Holistic corruption fight will win Sata kudos - Milupi
By Kombe Chimpinde-Mataka
Tue 03 Dec. 2013, 14:01 CAT
ADD president Charles Milupi says President Michael Sata's fight against corruption will win him kudos during his tenure if it remains holistic.
Commenting on President Sata's statement that his government will ensure the efficient functioning of all anti-corruption structures and systems, including forfeiture of ill-gotten wealth and blacklisting of individuals involved in plundering of public resources, Milupi said the fight against corruption had to be transparent.
"It cannot be directed to State House. State House keeps the political will," he said.
"I think His Excellency the President of Malawi (Joyce Banda) has shown a very strong example. We have seen cabinet being dissolved because of allegations of corruption, we have seen certain actions against ministers being taken, accounts of government officials being frozen. That is the kind of action the President should take."
Milupi said there should not be sacred cows in the fight against a corruption.
"When he (President Sata) is seen to be dilly-dallying in terms of addressing issues pertaining to internal corruption within his government and then talks about plunderers and so on, that is not a holistic fight against corruption," he said.
"These are very senior ministers, top ministers, who are saying 'that other minister is corrupt and this one is corrupt' and when they are called by the Anti Corruption Commission, the President says 'don't call them until you clear it with me'. It shows the fight against corruption is no longer transparent."
Milupi reminded President Sata that plunderers could only be conclusively dealt with in the presence of serious political action.
"Now, when he talks about pursuing plunderers today and so on but when PF came into power, they had assured the country that individuals that were involved in corruption in the previous government would be prosecuted and we supported them but what we have seen is that these allegations which we also made, there is no case on which we have had progress. So these five years will pass with people going to court, with no will really to conclude these cases," Milupi said.
"For instance, when the former president's immunity was lifted, it was a big thing; by now we would have seen the conclusions on some cases.
Are we going to go through the process we went through during (Fredrick) Chiluba's prosecution? In the end, other than that judgment in London by a foreign court, do we have a judgment here in Zambia?"
He said the success of ensuring that the state recovers what had been plundered was in establishing the guilt of those that allegedly plundered resources.
"How are you going to blacklist them because the only way you can know someone is a plunderer is when they go to court and they are convicted? Before that, they are innocent," said Milupi.
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, MICHAEL SATA
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PF will leave a 'debt legacy' - Milupi
By Abel Mboozi
Sat 30 Nov. 2013, 14:01 CAT
THE PF will leave a debt legacy for Zambia going by the rate at which it is borrowing externally, says Alliance for Development and Democracy president Charles Milupi.
Commenting on the decision by Parliament to pass a motion to give finance Minister, Alexander Chikwanda, powers to increase Zambia's debt ceiling from K20 billion to K35 billion, Milupi said: "This is what we feared, K35 billion that he has increased, the debt ceiling is equivalent to over U$7 billion."
"And U$7 billion is what we ran to the World with Jubilee 2000 to seek forgiveness, so already PF have no shame about it; they have pushed it back to where it was at the time when the whole World was forgiving us."
Milupi said it was sad that the government was busy borrowing money when it was supposed to be utilising resources drawn locally.
"We told the PF government to follow the Levy Mwanawasa example and not the Rupiah Banda example because in April 2008, the mineral taxation regime was passed which brought in windfall tax, in October when Rupiah Banda became President, he cancelled it for reasons know best to himself," he said.
"The PF was opposed to that but when it came into power in 2011, the government refused to reinstate the windfall tax and the end result is that the mining industry has continued to operate with high copper prices, high production but with very little revenues coming to our coffers."
Milupi said instead of using revenue from that part of the sector, the government was borrowing externally for consumption.
"We are borrowing for consumption because this government has not really sat down to think about where the borrowed money is going to be used," he said.
"As we speak now, money from the U$750 million Euro bond, some of it is unutilised, even though it's more than a year when we got it and we are accruing interest over this fund."
Milupi said it had become clear that the government was borrowing to fund an excessive cabinet size and to fund a growing civil service because of the new districts it was creating.
"So to fund these high increases of cabinet ministers, the President, Vice-President, MPs is what we are borrowing for and these are consumptive," he said.
"So we are borrowing to consume and the end result is we shall fall back into a debt portfolio which shall overburden the nation."
Milupi said there was no doubt that Zambia was furthering into a debt trap because of lack of foresight on the part of the PF government.
"This minister, when we told him that bring back the windfall tax, he called us names but now everybody is crying 'bring back windfall tax'," he said.
"We told them that ZRA was not sophisticated enough to track all taxes from the mines and, therefore, windfall tax was one of the easy ways of drawing revenue from the mines but they refused to do that."
Milupi said in the two years the PF had been in government, it had failed to recoup anything from the mining industry.
"Completely zero and that's the legacy that the PF government will leave for this country," said Milupi.
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, PF
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Milupi calls on PF to keep party politics, state apart
By Allan Mulenga
Mon 23 Apr. 2012, 13:28 CAT
CHARLES Milupi has urged the government to separate party politics from the state. And Milupi has accused the PF government of elevating its party secretary general Wynter Kabimba above Cabinet ministers.
In an interview, Milupi, who is Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) president, said trying to recreate the one-party state in a democratic dispensation was ludicrous.
"This desire to recreate one-party state by emphasising the role of the party in a multiparty dispensation, at least Kaunda did it when there was only one party, but to try to recreate it when there is multiparty dispensation is ludicrous in the extreme because there is a tendency for the party to chew into state coffers; that will have tendency to fight people," he said.
Milupi said the government should not bring party politics into the administration of the state.
