Maravi

Opposition being petty - Shamenda

Opposition being petty - Shamenda
By Tilyenji Mwanza
Tue 26 June 2012, 13:25 CAT

THE opposition should stop being jealous and petty, chief government spokesperson Fackson Shamenda has advised in response to Nevers Mumba's remarks that President Michael Sata is becoming a tourist.

And Shamenda says all international trips being undertaken by President Sata were "very important". Pastor Mumba during a briefing on Saturday criticised President Sata's trips, saying the Head of State had become "a tourist who is all over the world".

"Over the past two months, President Sata's foot has not really rested in Zambia that long, so he has also become a Johnnie Walker. But not only has he become a Johnnie Walker, he has also invited others to say 'this travel thing is very interesting; come over here and let us inflate the bill of the taxpayers by inviting more people, not only opposition members but family members who have accompanied him to go there Brazil. Those are the things that Zambians are concerned about," Pastor Mumba said.

But Shamenda urged Pastor Mumba to analyse President Sata's trips before criticising.

"Before we open our mouths to talk, let us analyse the trips the President has undertaken in the past months as none of them have been irrelevant. Would you say the recent convention the Rio+20 in Brazil where there were over a hundred heads of states is irrelevant and he is being a tourist? Do these trips need the real presence of the head of states? If you say the answer is no, then you can accuse the President of being a tourist," he said.

Shamenda said all the trips that President Sata had undertaken have an attached importance that go with the head of state.

He urged opposition political party leaders to learn to be constructive and understand that multi-party politics mean that "other people would be in the opposition and others in the government".

Shamenda said the opposition had become petty and irrelevant.

"We can't operate like that and we need to be very responsible. You can only go out of the office if you have got something to do but if you go out shopping then there is a problem and you can say it is irrelevant. He Mumba is not doing anything, he is just gallivanting," he said.

Shamenda said Zambia could only develop if the government was discussing with responsible opposition who were prepared to contribute to the development of the country.

"We understand that running the country doesn't only require those in government. We consult widely, members of the clergy and we do that quite often and if there is a trip outside like over energy, Edith Nawakwi was a minister of energy above being an energy consultant.

So if we get a person like that and take her on a trip, how can we say it was a wrong move?" wondered Shamenda, adding that Nawakwi could not be compromised as a politician.

Labels: FACKSON SHAMENDA, MICHAEL SATA, MMD, NEVERS MUMBA, UPND

posted by MrK @ 3:26 PM