Lubinda questions Rupiah’s priorities
By Patson Chilemba
Mon 27 June 2011, 04:01 CAT
ZAMBIANS should request President Rupiah Banda to integrate his mindset and start focusing on the right priorities, says Given Lubinda.
In an interview, Lubinda, who is Kabwata PF member of parliament, questioned President Banda’s misplaced priorities such as the purchase of nine mobile hospitals which would only operate in a given area for 13 days every month.
The government recently said each mobile unit would operate at a cost of K2.4 billion.
He said if the K2.4 billion was required on a monthly basis, it meant that the country would require close to K30 billion for each mobile unit per year.
“And yet these units are only going to function for 156 days per year. And at 156 days costing K30 billion is obviously far too extravagant for a poor country like Zambia,” said Lubinda on Thursday.
“Yes, we agree that we can’t put a price to life. However, there is evidence across the whole globe that there are other efficient and reasonable ways, more effective ways of providing health facilities such as constructing physical structures such as the Chainama Hospital, Lusaka District Hospital that is going to cost a third of the running cost of a mobile unit.”
Lubinda said many health facilities could be constructed across the country just from the operating cost of one mobile hospital.
“And those would be available to people not only for 156 but 360 days. And the physical structures would also allow for the employment of more personnel unlike the mobile hospitals where only a few are catered for.
This programme of Mr Rupiah Banda is a complete scandal,” Lubinda said. “And you know when people involve themselves in programmes that cannot be sustainable you question their level of thinking and you wonder whether a person who is serious about developing the country would engage in such wasteful expenditure.”
Lubinda said President Banda was self-conceited and usually became angry when advised to handle national matters in the right manner.
“I think we ought to start requesting Mr Banda to integrate his mindset. Is his mind focused on right things? Psychologists and psychiatric doctors will attest to the fact that some people have a psychiatric problem such as mania,” he said.
Lubinda said some people in rural areas were shown celebrating at the sight of mobile units as if the provision of health services were not their right.
However, he said the Mbala residents who were recently shown on the state-owned and government-controlled Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) dancing, were not impressed with the mobile hospitals but merely practicing “don’t kubeba”.
“The fact that they were shown dancing shows people who went there were not sick because sick people don’t dance,” said Lubinda.
Recently, Parliament heard that the mobile hospitals would only move for 13 days each month.
Health minister Kapembwa Simbao said according to the budget estimates for the given period, each province would require about K2.4 billion for the successful use of the procured mobile hospital units.
Simbao said the budget for the use of mobile units for the period April to December 2011 was based on thirteen days only in any month.
“It ought to be considered that the remaining days shall be reserved for the servicing of the units. The budget estimates for the given period is that each province shall require about K2.4 billion for the successful use of the procured units,” Simbao said.
Simbao said an estimated 8.7 million Zambians were expected to benefit from health services offered through mobile clinincs.
Labels: GIVEN LUBINDA, HEALTHCARE, MOBILE HOSPITALS, RUPIAH BANDA
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Using same staff for mobile, static hospitals absurd - NGOCC
By Kombe Chimpinde
Wed 01 June 2011, 03:50 CAT
THE government’s idea to use the same health personnel in static and mobile hospitals is unacceptable, according to NGOCC. Non Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council (NGOCC) board director, Beatrice Grillo said the idea to use the same staff was absurd because the hospitals and health centres were critically understaffed.
“The problem that we have in Zambia is we have log-sited development before embarking on these mobile hospitals, we needed to ensure that the hospitals are properly maintained and equipped,” said Grillo in an interview.
“Now if we are going to remove nurses and put them in mobile hospitals then we are not doing any development because there is currently a big shortage of medical staff. Removing nurses and temporally deploying them on mobile health services will be a serious problem.”
Grillo said the government must not give Zambians false impressions that it would soon solve the challenges being faced in the health sector.
“If we have to deploy more nurses we will need more resources which I think we don’t have. This is why we are saying let us use resources we have to improve already existing facilities,” Grillo said.
“Yes, we need access to health care that is close to our people. But if you have little food it makes sense to use it efficiently than to spread it all over the place because we will end up with infrastructure with no facilities to use.”
She said there was no guarantee that the government would manage mobile hospitals when it had failed to efficiently and effectively run the already-existing infrastructure.
