provincial youth vice chairperson Brian Mizinga said it was common knowledge that Zamtel had ‘gone’ in a dubious manner without the consent of the Zambian people.

Government has sold 75 per cent shares in Zamtel to LAP Green of Libya at a cost of US $257 million.

The sale of the country’s biggest telecommunication parastatal has raised controversy, with the majority of stakeholders opposing its sale.

And the youths have condemned threats of violence against The Post being perpetrated by Lusaka Province MMD chairman William Banda.

PF national youth secretary Eric Chanda vowed that Banda would not defeat The Post for as long as UPNF/ PF pact youths survive.

Below is a verbatim of the meeting between the youths and M’membe:
Eric Chanda: Mr Fred M’membe sir, colleagues from UPND and PF, we are here on one simple issue which has been complicated for some time now. As PF/ UPND pact youths, we have always been in partnership with the post newspaper, the post has helped us to be where we are as PF, as UPND and when our partner, our colleague, as the post has a problem, we feel that it is as well our problem.

And this is one reason we are here, looking at what you have gone through as the post editor, and the post newspaper. To start with we have a monster here that has been born in Lusaka that has troubled PF, that has troubled UPND and now it has come to the post newspaper to say it will fight the post newspaper. I’m sure this monster is well known by every body of us, do we know the monster?

Youths shout: Tekele, Tekele... William Banda

Eric Chanda: Mr M’membe sir, as PF/ UPND youths, we want to assure you that this monster will not fight The Post, this monster will not defeat the post as long as PF/ UPND pact youths survive.

Cheering from crowd.

Chanda: We will always stand by you, Mr M’membe, we will always stand by the post because we have been good partners and we shall not tolerate this monster in the name of William Banda to come and destabilise, to come and scandalise the post newspaper... Viva youth

Response from crowd: Viva

Eric Chanda: Mr M’membe sir, we were oh so saddened, it was unfortunate but we cannot give it as an excuse, that when you were sent to jail, I was out presenting the PF youth... I was in China, but it should not be an excuse, we are here also, to pay solidarity to you that whatever you went through sir, we are with you and we shall continue supporting you, we will not bend down.

We should have come the two of us (with UPND chair) but we said we will not be complete, not until my team here, the PF/ UPND pact leaders, they see you, you are in good health, so that when we give you support, as you go to the High Court, as you go to the Supreme Court, we shall fight with you upto the final conclusion, that why i came with this team sir.

I will not want to finish talking all the issues, I’ll leave some issues to my colleague from the UPND, Mr Hapunda.

Brian Hapunda : Mr M’membe, comrade M’membe, the leadership of the PF and leadership of UPND present here, we have come here on a very simple note, yet very serious to give you solidarity for the injustice which you have faced at the hands of MMD, we call it cruel injustice.

The intimidation you have suffered at the hands of MMD, just for the simple reason of, you know, standing for the justice of the people, speaking for the voiceless people and we saw it fit as UPND/ PF youths to come and give you that solidarity.

We will not allow MMD through Rupiah Banda to destroy you. They can destroy.. or they can break your head, they can break your hands, they can break your legs but they will not break the spirit of Fred M’membe.

That is the spirit of fighting for the people that you have exhibited in the last 20 years or so, and we the UPND/ PF youths will be with you throughout this. You’ve been speaking for the people and you continue speaking for the people and for us, the youth, we know that the real reason why you’re being persecuted is because you speak the truth and you stand by the truth.

Because of that, the role you have taken and the sacrifice you have taken, the MMD government have seen you as an enemy and they want to fight you through that, and we’re saying to our youths, we will not give up, we are with you in this fight, we are with you throughout and we’ll make sure that all those who are trying to fight you, they’ll also go down, because you’re merely doing what 12 million plus Zambians are saying in their hearts, that is to speak against injustice. Why should one simple man in the name of William Banda be threatening you?

Who is William Banda? We know the background of William Banda. William Banda is simply a deportee, now he has come back to intimidate us Zambians in our own country. We are going to put this William Banda in the rightful place he belongs and we’ll not allow him to bring this country into chaos.

He has got no right to be intimidating Zambians, and he’s speaking the language of his boss, we know he is doing this with his boss, he’s a just a mouthpiece of his boss. We know Rupiah Banda does not believe in freedom of information which you have been championing, and that’s one of the reasons why they want to tear you down because he is a dictator and he knows that when there is a free press, you know, citizens are alert.

