Lack of planning has cost the poor, says Fr Mwewa
By Ernest Chanda
Sun 08 Nov. 2009, 04:00 CAT
NDOLA Catholic Diocese treasurer Father Augustine Mwewa has charged that President Rupiah Banda’s lack of planning has cost poor people the much needed social services.
In an interview yesterday, Fr Mwewa said President Banda has exhibited a serious lack of planning in the way he governs the country. He said currently there was nothing to show the direction the country was taking in terms of providing social services.
“President Banda who is supposed to be in charge of running the affairs of this country, has failed the people completely. I am one of those leaders who are fully involved with the people at the grassroot and I see people’s suffering everyday. The health sector is not doing well as it should, educational provision is poor and people continue to be denied these services which they need so much,” Fr Mwewa said.
“I can honestly tell you that every day we receive an average of 10 people coming to seek material help from our offices. I do not even know if the social welfare department still exists. I say so because this is one branch of government that should provide some social services to the people. It all points to lack of serious planning from this government. We don’t even know if there is a governance programme that they follow because all we see is a country retarding.”
Fr Mwewa said President Banda was busy consolidating his hold on power at the expense of providing social services.
“What we have seen is the President aligning himself to people who toe his line. He cannot listen to those with opposing views; he thinks they are his enemies. We have also seen him create political alliances with people who have questionable characters, all in the hope of wining the 2011 election. In the end, the majority poor Zambians continue to suffer because this government can’t provide them with clean water. There are no proper medical facilities and the roads are terrible,” he said.
“I grew up on the Copperbelt and sometimes one would cry upon seeing the state of Mufulira where I grew up. President Banda has contributed more to poverty than to development. He flew around the country with the body of late president Levy Mwanawasa seeking the people’s vote. And even after getting it in questionable circumstances, he can’t deliver anything to the same people. Where is he taking this country so that people can follow him properly?”
Fr Mwewa said President Banda should not get offended when people mention his name because he is the one in charge of national affairs. He observed that where there was no proper planning, the country could collapse.
“He is in charge of government and he should know this. Zambia is not like MMD where he is acting president. In Zambia he is Republican President, meaning he is fully responsible for everybody’s welfare. It is unhealthy to have a President who has no clear plan for the country he governs. And when people question this he becomes reactive and calls them all sorts of names. We need a clear plan about the future of this country. The MMD has no monopoly of intelligence and if they can’t provide a plan let them give room to others,” he said.
And Fr Mwewa has challenged Vice-President George Kunda to explain his sudden change of heart towards former president Frederick Chiluba.
He said Vice-President Kunda had become a shame to the nation because of his unprofessional conduct.
“George Kunda is a shame to this nation. He spent three months in England gathering evidence against Chiluba using the taxpayers’ money. When he came back he told us that there was overwhelming evidence that Chiluba looted Zambians’ money. And today just because Mwanawasa is no longer there, George Kunda is telling us that Chiluba is a clean man; shame on him!” said Fr Mwewa.
Labels: CORRUPTION, JAMES SPAITA MWEWA, NEOLIBERALISM, RUPIAH BANDA
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Reconcile with Sata, Spaita appeals to Banda
Written by Chibaula Silwamba in Kasama
Monday, January 12, 2009 6:28:11 AM
KASAMA Catholic Archbishop James Spaita has disclosed that during his meeting with President Rupiah Banda, he appealed to the head of state to reconcile with Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata in the interest of the nation.
And Archbishop Spaita has wished Zambians peace, joy and happiness as they begin the new year.
In an interview at his residence last Friday night, Archbishop Spaita said he told President Banda that polarisation between the government and opposition political parties was not good for the nation especially now when the country was experiencing difficulties in various spheres of human life.
"Actually, I shared with the President that this situation where opposition and government seem to be polarised, no! There is great need of coming together, talk about the problems together and try to solve the problems together," Archbishop Spaita said. "When you are in a situation like hunger let alone even war, differences disappear; you unite to fight the common enemy. And we know right now that we have to pull ourselves together, united and together stand to find solutions to the very serious problems the nation is facing, not only in agriculture but the mining industry. How many people are being laid off? These are people with families and they have to survive."
He, therefore, urged politicians to come together.
"...to face this reality of agriculture [inputs], of mining and all the many areas where most of our people are adversely affected because you hear this mine closing, so many people are laid off, it's really sad. This is not the time to be divided. It's the time to be united and share our ideas and solve the problems of our country together," Archbishop Spaita said. "The government and those in opposition - you know jokingly I say this term opposition, whoever invented it, you know, instead of saying the party that is advising the government, they use the word opposition as if everything the government does must be opposed and even the opposition must be opposed by the government. It's a very sad notion."
Archbishop Spaita said there was no need for the party in government and the opposition to be at loggerheads.
"I would call on the political leadership, President Rupiah Banda and Mr Sata, as leader of the opposition, to come together for the good of the good of the nation. This is not the time to speak only through the newspapers, they have to talk person-to-person and put our heads together as a nation," Archbishop Spaita advised.
Asked about the reaction of President Banda when he suggested to him that he should come together with Sata and other opposition leaders, Archbishop Spaita responded: "The President [Banda] is very positive; he said to me, 'Mr Sata is very close to me and I am ready to meet him.'"