"Most recently, there was a statement from the secretary general Wynter Kabimba that 'private companies, public companies must respect the party...if they operate in Lusaka or Copperbelt, they must know the provincial chairman of the party'. How about the provincial chairman of ADD, we have got one on the Copperbelt too, shouldn't he also be recognised? Basically what he is doing is campaigning for work for them at the expense of everybody else. How long can they sustain that?" he asked.
Milupi said if the PF had campaigned on the basis that their party would be supreme, people would not have voted for them.
"Let party politics be separated from the state. If you mix the two, there is no way you can later on escape the charge of abuse of public resources and indeed corruption and nepotism. That is where they are headed to if they continue along that path," he said.
And Milupi accused the PF government of elevating Kabimba above Cabinet ministers.
"I was absolutely shocked on Friday last Friday in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross when the master of ceremonies, although obviously going through the protocols, where he said ´His Excellency the President and the first lady', the next was the secretary general of the party and then the ministers and so on. They are trying to force onto this country an idea that has been discredited throughout. Let them remember that in countries like the Soviet Union where the position of the party secretary general was so pronounced, it ruined economies," he said.
Milupi urged the government to elevate Kabimba through parliamentary appointment.
"Just like PF has a secretary general, all the parties have got secretary generals, including ADD. To elevate one above everybody else is wrong. If they want to elevate him, let them make him Vice-President; that means appointing him to Parliament and then giving him a ministerial position. To superimpose that is, in fact, unconstitutional. I urge them to be constitutional in whatever they are doing. I think that is the cornerstone of every democracy," said Milupi.
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, PF
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Sakeni annoys Luena MP on pregnant Limulunga pupils
By Mwala Kalaluka and Kombe Chimpinde
Mon 19 Mar. 2012, 11:59 CAT
LUENA member of parliament Mwambwa Imenda says home affairs minister Kennedy Sakeni's comments over revelations of police officers impregnating 30 Mongu pupils are irresponsible.
And ADD president Charles Milupi says he is disappointed with Sakeni's response over the issue of the 30 pupils of Limulunga school that were allegedly impregnated by police officers who were camped there after the January 14 Mongu fracas.
But Sakeni says according to the official reports in the government's possession, the girls were impregnated in consensual circumstances, and maintains that nobody stops the parents of the children in question from lodging a complaint to the police if they feel this amounts to defilement.
Imenda, a member of the ADD and Forum for African Women Educationists in Zambia, said in an interview that no government could justify what the police reinforcements sent to quell the Mongu riots did to the school girls.
She was reacting to Sakeni's statement that Vice-President Guy Scott's parliamentary statement that about 30 girls of Limulunga High School were impregnated by police officers who camped there was an exaggeration.
Imenda raised the issue on the floor of Parliament during the Vice-President's question time and Vice-President Scott said the matter was contained in the Roger Chongwe commission of inquiry report, which was receiving active consideration from Cabinet.
An emotionally-charged Imenda said in an interview yesterday that such a response was not expected from Sakeni, whose responsibility was to protect vulnerable members of society such as girl children.
"It is very irresponsible of the minister to even speak the way he does. Whatever argument he is bringing… and even disputing the figures. So he knows that this thing happened."
Imenda said in his ministerial statement, Sakeni should give the age of each of the 14 girls he said were impregnated by the police officers.
"It was very irresponsible of the minister to react that way. He is even comparing the UN… hasn't he heard the world condemn such UN peacekeepers who prey on such persons? He is saying that they were right just because it happens in peacekeeping. Therefore, does it make it right?" she asked.
"Is the girl-child safe in circumstances where even ministers seem to be coming to the defence of wrongdoing? If such things are condoned by people who are supposed to deal with the problem then we are not safe, our children are not safe. Why accommodate single police officers in classrooms?"
And Milupi said there was something wrong with the country's governance system.
"This is why we say there is something wrong with the governance of this country. We raised those complaints (of police officers being camped at a school) in Parliament. We the concerned said that camping police officers at schools was wrong," Milupi said.
"I don't know what the PF is up to. What we are saying is that that was wrong and it must be condemned because the government of the day created things to happen. We are not talking about whether that operation was correct or not. If we can accept that in Zambia, then I don't know what we will not accept. Mr Sakeni must not say this because it happened in Western Province and not Luapula (Province)."
He maintained that the particular case did not only occur at Limulunga but at Kumbule High School as well.
"This is a serious matter. If Guy Scott had said that this was also indicated in the Chongwe-led commission of inquiry, then it is confirmed that was the number," Milupi said.
But Sakeni maintained in an interview that there was nobody who had stopped the girls' parents from lodging a formal complaint to police if there was a case of defilement.
"The records in Mongu show that none of those cases were reported apart from verbal reports by the headmaster, who raised a concern to the police that some of the pupils had stopped going to school because they were pregnant and had been impregnated by the police officers from Kamfinsa but honestly speaking, police normally act on cases if it is established that this is rape or defilement or whoever is concerned reports to the police," he said.
Sakeni said according to the official reports in government's possession, only 14 girls had been reported impregnated in consensual circumstances, stressing that if this was otherwise, parents must be free to report the said cases.
"Literally, there is nobody who has stopped those who thought their children were defiled from reporting. It was their understanding with the police officers, so surely does that amount to defilement?" asked Sakeni.
Labels: ADD, BAROTSE FREEDOM MOVEMENT, CHARLES MILUPI, KENNEDY SAKENI
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ADD supports Sata's stance on corruption
By Fridah Nkonde in Ndola
Mon 06 Feb. 2012, 12:59 CAT
ALLIANCE for Democracy and Development Copperbelt Provincial information and publicity secretary Charles Kaputula says President Michael Sata's stance against corruption is something that every Zambian should expect from a genuine, powerful and visionary leader like him.