“These are issues that we are concerned about not the politics surrounding it. It’s a question of whether or not, we have resources to stretch or not,” Grillo said.
And Grillo doubted the government’s seriousness in handling the Global Funds.
Grillo’s comments come in the wake of the Global Fund’s decision to resume funding to Zambia under round eight and ten after the country repaid half of the misappropriated funds.
“Dr Mwaba has told us that they need to work on systems to ensure there is accountability in handling the funds, but it’s not a question of ‘we will work out systems’.
He Dr Mwaba was supposed to tell us that they have worked on these systems,” she said. “This statement tells us that they don’t have these systems in place. I think we need serious assurance of what this government has done and not what they are going to do.”
She reiterated her earlier calls for the government to prosecute global fund fraudsters.
“These people need to be booked. Justice must be done. We need to prosecute them to ensure the right message goes to would-be criminals,” said Grillo.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, MOBILE HOSPITALS, NGOCC
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Rupiah has abused people’s sympathy, says Chumbwe
By Bright Mukwasa
Fri 27 May 2011, 04:01 CAT
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has heavily abused the sympathy vote he was given in 2008, says Geoffrey Chumbwe. And Chumbwe says it is immoral for President Banda to play around with the health of the people of Chongwe district who were admitted to the newly built hospital for “show” during the launch of the mobile hospitals.
In an interview, Chumbwe said people that voted for President Banda hoped he would continue and commit to late president Levy Mwanawasa’s vision and dream. Chumbwe said President Banda’s move to divert from those promises made him unworthy of another mandate.
“President Banda has already used the sympathy vote and heavily abused it; he has wasted it. He's going in this election. And we’re going into this election head-on,” Chumbwe said.
He said this year the MMD would not even get the rural vote.
He said the U-turn on many of Mwanawasa's promises, had spoiled many chances of the MMD to gain votes in this year's election.
Chumbwe also accused President Banda of being insensitive to the health of the people of Chongwe district.
He alleged that during commissioning of mobile hospitals in Chongwe recently, President Banda's government organised sick people from surrounding health centres to pose in the hospital just to show that his regime was working.
“Patients were brought here and put in wards, but the moment he left, the people were removed. Mobile hospitals also left just the moment he left,” said Chumbwe.
He said the MMD's desperation to win votes was reaching dangerous levels as it had resorted to playing with people's lives.
''It's unbelievable that President Banda is playing with people's lives. We can't have a liar for a President. It's really painful you know,” said Chumbwe during a visit at the hospital.
And a check at Chongwe district health centre found patients crowded and some of them sleeping on the floor while relatives waiting for expectant mothers spent nights in an open shelter.
The newly built hospital had no staff manning it and at the time of the check it remained closed.
And speaking when he donated bicycles to PF party members in Chongwe last weekend, Chumbwe urged the beneficiaries to intensify their recruitment of members in the interior of the district.
He urged his party members to use the bicycles for mobilisation.
Labels: GEOFFREY CHUMBWE, MOBILE HOSPITALS, RUPIAH BANDA
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Mobile hospitals a national disaster - Dr Katema
By Kombe Chimpinde
Tue 24 May 2011, 04:01 CAT
THE government’s decision to run mobile hospitals alongside the already existing static health facilities in the country is a self-created national disaster, according to a PF member of parliament.
Dr Joseph Katema, the Chingola member of parliament, said it was shameful for President Rupiah Banda and his team to embark on running mobile hospitals without carrying out an assessment of their viability as evidenced by the supplementary budget of K21.6 billion.
“It’s very shameful that the government can embark on a decision that came after President Banda’s visit to China, a programme that was not budgeted for, a plan that is not indicated in any of the country’s national strategic plans.
This shows lack of vision and plan for the health sector by this government,” said Dr Katema in an interview.
He said the government had diverted from the country’s national strategic plan, which seeks to focus on primary health care as a basis for improving lives in Zambia.
Dr Katema wondered how a proper referral system, which was mainly done between clinics and district hospitals, would be undertaken under the mobile health services.
“In an ideal health system a person should know that when I walk to point A or B, where they are then treated or referred depends on the degree of sickness. But now we have seen a shortcut where we have the whole “UTH” which moves from village to village. It does not work out like that.
