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It’s not my fault that I can’t speak English - MMD official

It’s not my fault that I can’t speak English - MMD official
By Abigail Chaponda in Ndola
Fri 20 May 2011, 03:50 CAT

IT is not my fault that I cannot speak English; God made me that way, says MMD Ndola district chairman Victor Konie.

Reacting to MMD protestors who said he was a bad leader who could not even express himself in English, Konie said it was not his fault that he could not express himself in the language.

Last Friday, MMD members in Chifubu insulted each other and almost fought after supporters of the suspended constituency chairman Joseph Mukosela were prevented from attending a meeting at Mpezeni Hall chaired by Lt Gen Ronnie Shikapwasha.

Chifubu Constituency information and publicity secretary Hagai Bwalya described Konie as a bad leader who was busy persecuting MMD members he perceived to be his enemies.

He charged that Konie had brought more harm than good to the MMD.
“Konie knows nothing, he can’t even express himself in English and these people are calling him district chairman. If this continues, we will not campaign for anyone except President Rupiah Banda. We will just fold our arms and watch the PF and other people do the campaigns,” Bwalya said.

Some of Mukosela’s supporters vowed not to campaign for the MMD because of mistreatment they were getting from Konie.

But Konie, a former Ndola District Commissioner, refused to comment but referred all queries to provincial chairman Joseph Chilambwe.

“Awe teti ndande ifingi, temulandu wandi nga teti ndande ichisungu. Lesa efyo ampangile (no, I can’t say much, it’s not my fault if I can’t speak English. This is how God made me). Ba provincial is handling everything, I cannot comment more,” he said.

But Chilambwe said leadership was not about people knowing how to speak English.
He said if one was born a leader, then English should not be a barrier to being a leader.

“Leadership is not English, it is given knowledge and when a person is born a leader, English is not supposed to prevent them from being leaders. English is just an added thing, it is not a must for one to know English if they are good leaders,” he said.

Chilambwe said MMD would not tolerate misbehaviour and warned Bwalya to behave in a proper manner.

Labels: DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS, MMD

posted by MrK @ 5:02 AM