And Kaputula says ADD is happy with the procedure used in choosing members of the constitution technical committee. In an interview, Kaputula said President Sata's fight against corruption was not only targeting former leaders or opposition members but even those in the government.
"It is such an encouraging thing to us the Zambian because it is evident that the President will not condone any corrupt activities. President Sata's fight against corruption is not only aimed at pleasing a specific group of people but it is for the poor Zambians," he said.
Kaputula said the country could only talk about development when there was no corruption.
He said ADD entirely supported the PF's fight against corruption because in their manifesto, corruption fight was the main issue before development.
Kaputula said people in government should also be investigated, adding that they too needed to prove to the nation that they were not corrupt.
"President Sata is not choosing who to investigate. What he is interested in is just fighting corruption. Zambians are suffering because of those few individuals involved in corrupt practices," he said.
He said those found wanting were going to face the law because they had enriched themselves enough at the expense of the poor Zambians.
Kaputula said there was need to have those people who stole money in the previous government face the law.
And Kaputulua said it was clear that there was no segregation in choosing people to review the constitution.
He said there was no need of having too many people to review the constitution like it was in the past.
"We are very happy about it because this is what we expected from him (President Sata). We will keep supporting that which is right. If the PF government does something wrong, we shall be available to criticise," Kaputula said.
He said the President had so far proved that he could do much more for the country considering his style of governance.
Labels: ADD, CORRUPTION, MICHAEL SATA
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Milupi urges strengthening of Judicial Service Commission
By Kombe Chimpinde
Wed 11 Jan. 2012, 13:56 CAT
THE Chief Justice and judges should be appointed by the Judicial Service Commission, says Charles Milupi. In an interview, Milupi says tasking the Judicial Service Commission to appoint the Chief Justice and judges as opposed to the President will enhance the independence of the judiciary.
Milupi, the Alliance for Democracy and Development leader, said he was hopeful that the new constitution will have a provision that will pave way for an independent and robust Judicial Service Commission to be charged with the mandate of appointing judges.
"So the Judiciary Service Commission must be strengthened to make it independent and they must be the ones to promote and appoint judges based on integrity, based on length of service, based on quality of judgments that they have made," Milupi said.
"We should have a very robust, independent Judicial Service Commission that does all these things and that also must be funded separately so that they handle their investigations separately. The same applies to the legislature."
Milupi said currently, the governance of the country was structured in a manner that the legislature and adjudicator were totally dependent on the executive for emoluments and other operational requirements.
"The constitution-making process affords us an opportunity to have a constitution that will stand the test of time. But in coming up with a constitution, there are various tenets that have to be considered. We have to ensure that it clearly articulates the independence of the three arms of government, where the powers of the President are reduced and redistributed and re-delegated to three arms of government," he said.
Milupi said the judiciary was only independent in theoretic rather than practical terms.
"With reference especially to the adjudicator, obviously because these are constitutional offices they then have to be ratified by Parliament but we must get away from having the President determining who the Chief Justice is, who the other High Court judges are and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)," he said.
"Currently the President has overbearing powers over the Judiciary. He didn't create those powers for himself. It is the constitution-making processes that left things like that."
Milupi also called for constitutional provisions that would enhance the role of Parliament in terms of keeping an oversight on the operations of government and utilisation of resources.
"We want Parliament to be more involved in the development of the budget. At the moment the budget just goes by way of speech to Parliament, that's the time Parliament comes to know about it. We need to enhance the role of the Auditor General to make them have responsibility for initiating prosecutions to those who are erring," said Milupi.
"At the moment, you can be chairman of the Accounts Committee (PAC) and you expose so many things but you still rely on the executive to prosecute, if they want to…."
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, JUDICIARY
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ADD wants pro-MMD BRE indunas flushed out
By Mwala Kalaluka in Limulunga
Fri 02 Sep. 2011, 14:00 CAT
ADD says the Barotse Royal Establishment should flush out indunas who are MMD cadres so that the people's fight for the Barotseland Agreement is not hindered.
During a public rally addressed by Alliance for Development and Democracy ADD president Charles Milupi in Limulunga Royal Village on Tuesday, the party's provincial chairman Mumbisho Mulele said he agreed with assertions that the BRE in Mongu was a branch of the MMD.
Mulele said during the campaign rally which started with the singing of the Barotse 'national anthem' and not the Zambian one, that it was shameful to see BRE indunas and members of the royal family cavorting with those that had gravely offended the people of Barotseland.
"If all of us loved ourselves like God loves us, there would be no single person in Luena or Limulunga or indeed Western Province in its entirety who would welcome President Rupiah Banda," Mulele said.
"If we respected ourselves we would not do that, but because we are people that love insulting ourselves and putting filthy on our bodies, some of us even walk proudly thinking that we are in Banda's armpit."
Mulele said it was painful to recount January's Barotseland Agreement-related events in Mongu and Limulunga.
"Banda comes here to kill and for the first time gunshots were heard here in Limulunga. Our children cried and fell and there was blood all over after the bullets from Banda's barrel were fired," he said.
"Today, an entire induna who was taken through the rituals at the palace and knows that the Litunga signed the Barotseland Agreement can leave the flag of Barotseland and carry around Banda's flag. Remove them, we want to move forward."
He said it was shocking that after the gunshots that caused children to run away while others died and were buried, an induna from the BRE's Saa-Sikalo court could stand as an MMD councillor.
