Maravi

Give Rupiah an eviction notice from State House – Simenda

Give Rupiah an eviction notice from State House – Simenda
By Mwala Kalaluka in Luena
Mon 19 July 2010, 13:30 CAT

UPND vice-president for political affairs Francis Simenda has urged the people of Luena to give President Rupiah Banda an eviction notice to vacate State House in 2011 by overwhelmingly rejecting the MMD in the forthcoming by-election in the area.

And UPND provincial chairman Colonel Best Makumba said the people of Luena wasted their precious time when they voted for Charles Milupi in 2006, asking them to teach him a lesson by not voting for him in the forthcoming by-election.

Milupi, who is the constituency’s former Independent parliamentarian, is re-contesting the seat on his Alliance for Development and Democracy (ADD) ticket.

Addressing a rally that was attended by Miulwe area senior headman Sambo at Sikalelo village in Miulwe area of Luena Constituency on Sunday, Simenda said President Banda and his MMD should be given a red card by the people of Luena on polling day.

Simenda said the people of Luena could only claim to be part of the wind of change that was sweeping across Zambia if they overwhelmingly reject the corrupt MMD government on August 5 this year.

“Let us leave the MMD; they are just thieves who will not take us anywhere…if you vote for UPND you will give Rupiah Banda what they call a red card,” said Simenda during the rally held to drum up support for the UPND candidate in the Luena by-election Muyunda Ililonga.

“This election is not a joking matter like the jokes that Milupi is doing. The issue is that this country is experiencing a wind of change, and this wind of change is becoming aggressive. Day and night, the people are crying for change.”

Simenda feared that if the people of Western Province and Luena did not align themselves to the changing political landscape, the harsh realities obtaining in the area would persist.

“People want to change because they have realised that the MMD has failed,” said Simenda as some women sang songs urging President Rupiah Banda to collect his non-functional clock MMD symbol.

“If you do not change, it will entail that you are happy with the status quo, you are happy with your predicament. Let us change so that we move with the rest of the country.”

Simenda said the only way they could bring about change in their lives was to vote for Ililonga.

“On August 5, you should vote Muyunda Ililonga, and that is when it will become apparent that you are also geared for change,” Simenda said. “Whether we like it or not, this country is changing and there is no tribe which will run this country alone. That is a lie and anybody telling you that is a liar who just wants to confuse you.”

Simenda said Milupi was a political joker who should not be tolerated by the people of Luena.

“He is a dangerous person who just wants to confuse you because there is no person who can say ‘I want to form a party for Western Province.’ It will not go anywhere,” Simenda said. “Milupi wants to be elected an MP and also elected President. There is no way he can help you here even if he says you elect him in this short period remaining.”

Simenda wondered what time Milupi would have for the people of Luena since at the same time he would be running around the country, asking to be voted as Republican President.

“Leave him and ensure that you align yourselves with people that are eager for change,” he said.

Simenda said Milupi’s ADD and Sakwiba Sikota’s ULP were just small surrogate parties formed to split the opposition vote.

“If Sakwiba Sikota and Milupi really felt for you, why didn’t they come together to form one party? And these were the same people who were campaigning for Rupiah Banda in 2008; why should they come and say today they are in opposition?” Simenda asked.

UPND national treasurer general and the party’s Solwezi Central parliamentarian Watson Lumba asked the people of Luena to do what their compatriots in Solwezi and Mufumbwe did by not voting for the MMD despite engaging in massive vote buying.

And Col Makumba said Milupi should not be given back the Luena seat, which he discarded of his own selfish volition.

Col Makumba also asked the people of Luena to remember, as they cast their votes, President Banda’s statement that he did not solicit for the votes from the people of Western Province.

“Milupi’s time in Parliament was not exhausted. He was supposed to be in Parliament for five years but of his own volition, he left; and when he left, he wants to eat with both hands - one is for a President and the other is for a member of parliament,” Col Makumba said.

Col Makumba said Milupi should be taught a lesson for causing an unnecessary by-election.

Meanwhile, Ililonga said he asked the UPND to adopt him as their candidate in the Luena by-election because he had been touched by the area’s underdevelopment.

“I feel so much pain that our area is not developing,” said Ililonga as he knelt in front of the crowd. “My mothers, put me on your back and you my fathers put me on your shoulders so that I can cross and become your link that can bring development to our home.”

Labels: BEST MAKUMBA, CHARLES MILUPI, FRANCIS SIMENDA, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 3:19 PM