Maravi

Sata defends Kabimba from UPND attacks

Sata defends Kabimba from UPND attacks
By George Chellah
Fri 24 Sep. 2010, 04:01 CAT

PF leader Michael Sata has defended and backed the stance taken by his secretary general Wynter Kabimba over the current differences within the PF/UPND Pact. During a Joy FM radio programme yesterday, Sata wondered why certain individuals wanted Kabimba to be disciplined for stating a fact.

“Wynter went to Radio Phoenix stating a fact that only the Central Committee of PF makes a decision just as we know only the management committee of UPND makes a decision,” Sata said.

He played down the current differences in the pact.

“There is no problem at all, the problem you have young people want to be heard. Young people want their names to be seen in Times of Zambia, they want to be seen on ZNBC and they know very well anybody who goes to attack Michael Sata will be given prominence by the state media. As the secretary general of PF said when you have a subcommittee even you when you are running a government, cabinet decides, not a ministry,” Sata said.

“A ministry will take their recommendation to cabinet and when cabinet finds that it is a much more important issue they will take it…since at the moment it’s the MMD government they will take it to the NEC. When there was UNIP they will take it to the Central Committee so that there will be a policy decision which will be binding on each and every member of that political party.

“That’s the way we are supposed to run things. Not where you find one MP wakes up in the morning attacks Mr Sata another MP wakes up in the morning attacks Mr Kabimba, that is not working in the spirit of an alliance, that’s not in the spirit of working together.”

He said since Kabimba assumed his position the party was moving.

“Towards the end of 2008 we brought in Comrade Wynter Kabimba an eminent lawyer, a person who is an eminent civic leader, the party has started moving. For example, in two days time, on Saturday… in March 2007 the Central Committee decided we should have party democratization. Meaning that we should have elections at the section, branch, ward, constituency, district, provinces and then general conference,” Sata said.

“Mr Edward Mumbi failed lamentably he did not even know the section in which he was. But I am very grateful to Comrade Kabimba because on Saturday we have the first provincial conference in Western Province. This is where the people of Western Province will give to themselves their own leaders instead of relying on the interim leadership who have been running the party and that will continue. That’s very hard working of the secretary general, which on behalf of the party I am very grateful to him.”

He said the pact was not one organization.

“The pact is very different from UDA, UDA which contested elections in 2006 had fused three political parties together and registered one organization. The three organizations were UPND, UNIP and FDD. So they formed one organization an alliance, which took them to contest the 2006 election. The current pact between PF and UPND is a gentleman working alliance where we say we are wasting too much time assaulting each other. That’s where we are drifting back to because we are supposed to assault MMD’s policies,” Sata said.

“But now when you find that members of the two different political parties especially our colleagues from UPND, where they go on, they attack me by some people who are even very junior like Mr Joe Kalusa. Every time I have been attacked I have not replied because that’s not the spirit of the pact.”

He said all opposition political parties needed to concentrate on highlighting the MMD’s failure.

“We need to sensitize the people and not use divide and rule,” he said.

He said during the Luena by-elections PF was called all sorts of names by UPND but they did not reply.

“And it was not the president of UPND, it was not the vice-president of UPND, it was not the secretary general of UPND, it was very junior officers who attacked us left, right and centre,” he said.

Asked whether the pact would survive up to 2011, Sata responded: “For the last 10 years PF has had a pact with the people of Zambia. In 2001, the people of Zambia did not know us very well but when we campaigned for 59 days we managed to get one MP from Lupososhi. And as we continued telling the people the truth, the pact between the people and PF continued growing. In 2006, in spite of the fraudulent manner in which the elections were conducted we managed to get 43 seats of which we lost one seat through the petition where Honourable Simon Kachimba is in Luanshya. Today, the people of Zambia have a pact with UPND, those who are members of UPND. They have a pact with PF and they have a pact with all the other opposition parties where the people belong because it is not UPND or PF, which is suffering alone.”

On the confusion over the Chilanga seat, Sata wondered why tempers were rising.

