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(STICKY) Rupiah is headed for a bad ending, says Sejani

Rupiah is headed for a bad ending, says Sejani
By Patson Chilemba
Mon 14 June 2010, 04:50 CAT

RUPIAH Banda will end up more disgraced than Frederick Chiluba, Mapatizya UPND member of parliament Ackson Sejani warned yesterday.

Commenting on President Banda’s role in the questionable privatization of Zamtel, Sejani warned that the sale of Zamtel would be investigated to its logical conclusion once the PF-UPND Pact assume office. He said President Banda had failed to learn from former president Chiluba’s mistakes.

“He President Banda is going to end up even more disgraced. Yes, because Rupiah Banda now is not only shouldering his own problems but he has taken over the sins of the other people,” Sejani said.

“I have said this before, this cross which Rupiah Banda has assumed, Chiluba’s cross which is laden with political, economic, social sins is heavy for Rupiah Banda to bear. And once we get in government you will know what I am talking about.

Chiluba committed a lot of political sins against Zambian people, his maneuvers to undermine constitutionalism through the third term, his plunder of Zambian resources through the cases that are in court, and his dubious acquittal, you can also add the social scandals along his marriage life.”

Sejani said Chiluba’s sins were now being carried by President Banda and he would have to atone for them.

“By making Chiluba his consultant, his best friend, his advisor, Rupiah Banda is assuming Chiluba’s sins and he will come to account for all those sins once we get in power,” he said.

Sejani said in the PF-UPND government no one would intervene to protect plunderers.

He said all the plunderers would be investigated and President Banda should not think he is insulated from what is to come.

Sejani said the corruption that characterized the sale of 75 per cent shares in Zamtel was there for all to see.

“The privatization of Zamtel was not done correctly. The Dora Siliya and RP Capital saga will still be followed once we get in government. How was RP Capital in the first place brought into the picture? And the amount of money that was paid to RP Capital, really is it something that this economy can stomach?” Sejani asked.

“The process of selling companies in Zambia is supposed to be transparent. How transparent was the sale of Zamtel from the beginning up to the end? Was the Zambia Public Procurement Authority involved at one stage or not? Or there were shortcuts that were used? The issues that we raised at that time are still the issues that we are raising up to now.”

On President Banda’s description of the Zamtel deal as the best compared to any other privatization process carried out in the country, Sejani said the sale was not justified because of the anomalies that characterised the process.

“It is a big scandal and it is going to come and consume Rupiah Banda. He will be investigated over this. In Tonga we have a saying mulandu tauligwi cucu, even if you commit a crime now, in 40 years that case can still be revisited. It is never eaten by a rat,” he said.

Sejani said President Banda was following Chiluba’s footsteps.

“He will only know that he has committed a mistake once we start dealing with him. Sometime back you interviewed me The Post, I told you that Chiluba was Rupiah Banda’s tutor.

Now you confirmed that they were consulting Chiluba. So they are following exactly the footsteps that Chiluba followed, and this is where they are going to end up in a ditch,” he said.

Sejani said the country should be worried about the fight against corruption because it was now dead.

He said President Banda had abandoned his campaign promises of following on late president Levy Mwanawasa’s legacy.

Sejani said President Banda and his colleagues were now hell bent on what they could reap from the country.

He supported Lubinda’s statement that plunderers deserved to be in prison because they were thieves.

“A thief is supposed to go to prison so that he is punished and reformed. So that when he gets back he is a better citizen to society,” Sejani said.

He said the National Anti-Corruption Policy which President Banda and his colleagues kept on boasting about was absolutely lip service.

“If you are committed to the fight against corruption don’t disturb what the courts are doing. Why did they stop the appeal against Chiluba’s acquittal? Why? Because this country would have learnt, there were many issues that are related to the cases that Chiluba is involved in,” said Sejani.

“By stopping that process then they have announced to the whole world that nobody is interested about corruption.

They can pass laws about corruption but that is all…just like many other progressive laws we have in the statute books but nobody is prepared to implement those laws.”

Labels: ACKSON SEJANI, CORRUPTION, PRIVATISATION, RUPIAH BANDA, ZAMTEL

posted by MrK @ 12:06 PM