Maravi

Some ministers don't understand Sata's vision - Katele
By Godfrey Chikumbi in Kawambwa
Thu 19 Sep. 2013, 14:01 CAT

SOME of President Michael Sata's ministers went into government without understanding his vision, says Katele Kalumba.

In his general analysis of the PF's two-years in office, Dr Kalumba who spoke in his capacity as a Chiengi district villager, said much would have been achieved by the PF government had most ministers understood President Sata's vision to change Zambia within a short period of time.

He observed that failure by some ministers and members of parliament to understand the President's vision that he sold to Zambians who voted for him had made him fail to fulfil some of the promises he made to the people of Zambia in the last two years.

Dr Kalumba, a former MMD national secretary and finance minister, said President Sata has had a lot of managerial issues to attend to and that was why he kept making changes to his cabinet in the early days of the PF's stay in power.

He accused some ministers and members of parliament of having slowed down the progress that could have been achieved in the last two years had they not wasted time on advancing their personal agendas.

Dr Kalumba said failure by some ministers to understand what President Sata stood for had led to them championing personal agendas at the expense of the head of state's vision.

"President Sata told the people of Zambia that he was going to be President for the majority poor and fix the rundown infrastructure, among others and on account of that platform people voted and elected him President. I can't speak for other provinces but I think here in Luapula people started voting for President Sata in 2006, 2008 and finally 2011. They had no question about his leadership skills as President of Zambia, but the question was always whether he would have a team that would understand what he stands for and whether he would be left to achieve the vision he has without being distracted by other elements," he said.

"Most of the people he went with in government did not understand his vision. What I have seen, speaking as a villager is that the vision is there; some of the pragmatic projects such as road works have started but he has had a lot of managerial issues to attend to in terms of the government because perhaps a lot of the people he went into government with did not understand what he stands for and he has had to keep changing them and I think there may have been too many technical people and fewer politicians. Politicians are there to listen to the basic sentiments of people and talk to them to explain what government is doing; it's not just to write papers in fine English language.

Politicians are grassroot advocates. I think that was the President's cry a few days ago when he addressed his Cabinet and members of the Central Committee of the party that ministers should be explaining government's achievements.

Dr Kalumba complained that instead of focusing on the agenda that President Sata's vision created, many people in the government felt that they were the ones responsible for his being in office.

"Too many people have gone there (government) to show how clever, intelligent, learned and sophisticated. That has taken away time from what the President wanted to achieve. That is why he cried out that he would rather dissolve Parliament. There were too many people that believed that they were responsible for President Sata's ascendancy to power. That is an illusion and a worst mistake. Too many Zambian elitists have claimed that they have made Sata President and that has cost Zambians time.

Instead of listening to Sata's own dreams and vision cultivated from people's sentiments and cries, they have imposed their own visions on the will of Zambians and that has delayed progress," he said.
Dr Kalumba said elite politicking had frustrated President Sata who was known as a noble and gentle man because more things would have been achieved in the last two years of PF's stay in power than was being witnessed.

He said President Sata was an intelligent man that nobody claiming to be educated could manipulate, especially the elitists who were working to slow him down.

Dr Kalumba, however, commended the government for initiating the Link Zambia 8000 project which he described as a major achievement in the last two years.

"The Link Zambia vision is a powerful vision which nobody can take away from the PF government," he said.

Kalumba also cited the constitution-making process and the opening of dialogue between the government and the Barotse Royal Establishment as some of the major achievements that the PF government had achieved in the last two years.

Labels: KATELE KALUMBA, MICHAEL SATA

posted by MrK @ 4:58 PM