Kapita rubbishes Dora’s linking of UPND to degree clause
By Zumani Katasefa in Kitwe and Ernest Chanda in Lusaka
Fri 29 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT
UPND vice-president Richard Kapita has refuted allegations by MMD spokesperson Dora Siliya that members of the UPND vigorously pushed for the presidential qualifications at the NCC.
And Mazabuka Central UPND member of parliament Garry Nkombo challenged Siliya to name the so-called members of the pact who pushed for the inclusion of the degree clause in the constitution as a requirement for one to run for Republican presidency. In an interview on Wednesday, Kapita said Siliya had started on a very bad note as MMD spokesperson.
“As UPND we have always been against that degree as minimum qualification for a presidential candidate,” he said.
Kapita said no attempts by the MMD would destabilise the PF-UPND pact.
He said there were several attempts by the MMD to cause confusion in the pact.
“The pact would remain strong, we had people who were so close to the pact, who have been going to the MMD telling them all our plans as a pact, but that would not work. The pact is strong and will remain strong, that is why the MMD are not sleeping,” he said.
Kapita said it was totally wrong to set a degree as a minimum qualification for a presidential candidate.
“The MMD are now trying to bring politics to the elite, which is not okay. Basically they are trying to fight one individual but they will fail,” he said.
Kapita wondered what made the MMD think that PF leader Michael Sata had no degree.
“It is totally wrong for them to think Mr Sata has no degree and it is wrong to enshrine a degree qualification in the constitution. I can assure you that will not go through,” Kapita said.
UPND Copperbelt Province chairman Elisha Matambo said it was nonsense for Siliya to accuse UPND members of having vigorously pushed for presidential qualification clause.
“Not everyone with a degree can be a good leader and not everyone without a degree can fail to run the country,” he said.
Matambo urged Copperbelt residents not to be scared of former president Chiluba who is currently campaigning for President Banda in the province.
“They should not be scared of Chiluba, Chiluba is like a snake that cannot bite anyone. He is no longer a poisonous snake,” Matambo said.
And Nkombo said Siliya was hallucinating.
“Let me remind her that being a spokesperson doesn’t mean hallucinating. It was so hypocritical for her to lie to the nation that UPND members at the NCC strongly supported the degree clause for a presidential candidate,” Nkombo said.
“We in the UPND ask Honourable Siliya to go a step further by mentioning people in the UPND who pushed for that clause. I for one debated against that clause and the records are there for all to see. And I know that there are many other UPND members who opposed that clause. I also appeal to our colleagues in the PF Patriotic Front not to listen to such spoilers. Let us continue to strengthen our pact.”
According to the verbatim from NCC, which Nkombo brought to The Post, he had described the clause as discriminatory.
“…I do recognise the progressive nature of this clause, save for a few concerns, and in trying to air my concerns I would like to summon the consciences of all the honourable commissioners in this particular activity,” Nkombo debated.
“…This will amount to discrimination, positive or negative, it is up to your consciences to determine that. But there are certain points that I have regarding this matter and some are that this provision would have been very, very ideal in 1964 going on to maybe the early 80s when access to education was free of charge. This particular clause would have made absolute sense…”
And his Siavonga counterpart Douglas Siakalima warned of bruising Siliya politically.
Siakalima asked Siliya to remember how she messed up at the Ministry of Communications and Transport.
"What I’m saying is that MMD and its sponsors should not take advantage over us in the pact. Dora Siliya is trying to purport that it is the UPND who were trying to lobby for a degree clause. Personally when we started hearing about a degree, I said it is not a prerogative to good leadership. Dora was put there to spread propaganda for the MMD," Siakalima said.
"Dora cannot counsel anyone. Who is she? Let me warn her, she is too young; this is politics, she will be bruised. People have not forgotten the way she messed up at the Ministry of Communications and Transport. And for her to become spokesperson of the MMD she has just come in the firing range and she is not going to contain it. We are not her size."
On Tuesday, Siliya charged that UPND members sitting at the NCC vigorously pushed for the degree clause in the qualifications of a Presidential candidate.
Labels: DORA SILIYA, ELISHA MUTAMBO, GARRY NKOMBO, RICHARD KAPITA, UPND
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Rupiah’s meeting of Lamba chiefs has not changed anything, says C/belt UPND leader
By Zumani Katasefa in Kitwe
Tue 29 Dec. 2009, 04:01 CAT
COPPERBELT Province UPND chairman Elisha Matambo has said the meeting President Rupiah Banda held with Lamba chiefs at Luanshya’s Directors Lodge has not changed anything in Lambaland.