Archbishop Spaita also said he was happy to share ideas with President Banda on several issues affecting people especially people in Northern Province.
"When I heard of the President's visit to the province, I was very happy in the sense that he offered us an opportunity to express, first of all, our good cooperation as Catholic Church with government in many areas of interest; education, health and now our special interest in agriculture or food security," Archbishop Spaita said.
He also urged Zambians to ask God to help them resolve the economic problems the country was currently going through.
"For me, normally at the beginning of the year and believing that nothing will happen without the help of the Lord, I would wish the nation and all the people, peace, joy and happiness as we begin this new year, 2009," said Archbishop Spaita. "We need to ask God's blessings. Our human efforts alone can never solve these problems but with the help of the Lord any problems will be solved. I pray that we continue enjoying peace and that all the problems through the help of the Lord may be tackled and be solved for the benefit of our country."
Labels: JAMES SPAITA MWEWA, RUPIAH BANDA, SATA
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Spaita urges continuation of Levy's development agenda
By Mwala Kalaluka
Monday September 01, 2008 [04:00]
KASAMA Catholic Archbishop James Spaita has observed that late President Levy Mwanawasa contributed greatly to the country's development. And Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) president Bishop George Lungu said President Mwanawasa was a father and shepherd who tried his best to serve God and the nation during his presidency.
Delivering a sermon during the Requiem Mass for the late President at the Lusaka Show grounds yesterday, Archbishop Spaita said the best way to remember President Mwanawasa was to complete the works he would have wanted complete had he lived on.
"Very often those that God has placed in high positions have the heaviest burden to bear," Archbishop Spaita told the congregants.
"There is no doubt that the late President had a share of problems and difficulties as he guided the nation, but we have to pay tribute to him because during these years, he contributed greatly to the development of the nation."
Archbishop Spaita said President Mwanawasa intimated to him before he left for Egypt, where he suffered the stroke that claimed his life that he was not feeling very well.
"Naturally, he would have excused himself from attending that meeting, but he went and that is a very good lesson for those in high positions," he said. "We are public servants, people should not be made to suffer because of our laziness and lame excuses."
Archbishop Spaita further said that the Roman Catholic Church in the country was in solidarity with the rest of the nation in expressing their best form of gratitude to God for having enabled President Mwanawasa to lead Zambia.
"I know in Zambia we would ask a question as to why is it that a President who was not that very old should be taken away from us?" Archbishop Spaita observed. "Who are we to question God's decision? The Lord gave him to us, the Lord has taken him back to Himself."
He urged the nation to ensure that politics of hatred and division did not find their way into the political arena.
"Politics of hate and divisions should be the thing of the past but love should unite us despite our differences," Archbishop Spaita said. "All we need to do as Christians is continue believing in the love of God Almighty as we serve the nation at various levels."
And Bishop Lungu in his opening remarks said that President Mwanawasa had contributed greatly to the sustenance of peace and stability in the nation.
"We thank God for the gift of our late President and may God forgive him all his shortcomings," prayed Bishop Lungu.
Labels: JAMES SPAITA MWEWA, MWANAWASA, NEOLIBERALISM
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Spaita cautions over Levy's succession
By Mwala Kalaluka in Kasama
Thursday August 28, 2008 [04:00]
CATHOLIC Archbishop of Kasama James Spaita Mwewa (left) has said the church will not welcome antagonistic manoeuvres from politicians that wish to succeed President Levy Mwanawasa.
Commenting on President Mwanawasa's death in an interview at his residence on Sunday, Archbishop Spaita said politicians should learn from the message of reconciliation and peace that the deceased left for the people of Zambia and the region before he left for Egypt, where he suffered a stroke that later claimed his life.
Archbishop Spaita said he was very shocked by President Mwanawasa's death and he said only a selfless person should replace a man of such stature.
"Let our politicians look first for the interest of the nation and not selfish interests or positions or advantage they will get once they are in certain positions," Archbishop Spaita said. "Let the idea of service dominate rather than personal advantages."
He said it would be retrogressive for politicians to get embroiled in fights as the country braces itself for the forthcoming presidential by-election.
"We do regret, as a church, the antagonism which shows itself very often among politicians; we are one nation," Archbishop Spaita said. "Things can erupt if we are not very careful and if politicians do not follow in the same spirit of reconciliation that our President left us."
Archbishop Spaita, who described the late President as a man of great tolerance and understanding, asked those that will not make it in the pending election to accept the fact that democracy was about losers and winners.
He pointed out that President Mwanawasa's adherence to the concept of peace and reconciliation was made a reality for Zambia when he addressed the 16th Plenary Assembly of the Association of Member Episcopa Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) in June this year, in the presence of his one-time archrival, Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata.
"His Excellency has left us a very powerful message of reconciliation and we take this message as one of the last messages of the President," Archbishop Spaita said. "There should be love and unity in the nation; in politics and religion."
Archbishop Spaita said he had a personal relationship with President Mwanawasa and he admired his dedication to duty even when he was not feeling well.
Labels: CATHOLIC CHURCH, JAMES SPAITA MWEWA, SUCCESSION
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