It is very clear from the explanations that we are getting that the government does not know how these hospitals will operate,” Dr Katema said. “This is why you see cooperating partners shifting ways from us. You must realise that a huge chunk of money that is injected in the health sector comes from cooperating partners.”
He said the procurement of mobile hospitals was aimed at appeasing people in rural areas ahead of elections at the expense urgent and pressing problems in the health sector.
Dr Katema advised President Banda and his government to desist from politicising the health sector as it was very critical to the lives of the citizens.
The government procured mobile hospitals using a US$53 million loan acquired from China. Recently, government approved a K21.6 billion supplementary budget which would go towards the operation costs of the said hospitals this year.
Labels: JOSEPH KATEMA, MOBILE HOSPITALS
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Rupiah wants to woo rural vote with mobile hospitals - Kyambalesa
By Kombe Chimpinde
Mon 16 May 2011, 11:00 CAT
THE US$53 million deal to procure mobile hospitals has all the characteristics of an attempt by President Rupiah Banda to use the facility as a campaign tool for the general elections, says Professor Henry Kyambalesa. And Prof Kyambalesa has noted that there is excess socio-economic decay obtaining under President Banda's leadership.
The US-based Zambian professor in development studies who had earlier described the Zambia-Chinese government mobile hospital deal as a gigantic policy blunder for the nation, in a statement said the move was purely designed to woo voters in rural areas by President Banda.
Prof Kyambalesa warned that President Banda was plunging the country into serious problems by procuring loans calculated at enhancing his political fortune.
“President Banda won't be there to personally make a contribution to the repayment of these loans.
How does one explain the prominence of single-source procurement by the President during the short period he has been in office if it is not to reap personal or political benefits from the deals involved?
What is the use of having a procurement authority and technocrats in government ministries whose function is merely the acquisition of machinery?” Prof Kyambalesa asked.
He said it was unacceptable that government business was being done at State House where decisions were approved without undertaking any needed assessment.
“There is a need for the Chinese government officials to guard against encouraging President Banda to borrow lavishly from their country's state companies to finance projects which are conceived without consultation with Parliament,” he advised.
“They will do well not to participate in such furtive schemes if they are interested in cementing the existing cordial relations between their country and the people of Zambia.”
Prof Kyambalesa said that giving President Banda another five years in government was what Zambians should avoid at all costs.
He urged President Banda to re-assign the mobile hospitals to Zambia National Service (ZNS) camps in the nine provinces after incorporating the functions of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) that is currently vested in the Office of the Vice-President.
“No doubt, the procurement of such temporary facilities is going to be the most conspicuous case of misapplication of resources by a Republican president thus far. It is a clear case of misplaced priorities!
Sooner or later, the President and/or members of his inner circle will be crossing national borders for medical treatment or check-ups after wasting the US$53 million on mobile hospitals,” he warned.
Prof Kyambalesa said there was no question that government’s decision to procure mobile hospitals was a gigantic blunder.
“Each mobile hospital, which consists of seven trucks will require more than 36 personnel per visit of two weeks in any given rural area, including medical doctors, nurses, clinicians, laboratory staff, surgeons, pharmacists, and support staff.”
He noted that all these expenditures were in addition to the US$53 million secured from the EX-IM Bank of China to purchase the nine mobile hospitals from the China National Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation, and which would need to be repaid over a period of 40 years.
“It is irresponsible, wasteful and unwise for President Banda," said Prof Kyambalesa.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, HENRY KYAMBALESA, MOBILE HOSPITALS, RUPIAH BANDA
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Mobile hospitals a gigantic blunder - Prof Kyambalesa
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Thu 05 May 2011, 04:00 CAT
THE purchase of mobile hospitals has been recorded in the country’s history as a gigantic policy blunder of President Rupiah Banda, says Professor Henry Kyambalesa.
In a statement, Prof Kyambalesa, A US-based Zambian academician at Denver University said the revelations that each mobile hospital which consists of seven trucks would gobble K450 million per trip was unacceptable. He said every well-meaning Zambian should condemn the wasteful and irresponsible exercise President Banda was making.
Prof Kyambalesa said the mobile hospitals were only ideal for a country that was at war adding that for Zambia, it was a luxury that should not be tolerated. He said there was no doubt that the procurement of such temporary facilities was going to be the most conspicuous case of misapplication of resources by President Banda’s government.
