Maravi

Magande accuses NMP deserters of being bribed

Magande accuses NMP deserters of being bribed
By Moses Kuwema
Fri 02 Sep. 2011, 13:59 CAT

NG'ANDU Magande says of the 50 people that expressed interest to contest parliamentary elections on his party, about 30 fell victim to bribery and corruption from big parties and backed out at the last minute.

In an interview, Magande, who is National Movement for Progress party president, expressed concern at what he termed the unfortunate trend of money exchanging hands that had characterised the campaigns.

"I want to tell you, we got 20 members of parliament but even among those 20 members of parliament when they tell you these horrid stories of some of these chaps going to their houses at night with K100 million, don't file your nomination tomorrow we have K100 million in the car.

Some came, two days before the nominations, to just say sorry I am not standing, why, no reason. Perhaps those fell to all these corrupt practices of people buying everybody around. We shall definitely end up with a very complicated Parliament. It's really too corrupt a system and hope the Zambians are going to wake up," Magande said.

He said many fell into the trap.

Magande said there was just too much corruption and bribery going around and that was why inflation was going up and that the kwacha was depreciating.

"People are just pouring money and they don't know what to do with it, really it is a very unfortunate situation where our country finds itself in that, we are being led in a direction where morals are so low and they are every day being eroded by the leadership. Even the campaigns the way we are seeing all these chitenges being given around, you wonder whether there is even any budgeting anywhere.

Somehow people have found this spring of money which just comes out and they don't know what to do with it, but definitely this is not the kind of campaign one would want to see in the 21 century," Magande said.
And Magande has expressed concern at President Rupiah Banda and Vice-President George Kunda's continued abuse of public resources.

"You cannot have the President and his vice going round and rotating going to the same places using very costly means of getting there. It has never been done before and I don't know if the Zambians are happy about that, that our resources now instead of completing schools or the roads, some of them are being left half way, window level and so on and somebody is gallivanting the whole country.

Even putting pictures of the President around, I mean who does not know him? If I was president, even for two three days, I would be able to visit so many compounds in Lusaka, people would not need to have a picture stuck on the wall, what impression are you getting?" Magande wondered.

And commenting on the Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council (NGOCC)'s concerns that political parties had not adopted enough women candidates, Magande said his party invited the womenfolk to apply for adoption but that they never did.

Labels: BRIBERY, MMD, NG'ANDU MAGANDE

posted by MrK @ 2:18 PM