Maravi

PF gives UPND, HH sleepless nights
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Tue 11 June 2013, 14:00 CAT

HAKAINDE Hichilema has lamented that the PF is giving him and his national executive sleepless nights.

Addressing senior party officials in Luanshya at one of the houses within the town centre on Sunday, Hichilema expressed disappointment with the leaders in his party particularly on the Copperbelt for allowing the PF to remain vibrant, adding that the ruling party does not deserve to be popular because it had made serious mistakes on the Copperbelt and the country at large in terms of governance.

He further condemned his party leadership on the Copperbelt for keeping quiet and not coming out strongly against President Michael Sata and the PF on various issues.

According to sources that were part of the meeting, which was also attended by UPND vice-president Richard Kapita, chairman for labour Percy Chanda, UPND Mwinilung'a parliamentarian Stephen Katuuka, UPND Copperbelt chairman Elisha Matambo and information and publicity secretary Kennedy Kalunga and other senior party officials, Hichilema encouraged his officials to soldier on.
"The boss (Hichilema) is not happy that the PF is on top of things on the Copperbelt when you look at politics. He asked why the PF is giving us sleepless nights here and why there is no chance to criticise them and why we are not raising issues. He further said he was irritated that every radio station was leading their news with the PF and that the UPND had allowed PF Copperbelt youth secretary Chanda Kabwe to be making statements in media houses without being challenged by the UPND on the issues that he was raising," the sources revealed yesterday.
The sources said Hichilema challenged his officials to emulate the vibrance and coordination of the PF the time it was in the opposition.
The sources said the UPND leader was mindful of the fact that the Copperbelt dictates the country's political destiny and had since pledged to frequently visit the province.
And speaking when he addressed a rally in Luanshya's Mpatamantu Township at Mwaiseni Grounds, Hichilema said he was on the Copperbelt to see how the poor people were coping with the high cost of living.
He said the PF was a failed project and a disappointment to Zambians.
"Everything has gone up. The PF has failed the people. Look at the transport costs, mealie-meal prices, everything in terms of basic commodities and many other things have increased. No medicines in hospitals and the country is crumbling because of their poor policies. People can't continue to live like this," Hichilema said.
He said the removal of fuel and maize subsidies was a wrong move, saying it would worsen the situation in the country.
Hichilema said the people on the Copperbelt must rally behind the UPND which was the only hope for any Zambian who was interested in seeing the country develop.

But mines deputy minister Richard Musukwa said it was Hichilema who was a failed project because the UPND had failed to progress.
Musukwa who is also Wusakile member of parliament said many Zambians could not listen to Hichilema because they appreciate the PF which was efficiently executing projects and implementing policies aimed at making the country a better place.

"Who can listen to Hichilema? Ask how many people attended his rally in Luanshya. It was only children and a few of them. The people of Luanshya and other towns have not forgotten that this is a man who was at the helm of privatisation and brought nothing but misery to Zambians. You can even see that he is bitter of himself because he has continued to miscalculate his political judgments," said Musukwa.

Meanwhile, Kabwe says it is clear that Hichilema is still bitter that President Sata and the PF were in government.

Reacting to Hichilema's statement on Kitwe Radio Icengelo's Face to Face programme on Saturday morning that he was grateful to God that he was still in the opposition and not in President Sata's government which he further accused of being heavily corrupt, Kabwe said the Copperbelt community was able to tell that Hichilema was full of bitterness.

Kabwe said God's name must not be used in vain by the UPND leader because it was God that gave President Sata an opportunity to become Republican President.

"You heard his tone on radio; many people who phoned and wrote messages disagreed with him on many issues because he was clearly mocking God.

He was very hypocritical and he was struggling to address the issues of tribalism, the issues of bitterness that people raised and these are serious issues when it comes to his politics. It's very unfortunate that we have politicians like Hichilema who is self-centered and he always prophesies doom on President Sata and the PF government but it will not happen," he said.

"The PF is delivering in every sense and there are constructions everywhere but Hichilema has chosen to deliberately ignore this. On Sunday morning, he was on ZNBC, the national broadcaster, criticising the government and this never used to happen in many years that an opposition leader could be featured on national media, but it's the same Hichilema accusing the PF of fighting to defeat democracy."

Kabwe said many people would like to see a matured and improved Hichilema regarding the manner he handled politics.
Kabwe said it was a pity that some politicians like Hichilema had chosen to close their eyes and attack President Sata and the PF government despite a lot of progressive things happening in the country, including the enhancement of democracy and good governance.

"It's a pity that he wants to measure PF members of parliament to those of the UPND. What are the UPND MPs in Southern Province doing for Zambians there in terms of development? Our MPs in the PF are performing better than his members of parliament in Southern Province. The people in that region should in fact demand more from their MPs because their party has been winning elections in Southern Province from 2001, but there is nothing tangible they've done for the people there," he said.

He said Hichilema had no moral right to scandalise the PF that was working hard to meet the aspirations of the people when he had refused to work with anybody as his goal was only to be in State House.

Kabwe said Zambians would never vote for Hichilema because he was selfish and always practices regional politics.

Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, PF, UPND

posted by MrK @ 7:04 PM