Maravi

MMD working to clear corruption tag - Simbao
By Henry Sinyangwe
Thu 23 Jan. 2014, 14:01 CAT

THE MMD is working hard to clear the perception that it has been a corrupt party, says party national secretary Kapembwa Simbao.

Commenting on a statement by party vice-president for politics Michael Kaingu who said the MMD would never bounce back to power if it remains un-cleansed, Simbao said the former ruling party's major fight was the perception on corruption.

He said the party would not deal any members that were extravagant in their expenditures.

"The past created this problem because a lot of people were handling a lot of money without a stable income and resources. The perception is that money is coming from corrupt means. And so we have said that now wherever this kind of money was coming from is not there, so we will not accept a person that wants to look extravagant without a proper background of resources," Simba said.

"...The idea I have is that maybe we can have a better Zambia, and to have a better Zambia, corruption has to be uprooted. So this perception that is very strong on MMD is very unfortunate."

He said the party would deal with members involved in corrupt activities.

"There could have been corrupt people because here I am struggling and a friend of mine has got so much money. We recognize that there are a lot of people carrying that perception with them and it will be very difficult to remove it because the people facing corruption charges in the courts prove otherwise," said Simbao.

Kaingu in an interview said there was no way MMD could ever think of coming back to power on the same precedent it campaigned in 2011.

"The people of Zambia truly rejected us in 2011 for several reasons and I think one of them was the perception on corruption. The other one was the perception on arrogance, particularly when it came to the enactment of the constitution. Although really on the constitution we were unfairly judged because the process was initiated by President Levy Mwanawasa and it was completed by President Banda. It was even taken to parliament for enactment. Unfortunately, some of our colleagues at the time we were about to enact the constitution, they decided to betray us," said Kaingu.

Labels: KAPEMBWA SIMBAO, MMD

posted by MrK @ 3:31 PM