And the only way you can suppress people is to make sure that you don’t give them, you know, free information or rather, information which they need. So that’s why they are trying to intimidate you because they know that you champion freedom of information bill and you want Zambians to have the information they need and not information which is half baked through government state agencies such as ZNBC and the like.

So we will not give up in this fight and we will make sure that we will be with you throughout hence we have come here (applause), we have come here with our fellow youth to reiterate that we’ll be there throughout. Thank you.

MC: Thank you very much at this point in time, you’ve heard Mr M’membe, you’ve heard from the two parties that is the Patriotic Front and the UPND. At this point in time maybe you have something to say to us, we’ve walked into your yard and we believe you have a word too to say to us, over to you sir.

Applause.

Fred: Firstly I’d like to apologise to you for the delay in seeing you, I was held up in another meeting that took longer than it should have taken. I hope you’ll take my apology. It’s not good to make other people wait for you when you’ve agreed the time.

I think as friends, we need to tell each other the truth. Friends always need to tell each other the truth and nothing but the truth and you’ll excuse me if I do that.

You’ll understand why I’m doing it, I’m doing it because we’re friends. I’m very grateful that you have come to pay solidarity to me and support the post and I’m glad that you’ve come here peacefully, without intimidating anybody, without quarrelling with anybody, without throwing stones at anybody.

You were not invited by the post to come and do that, you came on your own. We are not a political party that mobilises for support, that seeks, you know, people to come and pay solidarity with us, everyone of you here has never seen anybody from the post coming to ask you to come here and pay solidarity. You have come here freely and at the call of you heart. And let that be the spirit that guides your relationship with us and with all other people.

I’m humbled by your coming here today because I never expected you to come here and pay solidarity to us.

The reason is because of where we’re coming from. It’s not very long ago that some youths from the PF were mobilised to come and try to beat us up here in 2006 after the elections because they didn’t like what we wrote. They didn’t like what they read.

It’s not also very long ago, it’s 2006, same year, when UPND youths, were mobilised also to try and do the same to us on another issue because they were not happy with the way the post were reporting their political party and their leaders.

Today we’re subjected to the same treatment by the MMD youths, including their party president, Mr Rupiah Banda. So, it is a big thing for us when people change their heart and adopt a more compassionate attitude toward you.

You are leaders, the future of this country depends on you. I know you’ve been told that several times and it has become like a song. I am not singing, I don’t sing. You are leaders, not future leaders, you are leaders today.

Applause

You are leaders today because the future of this country depends on not what you do tomorrow but what you’re doing today. The future is not built in the future. Tomorrow is not built tomorrow, tomorrow is built today.

The future is built on the threshold of today, they way you conduct yourselves as our leaders today will be the same way you conduct yourselves as our leaders tomorrow.

You were talking of a monster whose history you said you know very well. That little monster has been a monster all the time. That monster did not become a monster today, it has always been a monster. It was trained as a youth to be a monster, it was moulded to be a monster and it is still a monster, but try to be a different type of leaders from that monster.

Be different, don’t get the standards of that monster and make them your standards. Be a different type of leaders, a leadership that respects even the rights of a monster. As you deal with that little monster, respect its rights.

It is a monster but it’s got the right to be a monster, and the right to be here. That monster doesn’t belong to Malawi, it belongs here. It is our monster which was taken to Malawi by people who thought like it, who were also monsters, little monsters like it! (applause)

This country is a homeland and no other country is the homeland to that little monster, but that little monster should be taught to live in a civilised manner in its homeland, respecting the rights of other citizens, and other citizens being encouraged to respect the rights of that little monster.

Behave yourselves as leaders of today and of tomorrow. That’s the difference with you leaders of today, the group that is here... you’re not only leaders today, but you’re leaders tomorrow. The other leaders are only leaders today because they don’t have much in the tomorrow, but you are not only leaders today, you’re leaders of tomorrow.

Set new standards for yourselves as young people. What you’re doing is very important, politics is very ,very important to a country, to a nation, to a community.

Youth interjects: Should we just keep quiet?

Fred: No, you have no right to remain quiet! In politics you don’t remain quiet, in politics you talk, in politics you denounce that which needs to be denounced, in politics you criticise that which needs to be criticised, in politics you praise that which needs to be praised, in politics you defend that which needs to be defended, in politics you advance that which needs to be advanced.

