Maravi

Corruption offshoots must be fought - Sata

Corruption offshoots must be fought - Sata
By Moses Kuwema and Ernest Chanda
Sat 03 Mar. 2012, 11:59 CAT

PRESIDENT Michael Sata says corruption cannot be fought without fighting its offshoots. Speaking at the World Day of Prayer Service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross yesterday, President Sata said where there is poverty and unemployment, people were bound to get tempted.

"Now when you have unemployment and poverty, that's the greatest injustice and we cannot fight corruption without fighting the offshoot of corruption... In America, Europe, unemployment is a campaign issue. Unfortunately in Africa poverty is a campaign issue," President Sata.

President Sata said events like the World Day of Prayer Service were important because they unite the nation.

"We need more of these functions to unite us because at the moment...I attentively listened to the poem and if I had a way I would have added more. Because they were talking about injustice; is it justice that some people don't know what they are going to eat in a day? Is it justice that some people don't know how it sounds to be at the end of the month," President Sata said.

And President Sata said he had very high regard for women.

"As majority of people here are women, I have very high regard for women. Across there, I can see my Permanent Secretary for Lusaka Province, she is a woman. On my left I can see the boss of police, she is a woman and the boss of drugs is a woman because very few women smoke drugs and the anti corruption boss is a woman," President Sata said.

Speaking earlier, Reverend Margaret Banda from the Reformed Church in Zambia bemoaned continued injustices where the law favoured more the rich than the poor.

Quoting the Bible on the theme ‘Let justice prevail', Rev Banda wondered why cases for the poor took longer than those for the rich.

"Where there is no fear of God there is injustice. And this brings about the attitude of considering other people as objects and not human beings. The law is there to protect everyone," said Rev Banda.

"But these days justice is only for those with money; those without money they see no justice."

Labels: CORRUPTION, MICHAEL SATA

posted by MrK @ 10:37 PM