Maravi

Panji demands harsh sentences for corruption

Panji demands harsh sentences for corruption
By Patson Chilemba
Fri 17 June 2011, 04:01 CAT

ZAMBIAN leaders should be ashamed following Hillary Clinton’s remarks that African leaders must sort out corruption issues to improve their perception to the outside world, says Colonel Panji Kaunda.

And Col Panji said Zambians should not experiment with leadership but instead vote for tested leadership such as the one provided by PF leader Michael Sata.
In an interview, Col Panji said President Banda’s government should not de-link itself from the US Secretary of State’s message on corruption because it was targeted at them.

“I hope our leaders held their heads in shame. That message was for them. That message from Hilary, I am sure, was for them. Corruption is an issue in this country. I want to see the coming government putting in place laws that deter corruption,” Col Panji said.

“The sentences we give to those who are corrupt are not too serious. They can serve three years and come back and continue to loot what they stole. We should have, let’s say 20 years in jail without parole.”

And Col Panji said since Zambians had experienced President Banda’s lamentable failures, they should now vote for Sata who stood a realistic chance of removing the MMD from office.

He said the economy was not in good shape, corruption was still rampant and the rights of the people were still being trampled upon.

Col Panji said the country needed a leader who had experience to tackle all these problems, saying apart from President Banda, Sata had served in various government portfolios necessary for acquiring experience.

“He began a party literally from zero to where it is today. So that experience is what we need now this coming election to help Zambia. We cannot experiment with people who have never been into a ward election. They can’t do what they don’t know. Zambians should not make a mistake of experimenting with the leadership of Zambia,” he said.

Col Panji said some people were going round comparing themselves with British Prime Minister David Cameron and United States of America President Barack Obama, but they forgot that these were people who had risen through the political ranks to be where they were now.

He said from among the various portfolios, Prime Minister Cameron served as member of parliament while Obama served as Senator.

“I am urging those who are in the middle of the road, who are not yet decided but they want change to please support PF for change,” Col Panji said.

He said the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) should extend the voter verification which ended on Sunday, saying many people had not verified their details and it was not possible that the problems that were discovered by those who verified would be addressed immediately.

Labels: CORRUPTION, MICHAEL SATA, PANJI KAUNDA

posted by MrK @ 5:06 AM