MMD councillor dares residents to protest naked
By Jack Mwape
Tue 04 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT
AN MMD ward councillor in Kasama says local residents are free to protest naked on the streets if they feel aggrieved by the alleged misappropriation of funds at Kasama Municipal Council.
Featuring on a live Bemba programme on Radio Mano community station, Francis Kombe, who is Julia Chikamoneka ward councillor, dared Kasama residents to protest if they felt aggrieved.
Kombe, who was initially interjected by the presenter Paul Chileshe to withdraw the remarks, however continued with his line of thought.
“As a council, even if people complain by (either) dancing in the streets or walking naked while carrying placards (to denounce the council), it won’t work,” he said.
Kombe said this in reaction to some Kasama residents who had criticised the council for allegedly abusing public funds at will as highlighted in the audit report of the Ministry of Local Government and Housing for the period January to December, 2009.
Kombe said that nothing would happen to Kasama Municipal Council even if people complained about the abuse of resources at the local authority because the audit report was still under consideration by the councillors.
He said the so-called alleged theft of public funds by council management and staff could not be used as a basis to investigate the council on misappropriation of funds.
Kombe also bragged that law enforcement agencies could not investigate the council based on complaints from local residents.
But former Kasama district commissioner Lieutenant Colonel Steven Chanda has demanded the immediate resignation of Kombe as MMD ward councillor for allegedly insulting the people of Kasama.
Colonel Chanda said it was only right that Kombe resigned on moral grounds for tarnishing the image of the council through his ‘insulting’ utterances.
He said it was unfortunate that Kombe chose to publicly insult the electorate for questioning the mismanagement of affairs at the council.
Colonel Chanda said Kombe as an elected representative, should have respected other people’s divergent views on issues of public interest.
He advised councillors to stop defending the council management and staff over the alleged misuse of public funds but instead wait for further instruction from the Ministry of Local Government and Housing on the outcome of the audit report.
Meanwhile, Kombe has apologised for using vulgar language against Kasama residents while on radio but refused to resign as ward councillor.
Labels: DEMONSTRATION, FRANCIS KOMBE, KASAMA
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Deputy mayor accuses politicians of inculcating bad ideologies in yout
By Sheikh Chifuwe in Kasama
Monday October 20, 2008 [04:00]
KASAMA deputy mayor Francis Kombe has blamed politicians for inculcating bad ideologies in the young people. And UPND chairperson for youth Charity Chileshe said there is a global paradigm shift in the management of economic affairs, which Zambians could not afford to ignore.
During a newsmakers forum dubbed, '2008 Elections and Beyond' organised by the Press Freedom Committee of The Post at Ludo Lodge in Kasama on Saturday, Kombe said it was hard to trust some politicians because they had no principles.
"Politicians change character for expedience, they have inculcated bad seed in young people, they abandon their principles when it is convenient for them," Kombe said in response to a question why MMD was distributing materials in order to win support for the presidential candidate Rupiah Banda.
And Chileshe said the country required socio-economic emancipation with a new leadership that was capable of coping with the world dynamics.
She said UPND's approach was to empower individuals economically, which would eventually translate into national development.
Chileshe urged the people of Northern Province to regroup as nationalists and demand for their share of the national cake.
"When are we as a people going to get angry enough and say enough is enough, let's show our anger by saying Hakainde let's go and give hope to the people," she said. "Let us not eat yesterday's mashed potato referring to Sata and Vice-President Rupiah Banda."
Chileshe said there was a paradigm shift in the managing of national affairs and hoped that Zambia would not be left behind.
And Patriotic Front Northern Province secretary Fidelis Mwamba said Zambia needed a pragmatic leader like Sata to turn things around in favour of the majority under-privileged.
He expressed optimism that Sata would live up to his promise of creating at least 4,000 jobs within 90 days of taking over power from the MMD.
Mwamba said the PF was concerned that the education sector did not give much hope for the Zambian people when it was supposed to be key to national development.
Kombe appealed to the people of Kasama to give Banda their vote because he had duty to complete MMD's mandate and programmes.
He said the MMD manifesto was explicit when it came to rural water reticulation and sanitation, improvement of road infrastructure, agriculture and education.
And responding to a question from the audience on government's inability to complete the Kasama-Mungwi road, Kombe claimed the money allocated for the project was diverted for the MMD convention in 2001, which some of the leaders in opposition were deeply involved.
Pastor Christy Ntalasha reminded politicians and their supporters that leadership was not about personal benefits but a service to the people.
"I hope you will be able to support your candidates on principle, what we need is a person that goes into office through a quality vote," he said.
Pastor Ntalasha advised the general membership of MMD and other participating parties in the October 30 elections not to accept what was wrong.
Kasama resident John Simukwayi advised the electorate to choose a leader who was very accountable to the people.
He said the voters should look beyond their political affiliation and vote for someone who would bring hope to the people.
Transparency International Zambia Northern Province representative Mulenga Shula urged political parties to avoid disenfranchising people by buying their voters' cards.
Labels: CHARITY CHILESHE, FRANCIS KOMBE, KASAMA
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