Maravi

VJ guides troubled MMD

VJ guides troubled MMD
By Moses Kuwema
Fri 02 Dec. 2011, 13:50 CAT

VERNON Mwaanga says there were excesses committed by some government and party officials in the previous government. In a letter to MMD national secretary Major Richard Kachingwe dated November 29, 2011, Mwaanga stated that MMD members had no reason to feel proud of such excesses.

"I regret to say that some of these excesses are already showing their ugly heads," he stated. Mwaanga stated that running government was always a daunting process because of its many diverse dimensions and facets, which were not always complimentary or coherent.

"I am not ashamed to admit that we made mistakes during the time we were in government. Admitting mistakes is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of great strength and humility," he stated.

Mwaanga said that there was no government on earth which did not make mistakes.

"There are also a few of us, in our collective leadership, who may not have observed financial discipline and who may have used their official positions to promote financial self-gain," he stated.

"Some of the recent revelations if they are to be believed, will make people doubt our financial sincerity and integrity. The onus is on us to prove to our citizens that it would be wrong and unfair to condemn us collectively."

Mwaanga stated that elementary justice and the rule of law demanded that every person be held accountable for their actions.

"Collective punishment is tantamount to jungle law and should not be tolerated in a democratic society," he said.

Mwaanga stated that it was absurd and grossly unfair to blame the National Executive Committee (NEC) for the September 20 loss, stating that the NEC had barely been in office for only three months prior to the calling of the general elections.

And Mwaanga stated that the MMD should not go ahead to elect an acting president but instead concentrate on organising funds for the convention.

Mwaanga stated that it was evident that party members wanted a full or mini-convention to elect a substantive MMD president who would have a full mandate to carry out a full reorganisation of the party.

Mwaanga, who is former MMD national secretary, stated that the MMD could elect a president who would have a full mandate and who would feel sufficiently confident to raise funds and carry out reorganisation and re-energisation of the MMD and position it for the 2016 general elections.

He stated that an acting party president who would be subjected to a convention election would not feel sufficiently confident to do any of the above.

"Would such an approach create a vacuum? It is my submission that it would not, because there are adequate provisions in the MMD constitution for the national chairman of the MMD to step up to the presidency in an acting capacity pending the elections of a substantive president. The vice-national chairman can then act as national chairman, opening the way for the NEC to find an acting vice-national chairman," he stated.

Mwaanga stated that he was aware that the party did not have money for a full convention or even a mini-convention in the near future, but they could conduct an election for party president in an imaginative way by letting the party organs which form the electoral college at the convention, conduct secret ballots in their respective areas.

"These areas include constituencies, districts and provinces and these could make provision for NEC members and members of parliament to vote in Lusaka, so that the party electoral commission can tally and announce the results in Lusaka. I do not think that party democracy would be compromised in any way by doing it this way. Let us think about it," he stated.

Labels: MMD, VERNON MWAANGA

posted by MrK @ 5:45 PM