Things are not okay for Rupiah - Mangani

Things are not okay for Rupiah - Mangani
By Chibaula Silwamba
Mon 31 Jan. 2011, 04:01 CAT

WORKS and supply deputy minister Lameck Mangani (left) has warned that things are not okay on the ground for President Rupiah Banda and it is a total lie that he will win the forthcoming election without any problem, according to a State House source.

Commenting on a story in Saturday’s Zambia Daily Mail quoting MMD acting national secretary Chembe Nyangu as saying that the party was studying Mangani’s exculpatory letter concerning his meeting with Judith Kapijimpanga who recently defected from MMD to PF, the State House source that read the exculpatory letter said Mangani stated that the situation on the ground was unfavourable for the MMD and President Banda.

“We have read Mr. Mangani’s exculpatory letter dated January 26, 2011 in which he stated that from his many interactions, he could state that a lot of people were cheating President Banda that all is well when in actual fact the ground was not good,” the source said yesterday.

“Mr Mangani stated that people had managed to manipulate his brother President that he could win this year’s elections without any problem, which he felt was a total lie. He stated that the MMD has to work extremely hard in order to achieve victory and that politics nowadays has become extremely complicated that one may think that all is well when in actual fact things were extremely bad.

”The source said Mangani appealed to Nyangu to help create a sense of harmony among senior MMD members and also to advise Lusaka Province chairperson William Banda, presidential spokesperson Dickson Jere, MMD spokesperson Dora Siliya and science minister Peter Daka that the party had more to lose if President Banda lost this year’s elections.

The source said Mangani warned that the in-fighting among MMD members was making President Banda vulnerable.

“Mr Mangani categorically stated that there is a lot of excitement among party members as if all is well but things are not okay on the ground. He indicated that he was aware that William Banda has been phoning provincial leaders telling them to put pressure on him. He wondered what value that pressure would create to the MMD,” the source said.

“Mr Mangani also said he felt extremely sorry that he has to be seen to be fighting President Banda whom he knows has no ill feelings against him.
He said even if this was a ploy to discredit him, he could have been called to explain his meeting with Mrs Kapijimpanga away from the media.

”The source said Mangani stated that he was sure the issue concerning his meeting with Kapijimpanga could have been amicably resolved without publicising it in the manner it had been done.

The source said Mangani, who is also Chipata Central MMD member of parliament, indicated that the circus about his meeting with Kapijimpanga was just embarrassing the party and to a large extent President Banda because of the childish infighting.

“Mr Mangani said as MMD, we are throwing some grenades on ourselves instead of targeting the enemy. He hoped Mr. Nyangu will create a spirit of team work and brotherhood among all MMD members so that we could help the President do his national duties without these headaches,” the source said.

“In the same letter, Mr. Mangani also reaffirmed his loyalty and commitment to the MMD and President Banda.
“The source said Mangani confirmed meeting Kapijimpanga on Friday January 21, 2011 at Mika Lodge around 17:30 hours and that this was not the first time the duo met. Mangani stated that he regarded Kapijimpanga as his sister because her father came from Eastern Province and she confided in him on many things, including her family life.

The source said Mangani stated that due to his closeness to Kapijimpanga, in 2008 when the MMD national executive committee was choosing a presidential candidate, he called on Kapijimpanga to camp at Chrisma Hotel to watch over the delegates.
“Mr Mangani said when Judith decided to defect from the MMD, she took most people by surprise because she was regarded as a very loyal member of the party. He stated that on January 21, 2011, Mrs Kapijimpanga phoned him after a long time and complained that he was part of the group that hated her because she had left the MMD,” the source said.

“Mr Mangani further explained that in his reply, he told her that she was unfair to him because she didn’t even confide in him that she was leaving the MMD. He said Kapijimpanga proposed that they meet near her home so that she could brief him about her frustrations in MMD.”

The source said Mangani stated that when he met Kapijimpanga, she explained at length her frustrations after which he told her that he respected her decision but he could have been happier had she confided in him before her defection.

“Mr Mangani said it was during that moment that a photographer appeared from nowhere and started photographing them,” the source said.The sources said Mangani told Nyangu that he had met many friends from opposition members including PF ‘rebel’ members of parliament whom he convinced to support President Banda.

The source said Mangani stated that during the 2008 presidential by-elections, he personally persuaded FDD Edith Nawakwi, UNIP Tilyenji Kaunda, late Lieutenant General Christon Tembo, late Ken Ngondo, among others, to campaign for President Banda.

The source said Mangani stated that he had been closely working with some opposition members of parliament on many assignments for the MMD and that Mangani expressed surprise that his meeting with Kapijimpanga who was not even a prominent member of the opposition had raised suspicion of this magnitude.

“Mr Mangani insisted that he met Mrs Kapijimpanga thinking innocently that he was dealing with a person who could have made a wrong decision in hest and that if this meeting had been misunderstood by a few people then he didn’t know their agenda,” the source said.

“Mr Mangani stated that he realised that people always identify one person in each administration whom they are free with to vent their anger on what is happening and that individual would have to be accommodative to allow such people to confide in them on issues obtaining on the ground.

”The source explained that Mangani said that was why he had always accommodated people at his office because they felt free to express their views on President Banda’s administration with the view to improving on certain areas where they thought there were weaknesses. On January 23, 2011, in their Sunday editions, the Zambia Daily Mail and Times of Zambia published a photograph of Mangani and Kapijimpanga on front pages with a caption: “Science and technology deputy minister Lameck Mangani with Patriotic Front member Judith Kapijimpanga at Mika Lodge in Lusaka recently. The purpose of the meeting was unknown.”