Maravi

Rupiah being misled - Panji

Rupiah being misled - Panji
By Kabanda Chulu in Kitwe
Tue 05 Apr. 2011, 04:02 CAT

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda should realise that people in his MMD government are misleading him the way Kenneth Kaunda was misled in 1991 through the “KK syndrome”, says Col Panji Kaunda.

And Col Panji, who is interim national chairman of the People’s Pact Forum, said the decision for UPND to suspend him from the party is a non-starter because supporting Michael Sata is within his rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

Giving an update on progress being made by the People’s Pact Forum on Friday, Col Panji , who is also Dr Kenneth Kaunda’s son, said there was no multi-party democracy without strong opposition parties.

“If you have one party which is in government ruling for 20 years, it must be declared a one party state and it seems that is the way things are heading to,” Col Panji said.

“So the President should avoid these trappings because the things of Kaunda wamuyayaya forever syndrome is gone and it is past because if people were honest and told Kaunda what the feeling was among Zambians, this country would have been different and better. But many advisors lacked courage, they feared losing jobs hence they lied that everything was okay. And this is what is happening in MMD whereby the President is being told that there is no match for you but in the end the country suffers.”

Col Panji challenged all Zambians to get involved and create a government that will be responsive to their needs.

“With due respect, MMD has failed to deliver what they promised to do. The only way is for all Zambians across party lines and regions to have one focus in mind to change government with a purpose… not like the way we change the army command but maintain same uniform, same drills. This time we want proper change whereby all citizens can play a part,” Col Panji said.

“So this Pact Forum is your megaphone and does what you want to do by forming government with conditions which they have to follow. We want to see this Pact continue as a pressure group even if Sata wins so that wrong things are exposed.”

Col Panji said many Zambians still have a feeling the opposition pact could work.

“We had a pact which a lot of Zambians put faith and trust in. They saw this pact as the only vehicle to change government or which must put pressure on government,” Col Panji said.

“Through the People’s Pact Forum, we feel the pact should not die since it is not about Sata or Hichilema. MMD will be shocked to think the pact is gone and we shall go around the country informing people about the need to have a united opposition because in a democracy you respect each other’s views. If my party is not doing something right, I should be free enough to say, ‘not this way’ and no one should not be victimised.”

Col Panji explained that his support for Sata is correct because people can still belong to a party and support an opposition pact.

“Parties don’t own individuals because we all have likes and dislikes. Parties are not like army drills where they say left turn and you turn,” Col Panji said.

“So my appeal to people is to forget about parties. Parties are just like clubs so my suspension is a non starter because it is suspension for what? It won’t affect my support for Sata and I am still UPND no matter what they say and do. I don’t have a position in UPND that they will take away from me. I am not a member of parliament. And how many UPND people are they going to fire because there are so many ‘big fishes’ working with us?” Col Panji said.

“We are saying to people, ‘don’t leave UPND, FDD or UNIP. Stay with your party but for you to get desired results let’s vote somebody who can deliver and my view is that PF and Sata can do it because if we split opposition votes, MMD is going to win hence we are giving Zambians this Pact Forum to express their views and change government.”

Labels: MMD, PANJI KAUNDA, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 5:13 AM