"I agree with those who are saying that the Saa-Sikalo is now a branch of the MMD. My colleagues, let us tell these people that they can't put on two different jackets at the same time," he said. "The blanket that an induna is covered in when being installed and the MMD chitenge can't be worn at the same time. When you are an induna, you can't be a constituency chairman for MMD and you can't be a councillor under MMD."
Mulele said being an induna implied that the lines had been drawn and that an induna only worked for the interest of Barotseland.
"We are being told by the same councillor, who is in Saa-Sikalo, that 'wait my children the Barotseland Agreement issue is still being discussed, we will inform you.' When will he inform you when he is a councillor working for the MMD?" he asked. "Let us demand that those indunas who are known to be MMD should be kicked out from there so that people that are going to fight for Barotseland can take over."
He appealed to the BRE's induna Inete, who presides over the traditional court, to give the people an opportunity to work by removing MMD cadres from the court so that they go and work for their party.
"If we remove those indunas working with the MMD, which is fighting Barotseland, it would be better even if there was a vacancy in that court," he said.
ADD leader Milupi said time for jokes was over.
Milupi said it was surprising that people like Luena MMD parliamentary candidate Mwangala Maopu could support a person like President Banda who sent police officers to shoot and kill people over the Barotseland Agreement early in the year.
He asked where Maopu and some then parliamentarians from the province like Professor Geoffrey Lungwangwa were when the people were burying Kalyangu Kangombe, who was shot and killed at Mongu BP Filling Station and Mulope, the shepherd from Nalikwanda who was killed in Malengwa.
Milupi said the many Lozis that were detained in Mumbwa over the Mongu riots did not have legal representation and several people from the province contributed towards their legal fees and feeding requirements.
He said when former Zambia Defence Forces commander General Malimba Masheke led other Lozis in writing to President Banda over the plight of the Barotse detainees, the person who attacked him was Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane.
"Today, Musokotwane wants to be voted as member of parliament in Liuwa!" he said.
Milupi said the people of Western Province should learn to be angry over certain things and react when they are slapped on the cheek.
ADD Luena parliamentary candidate, Gertrude Imenda said successive governments had ignored the people of Western Province; hence the high poverty levels.
Imenda asked the electorate to help her fit in Milupi's leadership shoes.
Labels: ADD, BAROTSE ROYAL ESTABLISHMENT, CHARLES MILUPI, MMD
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Milupi blames Rupiah’s govt over Chinese shooting saga
Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 16:42
Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) president, Charles Milupi has observed that the MMD government is too mesmerized by anyone called a foreign investor so much that indigenous people are becoming second class citizens in their own country.
“Zambians are being made to suffer because their government has been made to surrender to the investors,” Mr . Milupi said
Mr. Milupi said this is evident by the failure by the government to condemn the Chinese mine owners who shot at 11 miners in Sinazeze who were protesting over improved working conditions.
ADD president noted that the shooting at Collum coal mine is a clear tragedy and an indication that government has given too much priority to the foreign investor above their own people.
He said government has made foreign investors feel that they are kings in this country and weigh above the Zambians who are hosting them.
Mr. Milupi further blamed government for the failure by the foreign investors to respect the laws of this country.
He said it is for this reason that the government could not lift a finger against the investors no matter how serious what they have done is.
“Zambians are being made to suffer because their government has been made to surrender to the investors,” Mr . Milupi said.
[ QFM ]
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, CHINESE COLLUM COAL MINE
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Levy’s efforts in fighting corruption have been compromised - ADD
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Sun 12 Sep. 2010, 03:59 CAT
ALLIANCE for Democracy and Development (ADD) Eastern Province youth chairperson Chidzanso Owen Ndovi has observed that a lot of efforts that were made by late president Levy Mwanawasa in fighting corruption have been compromised.
In an interview last Friday, Ndovi who recently resigned from the ruling MMD said it was sad that people who embezzled public funds were treated like kings by the current government.
“It is a reality that under the leadership of President Banda, we have seen a ot of efforts that were made by our late president Mwanawasa, may his soul rest in peace, being compromised. If all those who stole or embezzled our money today go scot-free, they have become kings and queens, celebrating and travelling with the current President at the expense of public resources, then who stole our money?” Ndovi asked.
He said it was unfortunate that unemployment was on the increase in the country.
“The largest population of our people is unemployed; others are busy working as casual workers or doing small-scale businesses which cannot manage to sustain them. This has led to increased crime and nepotism,” Ndovi said.
He said the current leadership had no plan on how to develop the country.
“Zambia still has the picture of 1962; the current leadership has no
plan on how to develop this country. They worked from the Kaunda era to date but nothing tangible has been seen, apart from these low quality road works, corruptly obtained building contracts,” he said.
Ndovi also said the Zambian judiciary was not at its best.
He said ADD was a camp with a vision, good calibre and interest for Zambians. Ndovi said ADD was gaining ground in the province.
Labels: ADD, CORRUPTION
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Kawandami, Milupi celebrate their victories
By Kabanda Chulu and Abigail Chaponda in Ndola and Mwala Kalalu
Sat 07 Aug. 2010, 04:00 CAT
NEWLY elected PF Chifubu member of parliament Susan Kawandami has Zambian women have every opportunity to become leaders in the country. And MMD campaign manager Mwansa Mbulakulima has accused the Patriotic Front (PF) of engaging in corruption and intimidation to secure victory.
Meanwhile, Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) leader Charles Milupi yesterday said his retention of the Luena parliamentary seat is a statement to the MMD that people had suffered enough.