“It is a clear case of misplaced priorities. Sooner or later, the President and all members of his inner circle will be crossing national borders for medical treatment or check-ups after wasting the US $53 million on mobile hospitals and President Banda and the MMD want to continue to rule Zambia beyond 2011 after committing the country to such kinds of loans, appropriated on worthless projects? This is unacceptable,” Prof Kyambalesa said.
He said the information that each mobile hospital, which consists of seven trucks, will require more than 36 personnel per visit of two weeks in any given rural area, including medical doctors, nurses, clinicians, laboratory staff, surgeons, pharmacists, and support staff and that K450 million would be spent on each mobile clinic as allowances made sad reading. Prof Kyambalesa said the US$53 million loan would have made sense if it was secured to cater for the provision of free healthcare for all Zambians through the construction of more permanent health care facilities nationwide.
He said the people expected the government to prioritise provision of adequate medicines, medical equipment and ambulances for the majority poor in rural areas and not mobile hospitals. Prof Kyambalesa said the country was also in need of money to finance research designed to find cures for HIV/AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, and other deadly diseases and the retention of trained of health personnel.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, HENRY KYAMBALESA, MOBILE HOSPITALS
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Chingola MMD women rubbish mobile hospitals
By Darious Kapembwa in Chingola
Tue 12 Apr. 2011, 04:10 CAT
MMD women in Chingola’s Kabundi East township have said the decision by the government to commit Zambians to a US $53 million debt used to purchase mobile hospitals is an insult to the general citizenry.
Speaking on Sunday when she led 25 other MMD cadres who defected to join the opposition Patriotic Front (PF), former MMD member Joyce Chilebela said she had no better word than “rubbish” to describe the mobile hospitals that President Rupiah Banda had just launched.
“Was it done to please their Chinese colleagues?” she asked. “Right now there is a crisis in hospitals where one nurse is in charge of one ward, there is no manpower and no medicines but they go to procure that nonsense and on credit for that matter!” Chilebela said.
She said the situation in the clinics and hospitals was pathetic and wondered how mobile hospitals would alleviate problems in the health sector when the government had failed to deal with existing problems in old hospitals.
“We as the women suffer the most in hospitals because we are forced to nurse our patients from homes due to insufficient manpower in hospitals and even if you go there, all the medicines have been stolen. That is why me and a lot of my colleagues decided that we should move to Michael Sata because he is now being proven right,” she said.
And Doreen Kase also said a lot of people in the MMD had realised the mistake they made by voting for MMD and President Banda.
“We the ordinary people feel cheated and whether they like it or not we will vote for Sata even if we do not like the MP,” she said.
“People rejected those Chinese mobile clinics but someone went ahead and committed us to undesired loans. We’ll not give them chance this time,” she said.
Meanwhile, PF Kabundi ward chairperson, Rachael Nkhowani, said it was a well-known fact that Zambians had decided to change and put the right party in charge of national affairs.
“Now our children will be paying back debts they did not benefit from,” said Nkhowani.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, MMD, MOBILE HOSPITALS
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MP condemns purchase of mobile clinics
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Wed 26 Jan. 2011, 04:01 CAT
A PF parliamentarian regrets the government’s decision to procure mobile clinics despite the people’s call for the strengthening of the country’s already existing health facilities.
Commenting on the mobile clinics which have now arrived in the country, Mandevu parliamentarian Jean Kapata said the MMD government was adamant over the procurement of mobile hospitals. She wondered how the clinics would be moving because most roads in the country were in a bad state.
“Just in Nakonde, the road between Mpika and Nakonde is extremely bad. How do they expect these mobile clinics to move on this road? The lifespan of these clinics will be very short and they won’t last,” she said.
Kapata, who is also health parliamentary committee chairperson, said the mobile clinics would at one time be grounded just as the vehicles for the Keep Lusaka Clean campaign were parked.
“They are now just parked and not even one is moving. The same will happen to the mobile clinics,” she said.
Kapata wondered if the government had put in place measures to ensure that there were enough doctors and nurses for the mobile clinics.