And what needs to be advanced at this stage in our country is dignified politics, politics with dignity. What needs to be encouraged is a leadership that knows that it is there to serve the people and not the people to serve it. You are our leaders, we are not here to serve you, you are there to serve us ordinary citizens, bear that in mind at all times.

You are not our masters as political leaders, you are our servants as political masters. It’s not you to send us, it’s us to send you to do what we want you to do. You are there to serve us not us to serve you.

That’s the role of our leadership and that’s the leadership that most of our people want to see from you today, not tomorrow, today! As we said earlier on tomorrow starts with today, so today we want to see the leadership that is there from you to serve the people, to serve us the ordinary people.

And that starts with a great love for your own people, a great love for your country. Love this country that God has placed you in, do everything that God wants you to do for this country that he has put you in. You are put here for a purpose, you are in politics for a purpose. Ask yourselves what type of political leaders does God want from you? If Christ was to wake up in the middle of the night and ask you why you’re doing what you’re doing, what are you going to tell him? If Christ woke up early in the morning and asked you ‘why are you doing what you’re doing?’ what are you going to tell him?

Be the leaders that Zambian people want you to be, care for your country, love your people, love each other, and don’t harm anyone. You can’t harm people you love, love even the monster. Even the monster is there to be loved. But not every person is loved the same way.

The way you love the monster is to make sure that you stop the monster from harming other people as you have done today. Applause

If you love somebody you stop them from doing wrong things. So what you have said today about the monster is a demonstration of love for the monster. If you didn’t love the monster you would have allowed the monster to continue doing wrong things. So don’t allow the monster to continue doing wrong things, stop the monster to do wrong things, help the monster to behave in the right way, to do the right things, that’s how you love the monster.

So you don’t love everyone the same way, because people are doing different things. You ‘ve shown love for me by encouraging me and my comrades at the post to do what is the right thing to do, that’s the way for you to love me, that’s the way for you to love my comrades.

By encouraging us to do what you think is right. But the monster... you love that monster by discouraging the monster from doing that which is undesirable.

Youth: Violence!

Fred: You have touched the right word; let’s not have violence in whatever we do. Let’s respect the citizens, every citizen of this country, let’s respect the choices they make to join political organisations of their choice. It’s a constitutional right that should not be taken away from anybody, whichever political party is formed people have the right to choose, to join it or not to join it.

The Zambian people today have joined the PF; they’ve joined the UPND out of their own choice. Let them enjoy that right. The more numbers you have, the better, you’ll win the elections; you’ll provide the services that you have promised the people, you’ll listen to the people because they are your masters.

So please, the best way to pay solidarity to us is to do that which the best citizens require of you. You have good ideas, you have noble ideas, but noble ideas have to be backed by noble sentiments, by noble deeds.

You can’t claim to do something that is good and then you go and use barbaric methods to achieve that. If you claim you have the support of the people, and you want to rely on the support of the people, you can’t go and brutalise those same people.

There are election campaigns, by- election campaigns coming up, in Ndola in Chifubu and in Mongu in Luena. Some of you will be there campaigning for your political formation, go there peacefully, respect every citizen you meet, whether they’re members of your party or not, whether they’re supporters of your candidate or not, they have the right to do so, respect their right.

Try to convince them to support your candidate, support your party, but do so in a civil way, in a manner that respects their rights. If people want to come with you in a monstrous way, don’t allow yourself to be turned into a monster. Always bear in your mind, ask yourself, what would Christ do in this situation? How would Christ react to this provocation?

That’s all I can ask of you, I am grateful for your coming here. As my leaders, please be at my service, since I’m your master, you’re my servants, I didn’t force you to join politics and become political leaders, you did that by your own accord but know that once you make that decision, you owe us a duty as our leaders.

And part of that leadership is exhibited in what you have done today. You have come here to serve us, to protect us, to assure us of your protection. This is leadership.

Stanley Chumya: Thank you very much sir. I’m sure each one of us has grasped one or two things. We would like to tell you that you’re a reservoir of wisdom, a man who’s very focused and really, Zambia needs you, it needs your leadership.
I’ll just transfer... maybe the chairman would like to say something before we leave this place.

