Maravi

Sata's ministers kneel before L/Stone voters

Sata's ministers kneel before L/Stone voters
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Tue 03 July 2012, 13:25 CAT

PRESIDENT Michael Sata yesterday made all the ministers who accompanied to him to Livingstone kneel before the people who attended the PF rally at Villa Grounds.

Addressing the rally to drum up support for the PF parliamentary candidate Joseph Akafumba and two councillors Fred Sikazwe of Akapelwa ward and Musi-O-Tunya ward's Janki Chrispine Sepiso, President Sata also never sat down on his designated Presidential chair but opted to stand by the dais during the entire period of the rally which started after 14:00 hours and ending after 16:30 hours.

During the rally, President Sata made Akafumba kneel before asking Given Lubinda (foreign affairs), Luxon Kazabu (deputy minister livestock), Wilbur Simuusa (environment), Stephen Masumba (MMD and deputy minister local government) and Obvious Mwaliteta (Southern Province minister) to do the same.

"If I had not come, my young brother (in apparent reference to UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema) was going to say that I don't like Lozis. I don't know what tribe this man (Akafumba) is. Livingstone people, you have been rejecting your own people. I came here to encourage you that you don't have an MP. We have lent you Mwaliteta," said President Sata before calling the ministers to join Akafumba in kneeling.

He said the MMD left a lot of 'political potholes' which if left uncorrected would lead the youths of Zambia into causing a problem for the government.

President Sata said the youths who protested after not having been recruited into the police, army and Zambia National Service should not blame the government but the MMD which did not expand the training facilities of the security wings.

"The MMD left a lot of political potholes. It is not only in the army, Zambia National Service or the police, it's everywhere and we have to organise funds to expand these and improve the services. If we don't provide for improvement, these people youths who were protesting will be very dangerous," President Sata said.

He said the army, police and national service recruitments would be an ongoing process and the youths should give the government time to address the training school infrastructure.

President Sata said it was unAfrican to attack people who were in mourning and urged opposition political parties to fight poverty and potholes instead of innocent people.

President Sata said the liberators of Livingstone people were the residents themselves and hence should vote for Akafumba if they wanted development.

"I have come here to encourage you that you don't have an MP member of parliament and we have lent you Obvious Mwaliteta, are you not ashamed? The UPND has 16 Southern Province members of parliament and when they speak, I don't listen. Zambia has 10 provinces and only Southern Province has no member of parliament who is PF. Even when we don't have an MP, we have lent you some people who are Tonga and have put them as ministers," President Sata said.

He said Livingstone could make a change by voting for the PF candidate.

President Sata advised the UPND candidate Reverend Howard Sikwela that politics was a difficult game, unlike the pulpit which Sikwela opted to abandon.

He said he initially hated Lubinda because he thought he was destabilising the MMD in which he was national secretary at the time Anderson Mazoka resigned to form the UPND.

And Lubinda sang solemn Tonga songs in remembrance of Mazoka whom he said was a great leader who made the opposition have relevance and was not violent.

Mwaliteta said the PF campaigns had been made easy with the defections of some key members of the UPND and the MMD and urged the voters not to be cheated by what he termed 'hungry hyena' (HH).

Labels: LIVINGSTONE, MICHAEL SATA, PF

posted by MrK @ 1:30 PM