In an interview yesterday, Matambo said the MMD were daily losing ground in Lambaland despite President Banda’s frantic efforts to meet Lamba chiefs with a view to winning favours from them.
“The meeting has not changed anything, the MMD is daily losing ground, and we have more people resigning from MMD to join us, soon we are going to have a function where we are going to parade the defectors from MMD, who include some councillors from the MMD in Masaiti, Mpongwe and Kafulafuta,” Matambo said.
He said people in Lambaland felt that it was not necessary for President Banda to meet the chiefs at a time when he had fallen out of favour with them.
“People feel that it is not important for the President to meet chiefs when he has seen that he has a problem with them. He knows elections are around the corner, but that has not changed anything,” he said.
He said the MMD on the Copperbelt were no longer in existence and President Banda’s government would be kicked out of power in 2011.
And Matambo said it was clear that Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Chalwe Mchenga did not serve the interests of Zambians but those of President Banda and Vice-President George Kunda.
“It is a very clear thing. Even a blind man can see that Mchenga is not serving the interest of Zambians, but the interests of President Banda and Kunda,” he said.
Matambo said Mchenga should resign on moral grounds because he had abandoned the Zambians.
“He is serving Rupiah and Kunda, as it has been observed from the way he has handled the acquittal of former president Chiluba,” he said.
Matambo said it would be pointless for Mchenga to continue serving in his position when he had no favour from the people of Zambia.
Labels: CHIEFS, COPPERBELT PROVINCE, ELISHA MUTAMBO, RUPIAH BANDA, UPND
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Plough back, UPND urges investors in N/Western
Written by Zumani Katasefa in Solwezi East
Monday, August 10, 2009 2:11:57 AM
UPND vice-president Richard Kapita has urged foreign investors operating in North Western Province to plough back part of their profits to the community for the sustained development of the region.
Speaking at a campaign rally to drum up support for UPND candidate Rabson Laishi in preparation for this Thursday's ward by-election, Kapita said it was sad that the province had continued to lag behind in development despite having plenty of natural resources such as copper and cobalt.
He said the road network in the region was in a pathetic state yet the investors were using the same roads to transport copper but no attention was paid to maintain them.
Kapita also said that the MMD government was misusing public funds when some children had no access to proper education and medication care. He said it was sad that the MMD government under President Rupiah Banda did not care about the people of Zambia.
Speaking at the same rally, North Western Province Patriotic Front (PF) chairman Denis Kanyakula said it was sad for the MMD government to rush into procuring mobile hospitals instead of just creating permanent structures for Zambians.
He also said that the PF in the province would tirelessly work together with their counterparts in the UPND and ensure that the MMD government was removed out of power.
And UPND Copperbelt Province chairman Elisha Matambo said the MMD government had been rejected in North Western Province.
Matambo said President Banda's government had failed to provide good governance to Zambians.
Matambo accused the MMD of practicing violence in the run up to this Thursday ward by-election in Kangwena and voting buying.
Labels: ELISHA MUTAMBO, INVESTMENT, NORTHWESTERN PROVINCE, RICHARD KAPITA, UPND
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Rupiah should fire Siliya - Hichilema
Written by Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Lusaka and Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Monday, April 20, 2009 4:49:44 PM
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda should fire Dora Siliya because he has allowed taxpayers money to be wasted on the tribunal when appropriate action could have been taken by the Executive, UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has said.
And UPND Copperbelt chairman Elisha Matambo said The Post has been vindicated following the tribunal's finding that communications and transport minister Siliya breached the constitution in her engagement of RP Capital Partners Limited to valuate ZAMTEL's assets without following the legal opinion from the Attorney General's chambers.
Hichilema said it was not necessary to constitute the tribunal because the President could have made the right decision at the time the issue of RP Capital Partners was brought to the fore.
"The way the Zamtel matter was handled is reminiscent of a chief executive of the country who is not sure of what to do on matters like that. And normally, you are not sure of what to do when you have no clear vision as to how the country must be run," Hichilema said.
"This is why I am saying that it was unnecessary for the President to wait for the tribunal. The President should have taken immediate executive measures to relieve Dora of her position. Now that, the tribunal results are out at a greater cost to taxpayers, we expect the President to do the correct thing: that is to relieve the minister of her responsibility."