Anticipation of excitement swept through the main auditorium at Lowenthal Theatre in Ndola on Thursday night when jubilant PF cadres chanted slogans in praise of their political leadership and denounced the policies of the MMD government.
The PF cadres, who started arriving around 19 hours, stormed the theatre hall carrying vuvuzelas, drums and whistles and started celebrating victory even before the official results were announced by returning officer Roy Kuseka.
Later, Kawandami was declared winner after amassing 6,976 votes against the MMD’s Frank Ngambi’s 4,539 votes, while Bryan Banda of ADD got 412 votes with Poko Mambwe of UNIP receiving 221 votes.
Speaking after Kuseka declared her as duly elected member of parliament for Chifubu, Kawandami advised women not to be scared of men when aspiring for leadership positions.
“When this campaign started, I knew that I was going to win the election and I told Ng’ambi that I was in a winning boat and that he should also come on board to become one of us and I am proud of the people for giving me this support.
As you know I stood among men and have emerged victorious and this is a stepping stone for women and they should come forward to stand because they have every opportunity to be leaders of this nation,” she said.
And PF campaign manager Willie Nsanda said former president Fredrick Chiluba had been taught a lesson and that he should avoid campaigning for the MMD.
“We came to teach the boys of Ndola how politics are conducted, starting with their boss Dr Chiluba who doesn’t know that he is finished in politics and he must now stop because he campaigned in Chimwemwe and Chifubu but we have hit him pants down,” he said.
PF chairman for elections Geoffrey Mwamba said President Rupiah Banda should be ashamed of using Chiluba in trying to bring disunity in the country.
“We are proud of the people of Chifubu for bringing shame on RB, Dr Chiluba and the entire MMD government and it is now clear that Michael Sata is a man of the people and come 2011 he shall rule this country,” said Mwamba.
But Mbulakulima said the difference recorded between PF and MMD was insignificant thus demonstrating that MMD had made in-roads into what is claimed to be the PF stronghold.
“MMD is up and running and in 2011 we shall give them a good run. If you ask me if elections were free and fair, my personal answer is that there was a lot of intimidation from PF. This could have contributed to the apathy we saw yesterday,” he said.
“This hooliganism has continued. Even today as they celebrate, they are burning tyres and deforming billboards in Chifubu. This kind of behaviour should be condemned at all costs.”
When asked if MMD was considering petitioning the outcome of the elections, Mbulakulima failed to give a categorical answer.
“That is up to the government spokesperson to answer but talking as campaign manager, I saw some elements of corruption and our officials reported this matter to Electoral Commission because one PF chairman was seen dishing out K5,000 notes and when confronted he fled,” said Mbulakulima said.
And Ngambi pledged to continue being a servant of the people.
“I will remain open and will be willing to work with you people and will be available for any assistance and if requested will help Kawandami to bring development to Chifubu,” said Ngambi.
And MMD campaign manager in the Luena parliamentary by-election, Prof Geoffrey Lungwangwa, yesterday attributed his party’s loss to the absence of party structures in the constituency for the past 14 years.
And addressing journalists shortly after he was declared winner of Thursday’s Luena by-election by returning officer Chrispine Kalihonga at Mongu Civic Centre yesterday morning, Milupi said his win was a victory for democracy.
Milupi, who was the constituency’s former Independent parliamentarian, polled 3,688 votes, the MMD polled 2,800, UPND polled 1,806, UNIP 115 and the ULP polled 116 out of a total of 8,630 votes cast.
The number of eligible voters in Luena is estimated at over 14,000 and it has a total of 42 polling stations in eight wards.
“I would like to thank the wonderful people of Luena who have withstood so many temptations to come up with a positive result,” Milupi said amidst unrestrained cheers from the crowd of supporters.
“I think this victory is a victory for democracy. The people have been allowed to make their decision based on the issues concerning Luena, concerning Western Province and issues affecting this country, Zambia.”
Milupi said he thanked the people of Luena wholeheartedly for re-electing him, amidst vote buying and grabbing of voters’ cards by some of his competitors.
“By this action we have reset the politics of Zambia,” Milupi said.
“Politics of insults, politics of violence is not what is wanted in this country.”
Milupi said for those politicians that liked engaging in such vices, the people of Luena were telling them that electoral malpractices were not sufficient to win an election.
“If we can do so much for so little, what if we were given the opportunity to control the treasury of the country?” he asked. “What is required is integrity, dedication, hard work and commitment.”
Milupi said it was sad that from a middle-income country at independence, Zambia was now being defined as a least developed country.
“This can no longer be tolerated,” Milupi said. “Enough is enough. We have suffered enough in this country. I advise those who are still on the fence, those who were waiting to see what was going to happen in Luena Constituency that the victory has been achieved.”
After his statement to journalists, Milupi’s motorcade drove around Mongu town before proceeding to Limulunga, which is in Luena Constituency.
And in an interview shortly after Milupi was declared winner, Prof Lungwangwa, who is also communications and transport minister as well Nalikwanda MMD parliamentarian, said that although Milupi had retained the Luena seat the winning margin had been extremely narrow compared to the over 2000 that Milupi beat the MMD with in 2006.
“The results are out, Honourable Milupi, yes he has retained his seat in Parliament but the margin has been extremely narrow,” Prof Lungwangwa said. “MMD as a party is still very popular. First when you compare the performance; our performance in this by-election and the performance of the UPND, UPND are not a factor.
We stand a better chance of doing very well next time around.”
Prof Lungwangwa said the MMD had no structures on the ground in Luena and that they had to put up structures during the campaign period.
