Maravi

Chongwe queries Rupiah's us invite

Chongwe queries Rupiah's us invite
By Kombe Chimpinde
Tue 20 Mar. 2012, 12:00 CAT

DR Rodger Chongwe says he is surprised at Boston University's decision to engage Rupiah Banda on various lectures on democracy and political issues when the former president was a failure at them.

And Banda has insisted that he is a clean man and that the PF government must furnish Zambians with evidence to prove that he is a thief. And Vernon Mwaanga has asked Zambians of goodwill to pray for Banda and to forgive him for what he said on Muvi TV.

In an interview, Dr Chongwe said: "I know he has said he is going to the USA at the invitation of Boston University. I personally don't know what type of democracy Mr Banda is going to lecture at that university, the country known for democracy and the home of Abraham Lincoln who coined the phrase that ‘democracy is a government of the people, for the people and by the people.' These are not tenets that were practiced by Mr Banda when he was president of Zambia. One wonders why the Americans are spending so much money on a person who in fact they should have paid him to go and study at a school of politics and democracy in America so that he could learn something."

Dr Chongwe, one of Zambia's prominent lawyers, argued that Banda was blind to the tenets of democracy.

He said Banda could not talk of good governance and accountability as a leader and he did not deserve such an invite.

"Because in any case, Banda was planning to cheat in the elections. But this time Zambians were too clever. It was impossible to rig the elections and for the first time since 1991, the Zambians were ecstatic with the change of the president," he said.

Dr Chongwe said he felt pity for the recipients of Banda's lectures because the man was insensitive to civility, human dignity and respect for other people's views.

"…Instead of a blind person leading other blind people at Boston University, whoever they are!" he quipped.

Dr Chongwe said Banda was forced to leave office and not voluntarily.

"Banda even at the last moment did not want to leave the office of the president. He was forced by the result. So whoever says he handed over power willingly is lying and secondly he had no alternative from resigning from his post as MMD president because he had already being told by Parliament that the decision to withdraw retirement benefits to Banda was that of Cabinet and Cabinet had in fact decided to withdraw benefits because of his continued participation in politics," he said.

Dr Chongwe said Banda would be remembered as a president who had embraced corruption after he decided to embrace the late Fredrick Chiluba's mode of presidency.

"After assuming office and with all the enthusiasm which he received from the Zambian people, Mr Banda's performance as president became disappointing to most Zambians particularly to those of us who had known him at Munali Secondary School. He made mistakes, many of them were due to his refusal to accept advice and generally lack of experience as a politician," said Dr Chongwe.

Featuring on the Muvi TV's ‘The Assignment programme on Sunday night, Banda challenged the government to present him with details of what he had stolen because they had continued persecuting him and his family.

"I have done nothing wrong. Nobody has ever told me what I have done wrong, so if this is a country of laws they will have to give reasons why they would like to lift my immunity. It's very unfair that if everybody is president they are subjected to having their immunity lifted."

Banda added that if accusations that he was a thief were true, he would have also rigged the elections.

He said that if he were given another chance to lead the country, he would still do the same things he did when he was president.

Banda said he did not lose the elections due to mismanagement of the affairs of the country, but that the MMD party on which he stood had overstayed and people were determined to change government.

Banda however acknowledged that the PF had been smarter than him by coming up with the slogan of "more money in your pockets".

"It was clear people were talking about it. MMD had been in power for 20 years and so on and there was a debate going on about more money in your pocket and for the people who are hungry, the young people who are unemployed and so on, obviously they (PF) were much smarter than us. They came up with that slogan and that promise and the people believed them. I didn't believe by the way, otherwise I would have taken that slogan and adopted to say, ‘ I will give you more money'," Banda said.

"I didn't think it was possible that I could give money within 90 days because money is what you have to work for. You've got to entice investors in your country. You have to encourage Zambians, you have to have laws in place for people to invest in your country and from outside."

Banda said given a chance to become president of Zambia again, he would still do the same things that he did because he never noted any weaknesses in his leadership.

"I understood that perhaps our friends just resonated better with the young electorate who were voting for the first time. I don't think I went anywhere wrong, I just feel it was time for Zambians to make their change," Banda said.

Asked if he had ambitions to become president again considering the fact that he was still eligible to stand as president under the Constitution, Banda said that he would cross the bridge when he got there.

"About the next chance, I just stood down I don't want to think about that. I want to think that I must focus on where I am going which is the rest of my life," Banda said.

On Henry, Banda said his son was not on the run and that it was public knowledge that he was in South Africa.

Meanwhile, on the same programme Banda lashed out at veteran politician, Vernon Mwaanga suggesting that Banda's sons and relatives' insatiable appetite for wealth was one of the contributing factors to his downfall in his latest book "The Long Sunset."

"Mr Mwaanga is not unhappy because I stopped listening to him. Mr Mwaanga is unhappy that I didn't allow him to continue to be the campaign manager for my campaign, the last campaign which I lost, probably we would have still lost it if he was there but he took advantage of that to prove that if he was there, we would have won it.

"He was my manager in 2008 and I had been advised several times by my advisers to watch out my connection to Mr Mwaanga. Those who know more about his record where he comes from, what programmes he had and it would impact badly on me," he said.

"Mr Mwaanga has been laid off from being minister by the late president. After I pleaded with the president as the vice-president at State Lodge, I spoke to the president, ‘please give him another chance'. You know the case but it's all past now. When I came, I gave him a job in parliament, he sits in the NEC of the MMD today as my appointment."

But Mwaanga said it would be undignified, inappropriate, unfortunate and out of character for him to respond to Banda who is a brother and a friend of 50 years.

"I would have been a hypocrite and a prisoner of my conscience if I did not say what I said about his presidency, just like I did with all the other three presidents I worked with," he stated.

Mwaanga said he had forgiven Banda because of what the former president had been going through in the past.

Labels: DEMOCRACY, ROGER CHONGWE, RUPIAH BANDA, VERNON MWAANGA

posted by MrK @ 4:15 PM