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Take interest in your country’s affairs - Sichinga

Take interest in your country’s affairs - Sichinga
By Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Wed 30 Mar. 2011, 04:01 CAT

Bob Sichinga has urged Zambians to take an interest in their country’s affairs and ensure that they learn their leaders’ roles and responsibilities if they were to effectively hold them accountable.

During a News Makers’ Forum organised by the Press Freedom Committee of The Post at Hotel Edinburg in Kitwe on Monday, Sichinga also urged Zambians not to believe President Rupiah Banda or Vice-President George Kunda when they stand on platforms and accuse opposition parliamentarians of failing to deliver development.

“No MP has the means of bringing development because the constituency has no allocation apart from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). No MP is responsible for development, no MP will bring you development because it’s not their responsibility, so when the President tells you that the problem facing your district is because you voted for this MP, he is telling lies, he is politicking,” he said.

“And when the Vice-President tells you that this MP resigned from our party because he failed to deliver development in his constituency, he is lying. The responsibility of development is entirely in the executive arm of government.”

Sichinga said the country’s poverty levels were unacceptably high despite the government's pronouncements that the economy was growing.

He said although the economy was growing, it was not being properly managed hence the benefits of economic growth were not trickling down to the ordinary citizens.

And Sichinga said if the opposition parties failed to work together, it was better to support the one that stood a better chance of winning.

“The opposition is divided and I want to acknowledge that. Without the opposition holding together, you have a reduced ability and you take a risk. It would be preferable for all opposition parties to be together but if they can’t be together, I would go for the one that stands a better chance of winning and set conditions,” he said.

He said the conditions would be for whichever leader is elected to seriously address the Constitution, implement decentralisation. He said that leader must not fly around but stay at home and address problems facing his or her people.

Sichinga, a former UPND vice-president also observed that his former party was not the same as it was in 2001 and that dynamics had changed.

“In 2001, how many MPs did UPND have? 49,” he answered. “How many did PF have? One but by the time we came to a close in 2006, PF had two MPs.

Then after the 2006 elections, UPND came back with 22 seats, PF came out with 42,” Sichinga said.

“I am not talking about quality here, am talking about the numbers and in Parliament, even if you just sit without saying a word, your vote counts. The situation is that we have one political party which is bigger than the other.”

Meanwhile, Sichinga said the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) should be supported by all political players and citizens.

And Luxon Kazabu urged people to emulate Sichinga’s character of always putting the country's interests ahead of his own.

Labels: LUXON KAZABU, PF, ROBERT SICHINGA

posted by MrK @ 6:26 AM