“The absence of party structures might have affected our performance,” Prof Lungwangwa said. “We did our best, but of course these are elections…for the last 14 years we never had a presence in Luena Constituency.”
Prof Lungwangwa said come 2011 the MMD was going to win the Luena seat. He also said he was not aware that there was controversy over his appointment as the campaign manager in the Luena elections.
Prof Lungwangwa said the MMD’s victory in Kaoma Central’s Longe Ward by-election indicated that the ruling party was still strong in the province.
However, there was visible discontent and frustration among some MMD youths upon realising that they had lost the by-election, which they said they could have won on a silver plate.
Some of them were heard saying that they were going to stage a protest to press for the immediate resignation of the party's top leadership in the Province.
Labels: ADD, BY-ELECTIONS, CHARLES MILUPI, CHILUBA, GEOFFREY MWAMBA, MWANSA MBULAKULIMA, PF, SUSAN KAWANDAMI
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Milupi thinks he owns people of Luena – Rupiah
By Mwala Kalaluka in Luena
Fri 30 July 2010, 04:01 CAT
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda on Wednesday said former Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Charles Milupi resigned from his parliamentary seat because he thought he owns the people of Luena.
And the MMD candidate in the Luena by-election, Mwangala Maopu, said the people of Nangula will have dreams of helicopters hovering over them after seeing the two that came with President Banda to the area.
Addressing a campaign rally at Nangula Basic School where he went to drum up support for Maopu, President Banda said Alliance for Development and Democracy (ADD) candidate Milupi’s ambition misled him to cause what he called a very strange election in Luena.
President Banda said in politics people could not be so stupid as to fail to know the true character of a leader even after voting for him.
“Mr Chairman Michael Mabenga please, tell the people that I really do not take them for granted and that is why I have come here today,” President Banda said.
“This election came about in very strange circumstances. This one is the most strange one in the sense that the member of parliament from Luena, Mr Charles Milupi, was elected by you people.”
President Banda said for reasons that the people of Luena perhaps understood but which his government does not understand, Milupi resigned.
“The one you chose did not have the support in the House; he was alone. He was an Independent and you can’t provide for the people on your own,” President Banda said.
“I want to say to you the people of this place that when you are choosing your leader you must know them and not how somebody talks to you or how rich they say they are. These are important but are not necessary for the choice of a leader.”
President Banda then went back to Milupi.
“That is why our friend Mr Charles Milupi has failed to continue,” he said.
President Banda said Zambia needed humble leaders to develop.
“Not the people who come and tell you that ‘me I was in America. I got this degree. I was on the Copperbelt’. It has nothing to do with the people of Luena,” he said.
President Banda whose campaign consistently focused on Milupi said the ADD candidate resigned because he thought he was doing the people of Luena a favour by being their member of parliament.
“He says ‘no I am going to form my own political party’,” President Banda said. “Fine, he is very welcome to do that but what about the mandate that you gave him as your member of parliament. Is that not well enough for the time being? For me I think that his ambition is what has misled him.”
President Banda said Milupi wanted to use the people of Luena as a bargain chip for his own political expediency.
“There can only be one reason why Mr Charles Milupi has resigned,” President Banda said. “It must be in the back of his mind that he owns you people. It is a mistake for any leader to take people for granted. He must come out in the open and say what he really wants. This kind of leadership is bad leadership.”
President Banda said the by-election that Milupi had necessitated was not in the people’s interest.
“The problem with our brother Mr Milupi is that he has forgotten the fact that you elected him,” President Banda said. “You must always remember that it is the people and the people collectively together can’t be stupid and miss your character and maybe they miss it once when they elect you, afterwards they find that you are a wrong person.”
President Banda said the main difference between Maopu and Milupi was that the latter was a loner.
He said a parliamentarian needed to belong to the party that had a majority in Parliament in order to have access to the country’s resources.
“Not yourself, alone speaking good English and boasting about your degrees and boasting about how much money you have. Members of parliament do not listen to that,” President Banda said.
“He Milupi has been member of parliament for Luena for four years. I do not recall receiving a call from him even for once…he could not do it because he was an Independent. He did not belong to the political party that has the majority in Parliament.”
At that point, noise from the advance party helicopter that was taking off detracted President Banda and he later called Maopu to speak to the people.
In his address, Maopu said he was known to the people.
“Today, a President has come to Nangula, even the helicopters. When we go back home our dreams will be about helicopters,” said Maopu.
“If you want to eat with the powers that be you have to be close to them. Today I am part of the Presidential family.”
President Banda said he liked Maopu very much.
“I think the other parties we should not waste our time to talk about them,” President Banda said.
He said the UPND was a provincial party for the people of Southern Province and that the PF was a party for the Bemba-speaking areas.
“The difference with us for instance with UPND is that they are a provincial party, they are a tribal party,” said President Banda.
“Even in Southern Province itself, the people are beginning to rebel against the UPND because they feel that party is isolating them from other parts of the country. Therefore, the UPND must be destined to fail.”
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, PAC, RUPIAH BANDA
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Rupiah is distorting democracy, says Milupi
Thursday, July 29, 2010, 8:44
Former Luena Member of Parliament Charles Milupi after launching his new political party in Lusaka. The Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) interim president, Charles Milupi has described republican President, Rupiah Banda’s call for the electorate in Luena not to vote for him as a distortion to democracy.
Mr. Milupi who recently relinquished the parliamentary seat to take up ADD presidency, said that his conduct is within the obligations of the constitution.
he said the decision he made was in the best interest of the people and his performance in that area still holds enough reputation for him to retain the seat.