“In the MoU, we are talking of geographical strengths and when you are talking of geographical strength, the barometer of checking geographical strength is 2006 elections. In 2006 elections, UDA was not UPND, UDA there were three political parties so whatever votes they had should be apportioned by three political parties,” Sata said.

“Now the Speaker has declared Chilanga, I don’t see why people are throwing tantrums around. That’s what made our secretary general to react. The whole point is somebody was saying ‘there was no meeting on Mpulungu, was there supposed to be a meeting on Mpulungu? Did we have a meeting when we went to Chifubu?’ We are following the MoU, the MoU says we are looking at the geographical strength.” Asked whether PF was stronger than UPND in Lusaka, Sata responded: “You are the media if 2008, which is the latest votes is something to go by I leave it to you to judge. I don’t want to be singing my own song of praise. What Wynter was saying yesterday Wednesday, is Michael Sata is not PF and PF is not Michael Sata. The governing body of PF decides, the Central Committee, and the Central Committee has not met to decide.” Sata said he envisions a very weak and shaky pact government.

“If we have no tolerance, we are running to the press. If a simple misunderstanding you run to the press it will be a very difficult government to run. It will be a very, very difficult government to run because at the moment there is show of strength where people are trading in insults, people are trading in unpalatable language,” Sata said.

“And if you are in government there are more misunderstandings in government that’s why the cabinet memo says you either agree or resign. So with what is going on now if that’s what we take in government…” However, Sata said he was very convinced that there would be change next year.

“Change is there, change is inevitable, nobody will stop that change. The change is there, people are eager,” he said.

When asked if PF would go it alone, Sata said: “We are very lucky our brothers and sisters are thinking loudly and as our brothers and sisters are thinking loudly I think it will be helpful that we minimize public condemnation of each other. What I meant by saying we are going to have a very complicated government where even every time you differ in cabinet some pact member goes out they are in the press saying ‘this is what we differed’. That will dilute the dictum of secrecy of government,” Sata said.

“My appeal to my colleagues is that they have a secretariat if they feel very strong about anything, why don’t they write to the secretary general or inform the secretary general to communicate with our secretary general. We always do that ourselves. Where there is a difference and we clarify a point as I am clarifying a point here. Several times you reporters come to ask me ‘have you heard what these people have said’ I have ignored you.”

He said an organization could not be run through the press.

“Where you are going to tell the press how many times you have met. How many times you have discussed then you cease to be an organization. Even people at the market they won’t tell you how many times they meet, they also have secrets, even the ng’wang’wazi call boys at the bus stop,” he said.

Sata called on the pact to avoid washing dirty linen in the public.

“Let us consult each other because we can even call a joint national council (JNC) for us to discuss some of these problems. I am very sincere…what we do is let us quarrel in our bedrooms not publicly because we are diverting the attention from the MMD,” he said.

Sata said PF vice-president Guy Scott only gave his personal views on the pact as a columnist.

“I feel uneasy when people want to associate Mr Fred M’membe and Mr Amos Malupenga. Why don’t people condemn the Times of Zambia, Daily Mail to report the way they report? ZNBC even brings Chanda Chimba to attack me. It’s not Michael Sata, Hakainde Hichilema who should tell them how they are going to manage their newspapers,” he said.

He said PF had always been ready for elections.

“We have always been ready for elections today and not tomorrow and the extension of voters it’s not because we want to have more voters, it’s a right. It’s not a privilege. We gave to ourselves that, we fought for one-man one vote and when a person reaches of age, he or she must be accorded the right, that’s a constitutional right,” he said.

Sata also observed that the fact that the Speaker condemned members of parliament for not debating the presidential speech shows that the speech was hollow and useless.

Sata also wondered why President Banda, in his address to Parliament, did not talk about the National Constitutional Conference (NCC), which had gobbled a lot of money.

Labels: MICHAEL SATA, PF-UPND, UPND, WYNTER KABIMBA

posted by MrK @ 7:02 AM