Hichilema wondered why President Banda waited for former transport and communications minister William Harrington to petition the Chief Justice to convene a tribunal to probe Siliya when Attorney General Mumba Malila had clearly stated that the minister disregarded legal advice.
He said Zambians expected President Banda to take action that suited Siliya's action in view of the tribunal's findings.
Hichilema regretted that Siliya's action would cost the country huge sums of money when most citizens were wallowing in extreme poverty.
"The important thing to say is that the tribunal became necessary because maybe the Executive failed to take the necessary action required when the accusations arose and especially that the accusations included advice from the Attorney General which was not complied with," Hichilema said.
"I had expected that the President would have taken action at that time. He didn't do that. The tribunal came eventually and indicated that in Zamtel case, the minister erred and I think that now that the results are out, it is important for the President to take action and the people of Zambia expects an action that is befitting the consequences of the minister not following procedures that would cost the taxpayer a lot of money. So, the President now has no choice but to act. But if I were in his shoes, I would have acted without waiting for the tribunal because the Attorney General's submissions were very clear at the beginning."
Hichilema said the ruling by the tribunal on the RP Capital Partners involving Siliya was just an isolated indicator of the increasing higher-office related corruption in the regime of President Banda.
He cited the attempted import of finished petroleum from Kenya and the irregularities surrounding the importation of genetically modified organism (GMO) maize as some of the indicators of increasing levels of high profile corruption.
Hichilema urged Zambians to realize that the message on which President Banda campaigned following late president Levy Mwanawasa's death was mere political rhetoric.
He observed that corruption related to higher office had increased in the country ever since President Banda assumed office.
"In the first place we must understand that the issue of whether President Banda was following the issue of legacy was a debatable one and what you have seen since he took office, this tribunal is only one. Several other issues, issues relating to maize importation, issues related to the petroleum tender that was mismanaged are all indications of the fact that corruption had increased since President Banda assumed office. At least corruption related to higher office," Hichilema said.
"And the issue of the legacy of the fight against corruption, at the rate President Banda is going is a lost cause. I don't think it is the cause that the President can justify that he is basically following the line. He is not following the line. But some of us knew that legacy issue was simply to deceive the Zambian voters. The government of Rupiah Banda is walking its own path, unfortunately the path that is worsening the corruption situation and we have already said in the past that corruption is a cancer that takes away resources that should go to the people of Zambia. And that is why we need to manage this country differently."
And Matambo said the tribunal had vindicated The Post that they were not in any way trying to be personal with Siliya.
"The Post's agenda was not personal or meant to tarnish anyone's name. The truth has come out that the Constitution was breached and this should serve as a warning to all ministers that no one is above the law," Matambo said.
He urged The Post to continue standing on the truth and striving to create a corrupt-free country despite the opposition they were facing from the powers that be.
Matambo observed that The Post had stood the test of time in speaking for the voiceless and ensuring that government officials respected the law and operated in a transparent manner.
Matambo said Siliya must be prosecuted for abusing her office.
He said there was no other way for President Banda apart from firing Siliya.
"In fact I must express my disappointment with the behaviour of both the President and his Vice who consistently defended Dora and said she was smarter than other people. We expect the President to be fair to every Zambian by defending the Constitution," said Matambo. "The only way out now is to fire Dora and let her be prosecuted for abusing her office. The President should respect the Constitution on this matter and not do the opposite."
Last week, the tribunal that was constituted to probe Siliya's alleged abuse of authority when she engaged RP Capital Partners Cayman Islands Limited to valuate Zamtel's assets before partial privatisation revealed that the minister breached Article 54 sub Article 3 of the Constitution when she engaged the company without following legal advice from the Attorney General.
Siliya was also being probed for abuse of office for cancelling a tender awarded to Thales Airs Systems for the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of a Zambia Air Traffic Management Surveillance Radar System (ZATM-RADAR) at Lusaka and Livingstone international airports. She was also alleged to have defrauded Petauke District Council over her claim of a refund of K12.5 million for two hand pumps for two boreholes that were sunk in Nyika ward when the actual cost of the pumps was K5 million. However, the tribunal did not find Siliya wanting on both allegations.
Labels: DORA SILIYA, ELISHA MUTAMBO, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, PRIVATISATION, RP CAPITAL PARTNERS
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