Mr Milupi said that ADD is an effective opposition political party that could be able to give a new turn to national politics by according credibility to the democracy that this country has been built on.
He pointed out that his party is by far the most popular party in the LUENA at the moment and MMD is too unpopular to compete for the parliamentary seat.
The ADD president said he is building the ADD on issues and not character assassination as it has been the case with other political parties.
Mr. Milupi, however, said that he does not expect the republican president to take pride in insulting competitors.
[ QFM ]
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, RUPIAH BANDA
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Kunda’s ‘childish’ prattle forces Milupi to leave Kufuluhela ceremony
By Mwala Kalaluka in Mongu
Mon 26 July 2010, 14:00 CAT
ALLIANCE for Development and Democracy (ADD) candidate in the Luena by-election, Charles Milupi has said he walked away from this year’s Kufuluhela ceremony because Vice-President George Kunda used the occasion to engage in pure childish prattle.
Reacting to Vice-President Kunda’s scathing attack on him in the presence of Litunga Lubosi Imwiko II during the Kufuluhela ceremony held in Limulunga on Saturday, Milupi, a former Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman, said Vice-President Kunda’s conduct was an attack on Lozi tradition and the institution of the Litungaship.
Milupi said in spite of the high poverty levels in Western Province, which was a result of the MMD’s 18 years of mismanagement, the people of Western Province had certain things that they still valued.
“This is our tradition and also our King the Litunga. We have reverence for the Litunga and institution of the Litungaship and BRE,” Milupi said in an interview at his residence in Mongu on Sunday.
“The BRE have said time and again that the Kuomboka and Kufuluhela are not the time for politics and our knowledge as Lozi people is that on this special day, regardless of the guest of honour, the eyes of the multitudes of the people who come to witness the ceremony are focused on one person, the Litunga.”
Milupi said his party strictly adhered to the non-politicisation of the traditional ceremony by discouraging any form of party regalia or poster.
“Therefore, it is surprising that George Kunda, who yesterday was boasting of having married from this same province, can assail the Lozi tradition in the manner that he did by first of all allowing his cadres to dress in the MMD chitenge material and T-shirts contrary to the requirements of our tradition,” Milupi said.
“And when he was given a brief opportunity to speak, because normally guests of honour do not speak at the departure of the Litunga; it is usually the Ngambela who bids farewell to the villagers, he chose that time in the presence of His Majesty the Litunga to assail and attack one of the subjects and the child of the Litunga, and he went on and on about Milupi this, Milupi that, ADD that.”
Milupi said he found Vice-President Kunda’s behaviour most despicable.
“I find that behaviour and lack of respect for the Lozi tradition most despicable. In any case if the occasion…was to demonstrate their parties popularity in Limulunga village alone, there would have been nowhere for people to step, ADD would have produced multitudes,” Milupi said.
“Some people cried yesterday, just go to Limulunga and verify. He thought he was assaulting me as an individual.”
Milupi said out of respect for the Lozi tradition, he left the ceremony venue to let Vice-President Kunda continue with his address.
“Yes, I did,” Milupi said. “Because he continued even after the Induna interpreter fainted. He asked for another interpreter just to continue. What I find objectionable is that that was pure childish prattle. His speech was pure childish prattle.”
Milupi said it was a pity that Vice-President Kunda abused the Litunga’s presence to find a crowd to address.
“That speech yesterday was a death nail in the coffin of MMD in Luena and by implication in Western Province, and if it is in Western Province that it is the whole of Zambia,” Milupi said. The pond is dry. That ladder is being removed.”
Milupi said Vice-President Kunda’s behaviour showed the MMD’s wanton disregard for the BRE and the Lozi tradition, adding that his conduct was a follow-up to that of his boss President Rupiah Banda.
“This is not the first time since (President Rupiah) Banda came into office because Mwanawasa respected this tradition,” Milupi said. “You all recall that he became President in November 2008, in spite of the massive vote he got here, he went to Northern Province where they did not vote for him to thank them.”
Milupi recalled that for the first time in the history of the Kuomboka, President Banda as the guest honour at the 2009 Kuomboka was left by the Nalikwanda when it set sail without him because he was playing around in Mongu.
“The following year when he came for the Kuomboka, which is 2010, this year, in spite of the very well-known tradition that the Lishushu beret, even the Litunga puts on a red beret, President Banda came in a white beret,” Milupi said.
Milupi said the role of the white beret and the people who adorn it in Lozi tradition and the Kuomboka culture was very well-known.
“Also that President Banda’s white beret was another assault on our tradition, which Kunda has done,” Milupi said. “If he has any soul within himself, if he has any dignity at all, we want him to apologise.”
Milupi said the people of Western Province should see the MMD for what it is following Vice-President Kunda’s conduct at the Kufuluhela ceremony in Mongu.
During the Kufuluhela ceremony, Vice-President Kunda said Milupi was a day dreamer who had failed to perform in Parliament and that compared to Nalikwanda Constituency where there was an MMD parliamentarian, Luena was underdeveloped.
Vice-President Kunda said Milupi had failed to fulfil the promises he made to the people of Luena and that he usually told people that Constituency Development Fund (CDF), which he used to undertake development projects in Luena was from his pocket.
“Here in Luena Constituency with Mr Charles Milupi, you have been entertained and fed on promises,” Vice-President Kunda said. “I am told that he has made some sheds at one of the markets, claiming that this is money from his own pocket.”
Vice-President Kunda said Milupi only spent the CDF money on putting up a few iron sheets.