“This is a mockery and I condemn it very much because the government does not listen. If they had listened to people, this would not have happened. People want medicine in health centres. Right now there are shortages of drugs in health centres and there is a shortage of a TB drug, which is crucial for people living with HIV and AIDS. This is what people want, not mobile hospitals,” she said.
Kapata urged the government to pay attention to the concerns that people were raising on various governance issues if the country was to develop.
Last year, a cross section of society opposed the procurement of mobile hospitals on grounds that the country’s health sector was faced with numerous challenges and the road infrastructure was in a poor state.
They proposed that the government addresses the current problems in the sector but the government insisted on procuring the mobile hospitals for all the country’s nine provinces using a loan obtained from China.
Labels: JEAN KAPATA, MOBILE HOSPITALS
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Govt must abandon mobile hospitals – Longwe
By Agness Changala
Wed 08 Sep. 2010, 04:01 CAT
GOVERNMENT must abandon mobile hospitals and instead build more physical health infrastructure, gender activist Sara Longwe has advised.
Longwe said it was shameful that the government had spent so much money on the failed National Constitutional Conference (NCC) process and increased salaries of constitutional office holders and other officers at the expense of solving problems in the health sector.
She said the quality of health services in the country had deteriorated and the construction of the few hospitals was just a drop in the ocean because Lusaka alone needed about 10 big hospitals to cater to the existing population.
“They are just a drop in the ocean. They plan to procure mobile hospitals without proper roads,” Longwe said.
She said Zambia had no infrastructure, which could support the operation of mobile hospitals. She said people wanted hospitals which they could easily access.
Longwe said the evacuation of government officials and politicians to other countries for medical attention should be banned to enable them to seek treatment from the local hospitals.
She said such an approach could force them to improve the conditions in the hospital because currently they did not care about their people.
Longwe wondered why the state’s application to register the London High Court judgment which found former president Frederick Chiluba and others guilty of defrauding Zambians was dismissed because the money involved, if recovered, could have been ploughed into the health sector.
She said Zambia had no leadership and it was being run on autopilot.
“There’s no leadership, we are self-governing,” she said. “With this situation, the women are the ones who suffer most, nurses are not being paid and these issues were brought to their attention by Chansa Kabwela but they decided to ignore.”
Longwe said most nurses and other health workers’ altitude was demoralising and insulting because they were frustrated.
She urged the government to invest in human resource and hospitals if the future of the country was to be secured. Longwe advised women not to vote for the current government because it had failed to govern the nation.
And Citizens Forum executive secretary Simon Kabanda said the problem of congestion at UTH was a sign of a breakdown in governance.
Kabanda said the government had failed to govern the nation going by the manner in which the health sector was being managed.
Kabanda, who described the situation as nauseating, said what was happening at the hospital was the reality of the health sector in many parts of the country.
He appealed to the government to redeem itself from failure and exhibit concern for the suffering citizens.
“And government has an opportunity to redeem itself by ensuring that the next budget pays particular attention to the health sector before it completely collapses,” Kabanda said.
Kabanda said time and again Citizen’s Forum had drawn the attention of the government to the situation at UTH, and other health centres in the country but the government had been paying a deaf ear to their pleas.
In April this year, the NCC procured microphones at a cost of K1.8 billion at the time it was concluding its work.
Kabanda, who objected to their decision, argued that abuse of funds by the NCC could not be allowed, when the health sector was limping.
He said several clinics of Lusaka had no syrups for children and mothers stood outside clinics helplessly carrying their sick children, as they were told that there was no medicine for their babies.
He said most Zambians did not have means to procure drugs from private pharmacies, an indication that the situation was worse in other parts of the country, which were equally neglected.
Congestion at UTH has continued to be a problem, with patients in some wards lying on the floor.
An on-the-spot check at the Filter clinic and D block ward on Saturday revealed that patients were subjected to sleeping on the floor in the wards and the corridors in some cases.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, MOBILE HOSPITALS, SARA LONGWE, SIMON KABANDA, UTH
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Chingola clergyman challenges Rupiah over mobile hospitals
By Misheck Wangwe and Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Sat 07 Aug. 2010, 03:59 CAT
CHINGOLA’s Twelve Apostles Nchanga Parish priest Fr Charles Tembo has challenged President Rupiah Banda and the government ministers for once to listen to the voice of the poor over its intentions to bring mobile hospitals in Zambia.
