Rupiah ruled with an iron fist, says Gen Simbeye

Rupiah ruled with an iron fist, says Gen Simbeye
By Ernest Chanda and Masuzyo Chakwe
Sat 01 Oct. 2011, 08:50 CAT

FORMER army commander General Nobby Simbeye says Rupiah Banda ruled the country like the historical King Leopold of Belgium. Commenting on the downfall of the MMD government after last week's general election, Gen Simbeye, who served as army commander from 1991 to 1997, said the immediate past Republican president Banda turned Zambia into a personal property.

He said the MMD's downfall was a lesson that real power lay in the people and not individual politicians.

"In my view, MMD died a long time ago because the MMD I served under from 1991 to 1997 is completely different from the one that has just lost the election. Mr Rupiah Banda surrounded himself with wrong people who could not advise him properly. They just told him what he wanted to hear, nothing else," said Gen Simbeye.

"Mr Banda ruled this country like the historical King Leopold of Congo. King Leopold-treated Congo like his company and he thought that all the people in Congo were his personal property. It's the same with Zambia where Mr Banda ruled with an iron fist and thought everyone else was not a factor to governance. I am glad that this change has come about without any bloodshed.

This is good for our democracy, and I congratulate President Michael Sata on his election. We look forward to a good five years, and I'm sure that the PF government will improve conditions of service for our men and women in the defence forces just as the President promised in his campaigns."

Meanwhile, the Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA) expressed hope that President Sata would priotise media self-regulation so as to avoid media polarisation and bias as witnessed before and during the just-ended elections.

In a congratulatory message to President Sata on his election, ZAMWA chairperson Margaret Chimanse said her organisation was also hopeful that measures would be put in place to protect female journalists from harassment based on their vulnerability to sexual injustices.

She said ZAMWA recognised that gender inequality undermined development.
"Further, we are committed to promoting the right to and use of information to create a society that has equitable access to opportunities," she said.

Chimanse prayed that President Sata would priotise and put in place measures that would ensure that media organisations had security policies for their staff and punitive measures against perpetrators of violence against journalists.