“And he claims that is development,” said Vice-President Kunda. “CDF is government and this is the same money that Maopu Mwangala is going to use for your own benefit.”
Vice-President Kunda said Milupi formed the ADD to satisfy his ego and nothing else.
And Milupi said Vice-President Kunda should distinguish between promises and possibilities. Milupi said the gross abuse of office that Nalikwanda MMD parliamentarian and former education minister Professor Geoffrey Lungwangwa engaged in by allocating more high schools to his constituency had become an MMD campaign strategy in Luena.
Milupi said Prof Lungwangwa’s action caused uproar in Parliament, even among MMD parliamentarians and that they condemned him.
“Today that gross abuse of power is used as a campaign tool to show disparity between Nalikwanda and Luena,” said Milupi.
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, GEORGE KUNDA, MMD
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Zambians should never vote for Rupiah, MMD - Milupi
By Mwala Kalaluka in Luena
Fri 16 July 2010, 04:01 CAT
CHARLES Milupi on Wednesday said the people of Luena should never vote for President Rupiah Banda’s MMD because he is ungrateful like a man who messes up the well after drinking from it.
And Milupi said the MMD government and not him as a parliamentarian should be wholly blamed for the non-fulfilment of some development pledges he made to the people of Luena in 2006.
Addressing a public rally at Liumbo Basic School in Ndanda area of Luena, Milupi, a former Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson, who is re-contesting the Luena seat on his Alliance for Development and Democracy (ADD) ticket, said the people of Luena must reject President Banda’s MMD on August 5 because he was ungrateful for the overwhelming support they gave him in 2008.
“The MMD is beyond redemption. There is nowhere they are going and they have reached the end of their mandate,” Milupi said. “The 20 years that they will clock in 2011 I am sure the mandate that God gave them has ended.”
Milupi said the people of Luena should not vote for anybody aligned to President Banda because he insulted them when he told his own provincial party chairman Simasiku Namakando, over the Vice-Presidency slot for the province, that he did not ask for the vote of the people of Western Province.
“U ezize pukucwe munyelela siliba he has messed up the well,” Milupi said.
Milupi said it was surprising that Namakando was still going round asking people to vote for the MMD against this background.
“The way he insulted the people of Western Province that he did not ask for our votes is the way he is insulting the donor community,” Milupi said. “The MMD government has failed to fight corruption; that is why you even hear the donors and others are complaining on a daily basis.”
Milupi said the MMD did not deserve to be voted for in Luena in the forthcoming by-election and beyond because in its 18 years in power, it had reduced the Western Province to the least developed province.
“Once you vote for ADD it means that the MMD is getting out of power because all they want is to always use Western Province as a ladder,” Milupi said. “Do not make the MMD your misfortune as the people of Eastern Province did with UNIP.”
Milupi said he brutalised the parties that stood with him in Luena in 2006 and would do so in the by-election.
“A by-election is not like a general election. A by-election is like entering in a lion’s den,” he said.
However, as he was speaking a few people in the audience started grumbling that he had not fulfilled some of the promises he made to them in 2006.
“Mukwakwa upalile ni factory ni market you have not done the road, factory and market,” one of the men interrupted Milupi who asked, “hape muboni zeng’wi zeluezize but you have seen the other things that we have done?”
But the man insisted that he had not seen anything while others said they had.
Milupi then asked those that had seen some of his works to state who had done it and they said he was responsible for that.
He explained that the job of a member of parliament was to facilitate development, and it was up to the government to ensure that this development was taken to the countryside.
He said this was what the concept of separation of powers entailed.
“The road from Malala to Ndanda to Simaa up to Sitoya, every year the government says it is in the annual work plan; who has put it there?” Milupi asked. “Who is failing to do it? Should I come here with my spade and do the road?”
Milupi said two vital roads in Luena had not been completed because of the government’s lopsided economic policies.
“The only money we control is CDF. It is us who fought hard for it to be increased,” said Milupi. “These elections are key, and this is why you see that the MMD want to get it at all costs but can anyone bring this development in nine months? In my case, I know what is still needed.”
Political parties have intensified their campaigns for the Luena seat ahead of polling day.
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, RUPIAH BANDA
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Milupi cast doubt on UPND/PF pact survival
Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 8:16
Former Luena Member of parliament Charles Milupi has expressed doubt whether the United Party for National Development and Patriotic Front pact will survive during the 2011 elections.
Mr. Milupi said that the PACT will not survive because of the different objectives that the two parties stand on. Mr. Milupi claims that the UPND president has never mentioned the name of the PF leader Michael Sata in his campaigns.
He adds that if it true that the PACT is meant for the Zambians, UPND president would have been co-campaigning for his counterpart.
Speaking on Monday Nite Live last evening, Mr. Milupi said that Zambians should not be so sure that the pact will survive to the run up to elections.
He stated that some of the members of the opposition UPND indicated to him that they only joined the pact to get access to other areas.
Eddy accused Mr. Milupi of working to divide the votes of the opposition in next year’s parliamentary and presidential by elections.On the programme, One caller, Eddy advised the Mr. Milupi to think twice on his formation of the new political party.
Mr. Milupi resigned his parliamentary seat to take up the leadership of Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) party which he officially launched last week.
Eddy accused Mr. Milupi of working to divide the votes of the opposition in next year’s parliamentary and presidential by elections.
He added that Mr. Milupi should learn from the parties that have been launched and nowhere to be seen.
However Mr. Milupi defended himself saying that they are not dividing but only offering his services to the Zambians.
Mr. Milupi says that the whole political mood is shaken up, as the party was formed in addressing real issues.
QFM
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, PF-UPND
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