And UPND Copperbelt Province vice-youth chairman Kelly Jibinga has described as foolish the government’s decision to borrow US $53 million from China to procure mobile hospitals.
In an interview on Wednesday, Fr Tembo said it was disappointing that the government wanted to force a foreign concept on the people when it was clear that the mobile hospitals would not suit the Zambian situation.
Fr Tembo said the majority poor in Zambia wanted the government to build permanent infrastructure and work on the already existing but dilapidated hospitals.
He said it would be illogical for the government to introduce mobile hospitals in Zambia when it had failed to work on roads in rural areas.
“It is very disappointing to see how government has remained adamant that it will bring mobile hospitals when the situation can speak for itself that they will just waste taxpayers’ money,” Fr Tembo said.
“The roads are bad, I worked in Lufwanyama for years and the road that leads to that area is in a bad state; many patients have died on the way when they are referred to Kitwe to seek medical attention due to a bad road. Abantu babomfya utushila twatondo people use footpaths to get to St Mary’s hospital.
“Which roads now are these mobile hospitals going to ride on? Government should not take people’s lives for granted. Let them for once do a right thing for the poor please. These people yearn for a hospital that would be theirs forever and not a hospital when they wake up in the morning they find it’s gone,” Fr Tembo said.
He further observed that the mobile hospitals would also be very costly and demanding because they would require a lot of human labour such as the mechanics to accompany the medical personnel in case of a breakdown and many other challenges.
“When I was in Lufwanyama there was a time when a pregnant mother we were referring to Kitwe Central Hospital from St. Mary’s Mission almost gave birth on the way due to the dilapidated road and these incidences have continued. People are suffering, we want government to identify issues that directly affect the people and work towards restoring human dignity because whether poor or rich we are equal in the eyes of God,” Fr Tembo said.
Fr Tembo said the government must look at issues such as the shortage of medical personnel in rural health centres as opposed to concentrating on futile programmes such as the purchase of mobile hospitals.
And Jibinga in a statement said it was disappointing for President Rupiah Banda to tell Zambians that it was none of their business that he signed a US$53 million concession loan to buy mobile hospitals because neither President Banda nor his sons would repay the loan.
Jibinga said it was even more annoying for the youths that President Banda would not be there when they would be made to pay back the loan.
Labels: CHARLES TEMBO, CHINGOLA, CORRUPTION, MOBILE HOSPITALS, RUPIAH BANDA
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RB’s govt bent on getting commissions from national deals – Nawakwi
By Patson Chilemba
Wed 04 Aug. 2010, 10:00 CAT
FDD president Edith Nawakwi yesterday charged that President Banda’s government is bent on getting commissions from national deals. Commenting on President Banda’s defiance against public opinion on the procurement of mobile hospitals, Nawakwi wondered why President Banda had insisted on acquiring a facility which would not work.
“But since this government is bent on consumption expenditure and commission, we are now requesting that in Chiawa area, since we don’t have a bridge they provide us with helicopter clinic,” Nawakwi said.
“Let me be very honest, why would anyone be insisting on a facility which doesn’t work? It only takes the President to leave his office to go to Chiawa. After two hours he will realise that this expenditure is just a frolic in a wrong direction.”
Nawakwi said the country had already been through the experiments President Banda was promoting, saying between 1992-93 the then health minister Dr Boniface Kawimbe provided ambulances to each district in the country.
“We have been ministers. When we talk it is because we have had this experience of mobile facilities which have no future or sustainability built around them. US $53 million dollars by 73 clinics, excluding the urban centres you would have at a cost of US $1 million per district an ultra modern referral centre in each and every district,” Nawakwi said.
“Why can’t they learn from us? When I went to Vienna, I pleaded for the Cancer Centre which they are now talking about. If I had gone to Vienna and said ‘can we have mobile clinics’, do you think they would be proud of this Cancer Centre now? It is simple logic. There is what is called consumption and investment, and this MMD government is on a frolic of consumption expenditure.”
Nawakwi asked President Banda to re-evaluate his strategy because what people wanted were permanent hospitals. She said President Banda should learn to listen to the people he was leading because without them he would not be in power. Nawakwi questioned President Banda’s priorities for the nation.