Brain Mizinga: Good afternoon sir. I think now above all, we want to find out your stance on the sale of Zamtel, because as you have seen, Zamtel has gone in a dubious way although they are trying to protect it. And is it going to be possible if we, as UPND/ PF pact urge our members to stop using Cell Z and Zamtel until they float maybe 30 per cent shares on LuSE (Lusaka Stock Exchange)? Thank you, I think that’s the question I have sir.

Fred: You have asked me a very difficult question, a question that should have been explained to me by you my leaders. I’m your follower, and I mean it, I’m not joking.

You’re the political leadership of this country, right now, not tomorrow. Today you’re the leaders, you are leaders and I respect you as political leaders. You have a duty to explain to me what you’re doing.

Well, I’ve heard a number of arguments about the sale of Zamtel. Some of them right, some of them probably wrong, some of them acceptable, some of them not acceptable. But there’s one cardinal issue that needs to be looked at, at all times by you our leaders, whether you’re in the opposition or you’re in government tomorrow; Do what the people want, always ask yourself, is this what the people want?

Zamtel belongs to Zambian people, is that what the people want that has happened?

Response from youth: No, no

Fred: If the Zambian people want to sell Zamtel, then it’s fine, even if they sold it for one kwacha, it’s okay! It’s their company! If my leader here wants to give me his hat, he wants to sell it to me at one kwacha, who are you to tell him how much he should sell it? It’s his hat, with a nice UPND emblem on it! He can sell it to me even for one ngwee, it’s his.

If the Zambian people want to sell Zamtel to someone else, to Mr Gaddafi’s company, they have the right to sell it even for one kwacha if they want to, but if they don’t want then nobody has the right to sell it.

Wrong or right... it doesn’t matter whether Mr Gaddafi is offering billions of dollars or what... if they don’t want to sell it, they don’t want, it’s theirs! Teti ushitishe ichishili ichobe (You cannot sell what is not yours). You can only sell that which belongs to you; you can’t give to another person what is not yours. So that’s the starting point. If the sale is supported by the Zambian people, it’s fine. If it’s not supported by the Zambian people then it’s not fine, whatever arguments are given.

Secondly it’s the issue of how right was the sale? Was it the right way to sell the company? What were the interests of those selling? What did they get in return? Were briefcases of money given to anybody before the sale in Libya, by those with deep pockets? Were briefcases of money of money delivered on planes for some passengers on some special planes to influence the way they would drive the sale of Zamtel?

Those are the issues you need to answer. Was the employment of RP Capital to value the sale of Zamtel the right thing? I remember Zambians opposed that because there were involvements of other people who were not desirable, sons of people in power who do not occupy public office. They were involved in the sale of Zamtel; they were friends of those in RP Capital. Was it the right thing? We don’t know! So it’s upto you our leaders to find out answers to these questions and inform us as your followers, then we’ll know what to do on the basis of what you’re telling us, you the leadership.

PC: yes because the majority of us were opposed to the sale of Zamtel. We need at least a certain percentage of shares to be put on the Lusaka Stock Exchange so that Zambians also have a share.

Fred: We’ll wait to see which course you the leadership, the political leadership of our country take. We’ll wait for your guidance.

Mizinga: I think we’ll get back to you as soon as we come up with a position
Fred: Mr Malupenga will always publish your views on the sale of Zamtel
Chanda: Before we leave Mr M’membe, we would like to encourage you that you should continue reporting the truth. Only the truth will build this nation. These guys, these monsters are forcing us to join MMD and vote for MMD but we’ve seen that they’re not delivering, they’re lying! They’ve just started grading the roads in Chifubu knowing that the elections are just around the corner. Those are lies, where were they? So we just encourage you, even if we come to power, even if we lose or we win, continue telling the people of Zambia the truth and we’ll be behind you, thank you!

Chumya: Last but not least Mr M’membe the national chairman has got the last word for you just before we leave.

Chanda: Well, all has been said, thank you very much for your words of wisdom. I’m sure PF/ UPND pact youths are very peaceful people. I have already talked about the monster which is causing people to start panicking, to start behaving like him. But as your words of wisdom command, we shall by all means keep peace and tranquillity in our country. We shall always command our youths who are behind us to be peaceful wherever they’ll go and thank you very much for that advice because they have gotten it from your own word and I’m sure as they go they’ll preach peace to every member of the Patriotic Front, to every member of the United Party for National development and I’ll just need one request from you, just to have a photo with these guys as we go out.

