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Sharpen alliances to dislodge tired MMD, Ngondo urges opposition

Sharpen alliances to dislodge tired MMD, Ngondo urges opposition
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Wed 07 July 2010, 04:01 CAT

THE opposition should sharpen their alliances in order to dislodge the already tired MMD from power next year, All People’s Congress president Ken Ngondo has urged.

And Ngondo said the constitution-making process is a futile exercise.
In an interview at his Mbaula Farm last Sunday, Ngondo, who boasted of a bumper harvest, said it was nice to have a PF-UPND pact.

“Last time, I commented that we need a united front in order to dislodge the current government which has overstayed and tired but we need to sharpen our alliances. It’s nice to have a UPND-PF pact, but what does it mean? Come next year, the pact could be different just on the position of leadership. We should sharpen our alliances and choose a particular leader who should lead us to fight this regime which is tired,” Ngondo said.

He said the opposition should do what was done in 1991 when they defeated UNIP.

“Just like in 1991, Chiluba emerged and everybody rallied behind him.
That’s what we need to do,” Ngondo said.

On President Banda’s claim that the MMD was popular, Ngondo said it was normal for a ruling party to profess to be popular.

“Dr Kaunda said the same in 1991, among the outsiders, one leader, a guy like me I saw Dr Kaunda three times at State House and I assured him he was not winning the 1991 elections but he assured me that he was winning. I said to him that I will win Chipata Central but I don’t think you will win yours. What happened? He lost and blamed the women who didn’t vote. It’s normal to be blinded when you are seated there (State House). Ask how many cabinet ministers now have doubts about them (MMD) winning, many,” Ngondo said.

He said there was a big problem with politics of appeasement in the country.

“As long as I have a job, I have to praise the boss, if I don’t I will lose it. Isn’t that the case? Let’s see when we get closer to elections whether it will be the same attitude, whether people will have the same guts like they are having now because there had been so many problems, you know it and you can see it,” Ngondo said.

“I think even the old man Rupiah Bwezani Banda can see a lot of red in front of him, is it a lot of red or red card? Why are they afraid of the red card? They have been red-carded by other people, isn’t it?” Ngondo asked.

He said Fr Bwalya was a good young man whom he had no quarrels with.

And on the submissions to the draft constitution, Ngondo said many people who supported the constituent assembly which turned to be NCC were very disillusioned.

“President Levy Mwanawasa meant well, but he was also skeptical because I was one of those advocates who had the last say in having the NCC. The man (Mwanawasa) told us that you can call it anything, a constituency assembly, NCC or whatever but his officials, like the Vice-President, they are the ones who have manipulated the draft constitution and this forty days they have given (to make submissions on the draft constitution), they don’t tell us when it started because as political parties we never even received the draft constitution,” Ngondo said.

He said he was sure that even the district commissioners did not have copies to give to the people.

“You go to NCC secretariat, they say you should go to government printers and buy a copy. How can people buy a copy which is a public document? When millions were spent on the NCC! What should happen is that the period should be extended and, secondly, we already made our wishes known to the Mung’omba Constitution Review Commission, which this NCC has taken out. Things like the human rights issues, they are not there, they have removed the 50 per cent plus 1; all the things that were suggested by people, they have been removed,” Ngondo said.

“…people will repeat the same things and are they going to consider them? This is how insincere the whole exercise has become; they are concentrating on conditions on presidential candidates to be a degree holder. Who told them? The people of Zambia should choose who they want to be their leader and that’s discrimination like what they did to Dr Kaunda,” Ngondo said.

He said the draft constitution should not be accepted for the sake of the 2011 elections.

“The draft constitution is for the future because time is not there to do justice to it,” said Ngondo.

Labels: KEN NGONDO, MMD, PF-UPND

posted by MrK @ 4:28 PM