Mwaanga reflects on Rupiah's presidency

Mwaanga reflects on Rupiah's presidency
By Kombe Chimpinde and Mwala Kalaluka
Sat 17 Dec. 2011, 14:00 CAT

Banda's children seemed to have acquired appetite for wealth, greed... VERNON Mwaanga has singled out Rupiah Banda's children among people that were greedy and acquired an insatiable appetite for wealth.

In his latest revised edition of the book; The Long Sunset under the chapter ‘Working With Presidents' due for publication next month, Mwaanga, a veteran politician said Banda had insulated himself with people that added no value and did not serve his Banda's image.

"His businessminded children (not mentioned by name) and some close associates who claimed to own the president did not help his image as some of them seemed to have acquired an insatiable appetite for wealth and greed and who in the process, stepped on the toes of far too many people in the government, the MMD and outside," he wrote.

Mwaanga wrote that although it was not fair to expect any man to do more than his best, Banda would have probably dealt with the excesses committed by his allies and close relations had he stayed longer.

"He may have been the shortest-serving president for Zambia so far and he may not have done enough to cage the excesses which were committed by some members of his immediate family and close friends," he noted.

Mwaanga, however, wrote that history would not deny Banda of what he described as many achievements which rightly deserved to be part of the lasting legacy.

Mwaanga, who had worked with Banda over the years both as a diplomat and when Banda was elected President in 2008, further acknowledged that although Banda properly capitalised on the economic gains made in the Mwanawasa regime by building on them, Banda faced challenges of political management of the country and the party.

Mwaanga also described the outcome of a workshop themed "Strategic Planning Workshop" at Andrews Motel in Lusaka organised by Banda's aid Akashambatwa Mbikusta-Lewanika and Dr Francis Chigunta, where he had observed a lot of incapacities in the leadership of the party, such as Banda's dislike for certain members of the party.

"As I travelled with him to some provincial conferences, it became clear that there were leaders he ‘preferred' who had to be elected at all costs regardless of their political repercussions. He had developed this language of ‘I don't want to work with this person', which I found very disturbing and he made it a point to throw his full weight behind the candidates he ‘preferred'," wrote Mwaanga.

Mwaanga noted that after the elections, Banda made it clear, almost with a tinge of arrogance, that there were a number of elected officials he would not work with. Mwaanga considered that decision by Banda as wrong.

"I had chaired this committee, which saw MMD win general elections in 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006. It became obvious that my friend of 50 years had lost confidence in my ability to head his campaign team in 2011 and ended up writing me a harsh and undignified letter," he wrote.

Mwaanga also described how he advised Banda against conceding defeat in the 2008 presidential by-elections, following Mbita Chitala and his team's advice for him to do so.

"I told him that the yet to be announced results from Kapiri-Mposhi, one constituency in Eastern Province and two other constituencies from Western Province would most likely increase his lead to between 32,000 and 35,000 votes…as a result my advice which turned out to be correct, a possible constitutional crisis was averted," Mwaanga wrote.

"Had he conceded defeat, only for Electoral Commission of Zambia to announce that he had won after all, it would have been difficult for the opposition parties to accept such a result."

Mwaanga described Banda as a person who had made Zambians proud by not only attending President Sata's inauguration, but also by taking charge of a relatively smooth and orderly handover of power much to the acclaim and admiration of the rest of Africa.

"Not withstanding some of the poor economic decisions he may have made while in office, he made Zambians proud. He was without doubt the most people-friendly president Zambia had," wrote Mwaanga.

And Fabian Musialela, a former district commissioner for Sesheke, said in an interview yesterday that grassroots MMD members had lost confidence in the party's current NEC.

"I want to ask president Banda, with due respect, to avoid interference in choosing the president for the party, because MMD was founded on democratic principles where the majority wins," Musialela said. "We don't want him to interfere simply because his NEC has lost credibility among members of the party."

He said it would be very difficult for the MMD to win any election with a president appointed under the orchestration of Banda.

"Whoever is going to be appointed under president Banda's influence, whether good or bad, the people in the party will not accept," Musialela said. "He has caused damage to the MMD."

Musialela urged the MMD NEC, as it meets today, to accord party members an opportunity to go and elect a party president.

"This is a NEC which, probably, most of the party members have lost confidence in and which was under the leadership of Rupiah Banda who failed to listen to the advice of the party members and ushered this good party into opposition now," Musialela said.

"As Western Province, we are not for the idea of the NEC choosing the president. We are for the idea that NEC facilitates to have a convention for us to go and elect a leader."

Musialela claimed the MMD was still strong in Western Province and that it lost the previous elections in the area owing to the NEC's poor planning and sidelining of key grassroots members.

He urged all the MMD presidential aspirants to accept whoever was going to be elected as Banda's successor, as long as it was done through a convention.

Musialela also asked the MMD to consider convoking an extraordinary convention in the Western Province so that the position of provincial chairman left vacant by Simasiku Namakando's death is filled.