Sata is wiser now than he was 20 years ago - Panji

Sata is wiser now than he was 20 years ago - Panji
By Ernest Chanda and Kombe Chimpinde
Tue 10 May 2011, 04:01 CAT

COLONEL Panji Kaunda says Michael Sata is wiser now than he was 20 years ago. And Col Panji has urged young leaders to look to Patriotic Front leader Sata for a clean political system that would give them a favourable platform to lead the country after 2011.

Featuring on MUVI Television’s The Assignment programme in Lusaka on Sunday evening, Col Panji maintained that the PF leader would make a better president than the other candidates.

“Yes, he may have done this and that in the past, but you should also realise that everyone changes. I have had several interactions with Sata and I can tell you that he has changed; he is wiser than he was 20 years ago. He is a wiser dog today and it is better to have him than bringing a puppy into the kennel. I’m convinced that he means well for this country,” Col Panji said.

“I will give you an example of the late Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi who used to be a Marxist, but he later switched to capitalism. And when he was asked why, Savimbi said ‘only a fool could not change when it was necessary’. So, equally Sata has changed; and, mind you he is surrounded by intellectuals. There are doctors, engineers; it’s a whole team of intelligent people who will ensure that he becomes a good president.”

Asked why he could not support a young person like UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema as he had done in the past, Col Panji said Hichilema could not win this year’s presidential election.

“The youngman that is there Hichilema cannot win an election. We have tried to sell him since 2006 but he has failed to win; he has always been coming out third. There is no way you can get anybody else to win other than Sata. I can put my life at stake and tell you that this is the right man for Zambia,” he said.

Asked why he did not support his young brother Tilyenji who is UNIP president, Col Panji said the country’s longest surviving political party was dying.

“I don’t think he Tilyenji is ready to be president of this country. UNIP is dying, unfortunately in the hands of the founding father’s son,” Col Panji said.

And asked if he could accept a job offer from the MMD government, Col Panji refused, saying he had no hope that the government would deliver after failing to do so in the last 20 years.

Col Panji, however, said he would accept a job from the PF government if it felt that he had something to contribute to the welfare of the country.

“My aim is to see change of government, and if the new government feels I should occupy a position, I wouldn’t say ‘no’. If I say ‘no’ you will say ‘you are a bloody cheat Kaunda’! But I wouldn’t accept a job from the MMD government,” he said.

And Col Panji said MMD had corrupted the political system in the country.

He said youths would have a proper platform after the PF government had provided a better Republican constitution.

“Before 2011, that is not possible. There is no way that you can get another person to win (elections) other than Sata. It’s not possible; if it were possible we would have preferred a young person. We want the young people to go there when the system is cleaned,” Col Panji said.

“They will have a proper platform when there is a constitution, good judiciary, proper ECZ Electoral Commission of Zambia and everything put in place. For us to do this, it is to get that old man Sata in there.”

He said other political parties should begin working together with PF since it was the only party with clear chances of winning.

“If the MMD, for example, had a fantastic agriculture policy which can make the country change overnight, and I’m a farmer and I believe that my party’s agriculture policies are not good, I think I should be able to support the MMD which I know I will benefit from their policies,” said Col
Panji.

“So any party that comes in place with good policies we should feel free to support so that we can achieve what we want to achieve. That’s the way politics works everywhere.”