2013 has had many lessons - Canisius
By Stuart Lisulo
Fri 27 Dec. 2013, 14:01 CAT

UPND vice-president for politics Dr Canisius Banda says 2013 has been a necessary phase for the country to go through as it has been educational.

In an interview, Dr Banda (above) said following the various incidences witnessed and experienced this year, the UPND now knew what to avoid in governance should they form government in 2016.

This year, we have noticed lawlessness; people with title to land have had their property grabbed, land has been re-demarcated by PF cadres and we have seen utter disregard for the rule of law; court orders have been ignored by the PF. This year we have seen the Chief Justice continue being in office even when parliament said she does not qualify; we have seen the removal of subsidies and the cost of living is unprecedented and everybody is feeling the pain. The year has been educational for the country because we now know how not to govern, Dr Banda said.

He said the year had revealed many important lessons for all political parties to learn from.

This year we have seen nullifications and by-elections coming like confetti. These are events that are not budgeted for and it took the IMF to come and tell us that there is no fiscal discipline in this country, so, we are learning about the need for fiscal discipline and about the need to plan and stick to budgets, Dr Banda said.

And in looking forward to the New Year, Dr Banda said it was important to carry forward the lessons learnt in 2013 to ensure the mistakes made were avoided.

We must not forget this year and we must thank God for having revealed bad governance to us because now we know what bad governance is that we will be able to in earnest push even more vigorously for good governance. We mustn't just hope for a better future, we are active participants in the formation of the future. So, what we do today will determine the future that we will have tomorrow. So, it is important that the people realise that the power for the direction of Zambia and the governance of the country is in their hands, said Dr Banda.