Maravi

HH takes a swipe at Rupiah’s frequent trips

HH takes a swipe at Rupiah’s frequent trips
By Salim Dawood
Tue 14 Sep. 2010, 20:50 CAT

UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has said President Rupiah Banda is happier to operate as a Minister of Foreign Affairs because of his huge appetite for traveling which he cannot resist.

Speaking in an interview ahead of President Banda’s trip to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly next week, Hichilema said President Banda’s frequent ‘trivial’ trips abroad have made it difficult for Zambians to distinguish between important presidential trips from the unnecessary ones.

“That does not mean that some trips are not important, some trips are important no doubt about it, but when a President is always traveling, it creates a problem in the sense that he loses an opportunity to prioritize trips that ought to be taken by the President.

Even when they are genuine they begin to be clouded by the trivial trips that he has been taking when foreign affairs minister should have been traveling instead of him,” he said.

Hichilema said President Banda has an insatiable appetite for traveling and does not understand the concept of prioritization and division of labour.

He said President Banda was attracted to frequent trivial trips mainly for bit of good life but which was at the expense of the challenges currently being faced by Zambians.

“ We all for example, have seen in your own Newspaper that the farmers union president has confirmed that K 400 million kwacha is still owed to small scale farmers by the FRA which is owned by the government of Zambia and it means that with the rains looming these farmers are unable to prepare for the next farming season.

So this will obviously affect the crop next year and further it means these farmers can’t send their children to school under the policy of fee paying education,” Hichilema said.

“So all the problems that are obtaining at the moment, a lot of civil servants’ pay is late, the pay roll is a total mess up where for example a civil servant who has no house loan but has a house loan showing on their pay slip. So there are numerous problems in the country and the President prefers to travel all the time.”

He said added to that list was the problem President Banda had created in the donor community after he attacked them for questioning government’s refusal to appeal the High Court’s rejection to register the London judgment.

“It is unimaginable for a Head of State who is aware that almost 50 per cent of the health budget comes from donors and he cannot afford to insult and use terminologies such donors should not poke their noses in the business of Zambia, I think what he should have said is donors should not poke their noses in the business of Rupiah Banda and sons because as far as am concerned donors had every right to comment about how their resources are used,” Hichilema said.

“So I think this President will go down in the history of Zambia as the most disgruntled and the most traveled yet the shortest serving President, amazing isn’t it?”

He observed that there were many problems that required President Banda’s attention but sadly he was ever traveling at the expense of serving his masters, the tax-paying Zambians.

“We know the health situation in our country. I understand you were showing citizens sleeping on the floor at UTH. But priorities are not considered and that coupled with corruption makes life harder in Zambia,” Hichilema said.
“For example why should the President be traveling all the time?

For example some trips, he goes with such huge delegations such that one trip would fork out a million dollars, now here is government that is presiding over a country like Zambia that needs a lot of priorities such as clean water, if we were in government, we would cut some trips for every trip that costs a million dollars and instead use it to, we would use to serve it and sink bore holes.”

He explained instead of spending such a staggering figure on travel, it could be used to sink about 330 boreholes each with an estimated cost of K15 million with hand pumps for the provision of clean water to citizens.

“Travelling should be restricted to necessity, that is extremely important but it seems Zambians are happy, they don’t seem to mind that 3.5 million Zambians are unemployed. It really shocks me that Zambians have been tolerating this MMD government for such a long time,” said Hichilema.

Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 3:21 AM