Rupiah is going, says Mangani

Rupiah is going, says Mangani
By Chibaula Silwamba
Fri 02 Sep. 2011, 14:00 CAT

The signs in Luapula and elsewhere are definite that President Rupiah Banda is going, says Lameck Mangani. And Mangani has advised President Banda not to cling to the presidency after the September 20 elections because that will be against Zambians' wishes and can cause anarchy.

Mangani, a former home affairs minister in the Rupiah Banda Cabinet but currently Chipata Central PF parliamentary candidate, said the late former president Frederick Chiluba and PF ‘rebel members of parliament' cheated President Banda that he was popular in Luapula Province when in fact people disliked him.

In an interview from Chipata, Mangani said President Banda must emulate first Republican president Dr Kenneth Kaunda who stepped down after his electoral defeat in 1991.

Mangani said President Banda must avoid rigging electoral results because that could create "problems" for him and the country.

"The signs in Luapula and elsewhere are definite signs that he is going," Mangani said. "The only thing that he can do is to avoid rigging the elections because, if he does, it will have serious repercussions on him.

He is treated as a freedom fighter and as a freedom fighter he cannot sink so low as to rig an election because it will dent his image and also create a problem because Zambians know who they want to vote for.

So once somebody who they don't know has won, it will create discontent in the country. The best thing to do is to accept the results of the elections and allow transparency to prevail. Any attempts to rig will create problems."

Asked if he feared that President Banda's hold on power after the elections would cause anarchy, Mangani responded: "If he is going to force himself against the wishes of the people, then it can create problems."

He said President Banda must respect the people's wishes after the elections and leave power.

"He should emulate Dr Kaunda. When Dr Kaunda saw that it is impossible to change things, he stepped down. He never went to the extent of trying to rig. No! He simply said: ‘the people have spoken, let me step down'," Mangani said.

"Dr Kaunda is still a living example. Let him follow what Dr Kaunda did, then he will have all the respect that he deserves as a former head of state.

But if he is going to force himself, then he will be trapped in a situation where people will think he is a dictator and they will treat him very harshly."
Mangani said a lot of people had been deceiving President Banda.

"President Banda has fallen into the same trap Dr Kaunda fell in in 1991, where people kept on cheating him that ‘all is well' when things were not okay.

We have been told by the rebel MPs members of parliament and the former president that Luapula is very good for him and MMD," Mangani said. "But on the contrary, I think the President has seen the actual situation on the ground that things are not the way he has been cheated.

The situation within the next few weeks will be ugly, not only in Luapula but in most parts of the country because Zambians are determined to change government. He will see the true picture within the next few weeks before we cast our vote."

Mangani said many MMD members and officials had just been pretending.
"Naturally, people don't want to tell the President the truth but the President on his own should have the ability to investigate the truth of what is obtaining," Mangani said.

"Chiluba and rebel MPs gave President Banda a picture which is not true on the ground as being evidenced by what is happening right now. It's very unfortunate. Again, he did not need Chiluba and the rebel MPs to tell him; he is the President and should have known that ‘these people are cheating me'."

Mangani said President Banda had "all the machinery" to know the truth but he decided to be receptive to deception, thereby creating problems for himself.

"That is the danger of having praise singers because they don't want you to look at the other side of the story.

They just say, ‘you are the only one, you are the most popular and all Zambians like you', which is not possible," said Mangani. "Now the truth will prevail.

The next two weeks will be very tough for him and the MMD. No matter how much money they will give voters, people have learnt the PF ‘Don't kubeba' slogan. People will get their MMD money but they will not vote for them."

During his campaign trail in Luapula Province this week, President Banda received a cold reception and even failed to address a rally in Mansa.