Maravi

PF went into govt to eat, says Shakas
By Moses Kuwema
Mon 24 June 2013, 14:01 CAT

JONAS Shakafuswa says the PF did not go into government to solve things but to eat. And Shakafuswa says people who want to aspire to lead the country should be allowed to do so as it entails a healthy atmosphere.

In an interview, Shakafuswa, a former finance deputy minister and Katuba member of parliament, noted that there was a lot of rubbish going on in the PF government.

"What I have noted with the PF is that it was not that they wanted to solve things; they just wanted to go and eat. You know you wake up and go like lekeni ndyeko naine let me also eat which is a very wrong approach to politics because people should have a roadmap to correct things. From our experience as politicians, we should be able to say where did we go wrong, how do we make things right? But now things are just getting worse, dictatorial tendencies have become the order of the day where they just want to be heard alone and they don't want anyone else to be heard, that's rubbish. There is a lot of rubbish," Shakafuswa said.

And commenting on Lubasenshi independent member of parliament Patrick Mucheleka's ambitions to aspire for presidency in 2016, Shakafuswa said the lawmaker should go ahead.

"He should get the mandate from the people themselves. It should not be up to anyone to judge their friends. There are people who have got this habit of personalising issues, telling off their friends as if they are the best. Most of these people are very useless. If somebody thinks they have what it takes to lead the people of Zambia, let them go ahead, I mean that's what democracy entails," Shakafuswa said.

Shakafuswa said capacity and being a good manager were required to rule.

"Some of the people who have got the best experiences in politics, when they become leaders, they become the worst charlatans you can come across. It is like their experience in politics does not help them do things better, they just make it worse. To me, it does not take someone who is experienced, someone's character, at least, if someone has got managerial skills which he can use to better things, he has got the right to lead the nation," he said.

Asked whether in his view having more people aspiring to lead the nation would not weaken the opposition, Shakafuswa said a stronger opposition would come.

"These guys what I know is that most of them are forming political parties so that they are able to negotiate with other stronger political parties as presidents. They think that gives them a better chance of negotiating. A unified opposition will come because at the end of the day, people will read the mood of the Zambian people and it will be very easy to lead a unified opposition. Today people may see the opposition to be fragmented but the will of the people is the same, so it will be very easy to find a strong root," said Shakafuswa.

Mucheleka has revealed that he has plans of running for presidency.
Former defence minister George Mpombo is also among those that have declared their presidential ambitions for 2016.

Labels: JONAS SHAKAFUSWA

posted by MrK @ 3:54 PM