Youth interjects: No let me help you Mr M’membe... people may start thinking that maybe you’ve joined the pact.

Hapunda: Thank you very much Comrade M’membe. I said when I just began to speak, what I began to say was that they can break your head, they can break your hand, they can break your spine, but they cannot break the spirit which is in you and that spirit will live and even the people who are going to live after you will go on carrying that spirit.

And we the youth are not going to be intimidated and we will continue.
You talked about violence, our cadre of this team we have brought... ours is not to intimidate people the way our colleagues are intimidating us. We were in Mufumbwe, I was personally in Mufumbwe myself, I was beaten, we were arrested by the MMD, but we chose not to retaliate because we knew that was not our style.

We the youth, this generation, what we want... let them keep on with that monster of theirs and us, we’ll keep on talking to the people, the supporters, until we convince them to join us.

Last week Thursday, we paid a courtesy call on the IG where we went to deliver our petition for him to step down because of the way he had mishandled Mufumbwe, but unfortunately this man turned out to be so, you know, defensive, and he made us... I was with my colleague here... he chased away your journalists, he didn’t want them to be in the meeting, reasons best known to himself, because he wanted to push us against the corner.

The man refused to resign, and refused the responsibility of having mishandled Mufumbwe and even threatened myself with arrest because he said he knew me from Mufumbwe and he knew the role I’d played, and he made us watch a DVD, one hour thirty minutes DVD which was taken by the OP in Mufumbwe, in his office, in the presence of senior policemen, Bonny Kapeso and the Commissioner and he said, he kept on saying that ‘I know what role you played’, pointing at me. ‘Wait a minute you’ll see which clip will come here because you were also involved in violence, I’m going to arrest you.’

But I knew the role which I played, I did not play any role in Mufumbwe of violence. And thank God that clip came and I was the one calming the people, in that clip. And i kept on saying ‘IG, you have shown us this video footage done by your people the OP, that kept on boasting about it that we know what you’re doing in your private life.

We told him that because of the way that you mishandled Mufumbwe, we want you to step down, we do not want the double standards which you have introduced in this country. We now have two laws, one for the MMD and its people in the corridors of power, and one for us the general people who are seen to be on the other side of government.

We don’t want this. And all because of this man, Mr Kabonde, he has failed to handle the police, or to deliver to the Zambian people with professionalism which we deserve.

So we’re still saying to him, he should actually leave that office.
We have two more by- elections coming and we don’t want to see the ugly face of violence which we saw in Mufumbwe.

I, myself and our youth behind here are not going to take part in that and we’re not going to accept him to handle the Chifubu and Luena by- elections the way he handled Mufumbwe.

I told him in his office in the presence of my friend that the situation became worse when you came. We thought maybe when you arrive in Mufumbwe the situation was going to be better but the situation just became worse, why? Because he was there, he had specific instructions from the President, from State House, which he refused.

He said he had gone to inspect the roads in Kasempa,’ that’s why I was in Mufumbwe’. That’s what he told us but the real reason he was there on instruction was because...

Fred: Since when did the IG become a roads inspector? Are you sure he said that?
Chanda: What he’s telling you is the point
Fred: The IG inspecting roads?!

Hapunda: Yes, he said he had gone to inspect roads and just passed through Mufumbwe to check. That’s why he chased the journalists because he didn’t want whatever we discussed there... and on another point, he said this was going to be a closed door meeting. That’s what Mr Kapeso said, which means everything we were discussing there was supposed to remain there. But the following day in the news on Radio Phoenix we were told by Bonny Kapeso that we apologised to the IG for having conducted that protest, and that we had no actual information on what was happening.

We never apologised to the Inspector General of Police. What we still insist is that the IG must actually apologise to the nation for having mishandled the Mufumbwe by- election and for having brought the double standards of laws in our country.

We had that letter and all those points were there, so we still insist this man must leave that office if we are to have peace and if our policies to be professional because he has brought politics into the police, which has never happened. Where have you ever seen the IG himself being asked by his junior officers to step down? This man is simply, you know, a mess! So I thought I should bring it to the attention of our colleagues in the media, so that these things are brought out. We still insist IG Kabonde should step out on moral grounds.

Labels: FRED M'MEMBE, PF-UPND, WILLIAM BANDA, YOUTHS, ZAMTEL

posted by MrK @ 2:18 PM