(LUSAKATIMES) RB greatly mismanaged Zambia-Kabimba

RB greatly mismanaged Zambia-Kabimba
TIME PUBLISHED - Friday, April 6, 2012, 6:49 pm

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) Secretary-General Wynter Kabimba has advised former president Rupiah Banda against misleading the international community on economic achievements allegedly scored by his administration. Mr Kabimba feels that the former government “greatly mismanaged the country” adding that Mr Banda should not attempt to ‘white wash’ the MMD administration and himself.

He was speaking in an interview yesterday following Mr. Banda’s revelation that he is still shocked at the fact that Zambians denied him another mandate to govern “despite the various achievements” his administration supposedly scored.

The former President still could not believe that President Michael Sata was chosen over him last September in a lecture he delivered to students as a visiting associate lecturer at Boston University’s African President’s Resident Centre.

But Mr Kabimba said Mr Banda should come to terms with the humiliating defeat and move on.

“Let Mr Banda get back to reality. You cannot be in a state of shock for six months because you are likely to slide into a coma,” Mr Kabimba said. “The reality is that the PF have been given the mandate to govern the nation and we (PF government) will deliver according to people’s expectations.”

He said the former President is trying to ‘clean’ the image of his administration, which he knew was highly corrupt and that his administration failed to deliver development to ordinary Zambians.

He observed that the much preached about 6.5 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth of the economy achieved by the MMD government did not benefit many Zambians.

“It was growth that benefited a few politicians. It benefited Mr Banda himself and a few of his colleagues while the majority of Zambians remained poor and grew poorer everyday,” he said.

Mr Kabimba said Zambians liberated themselves from Mr Banda’s administration because of the syndrome of corruption. He said the MMD government was “tainted with high levels of corruption”.

Mr Kabimba alleged that Mr Banda’s fight against corruption was hypocritical, adding that the vice was being perpetrated by people close to him.
“So let him not mislead people in Boston about the things which his administration did not do,” Mr Kabimba said.

He said the road projects that were embarked upon prior to the general elections are shoddy and were marred with corruption.

“The hospitals that were constructed had no personnel and equipment. Mr Banda’s regime duped Zambians and they (Government) lived off the Zambian people,” he said.

Mr Kabimba explained that the MMD administration failed to deliver a people-driven constitution despite spending billions of Kwacha on the National Constitutional Conference (NCC).

He alleged that the former regime wanted to amend the Constitution to serve the interests of a few individuals.

“We would have ended up with a Constitution without the legitimacy from the people,” he said.

[Zambia Daily Mail]