“Constantly for the past two weeks running, the pontoon in Chiawa has been out of use. It would serve a much greater good if he would go to China and borrow US $55 million to put up a bridge in Chiawa,” Nawakwi said.
“All we hear is lip service from none other than our President Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda. He literally makes a joke of our efforts in an area which was labeled marginal but we have managed to turn it around.”
Nawakwi wondered how President Banda’s mobile hospitals would operate in a country where there was poor infrastructure, especially roads.
“Are there incinerators in those mobile hospitals?” wondered Nawakwi.
Labels: CORRUPTION, DEVELOPMENT, EDITH NAWAKWI, MOBILE HOSPITALS, RUPIAH BANDA
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You’ll like mobile hospitals once they come - RB
By Sandra Lombe in Livingstone
Tue 03 Aug. 2010, 14:00 CAT
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda yesterday said those condemning the procurement of mobile hospitals will need them once they are finally purchased.
And President Banda wondered whether PF leader Michael Sata and UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema would not visit other countries in the event that they were elected into office. Speaking upon arrival at Livingstone International Airport, President Banda said the government would buy nine mobile hospitals for all the country’s provinces.
“Next year, we are building 100 schools. Never before has it happened in the history of the country, statistics of 100 schools being built by a government, never. We are also bringing in nine mobile hospitals, one for each province to areas, they will be moving to areas where people can’t reach treatments,” President Banda said.
He said the government would also buy 12 boats for areas near the waters and on islands where people had difficulties to access hospitals.
President Banda said they would be distributed to all provinces where people needed water transport.
“We are also bringing into all the nine hospitals special equipment to ensure that people don’t have to move unless it is so critical. Equipment to that will take care of serious injuries,” he said.
He said currently people were taken to Lusaka for medical attention but the government had decided to take health services as close as possible to the people.
“And you will hear them say that these mobile hospitals… we don’t need them, wenye amudala wenye pure lies big man. When you say you don’t want them, you will want them when they come because the people will want them,” he said.
He castigated the people that condemned the procurement of mobile hospitals.
He said there were headlines about the ambulances and some parliamentarians said they did not want them.
President Banda said when the ambulances came, he directed that the parliamentarians who opposed the procurement should not be given, adding that the same parliamentarians complained when they heard that others had been given the ambulances.
“The same people when they heard that everybody else had them, they complained. You will want the mobile hospitals when they come because the people will want them,” he said. “There is nothing wrong about them, they are good for the people.”
President Banda said the MMD would continue to fight and ensure victory in Livingstone and the province.
He urged party members not to be disturbed by anyone.
President Banda said he would return to the province with cameras to inspect the works on some roads and projects and show his critics that the government was working.
He said he was in Luena last week and he was happy that the people were against violence.
“I am really so grateful to the people of Zambia. They have heard the call from the leadership of this country, from the leaders of the Church… that we don’t want violence. We want peace. I am happy the Luena and Chifubu people don’t want to be lured to violence,” he said.
“We want people to express themselves freely during the elections.”
President Banda said he was set to visit Chifubu, Luapula and proceed to Eastern Province.
“We are going to put up a fight, Pact no Pact. They must know that the MMD is the party that has withstood the opposition from UPND and from PF ever since the MMD came into power,” he said.
President Banda said the MMD was working on reducing poverty and unemployment.
He said most countries faced many problems such as droughts and floods.
“I am sure if it was here, they could have said it is me that has caused these floods and droughts,” he said.
“We know there are bad roads but the most important thing they are forgetting is to tell the people that the MMD are trying their best to reduce poverty. There is no human society that has no problems. Asia, life is about problems...”
President Banda said the MMD was determined to be with the people wherever the problems were.
He urged the people not to look for faults because problems existed everywhere including homes.
President Banda said the international community had noted that Zambia was progressing and developing.
He said he was visiting other countries because he had been invited.
“You know that Zambia is a member of the SADC, Zambia is a signatory of SADC, AU, and UN and that you know that presidents visit each other from time to time. When presidents from other countries invite me, I am obliged to go and visit him, and they are obliged to come and visit me. They know that Zambia we are good people; that’s why they come. But they will say ‘no, no he is travelling’,” President Banda said.
“Mr Sata and HH, is it true that you are going to isolate yourselves… and live in a cocoon and you will not be able to honour the protocols you have signed for?”
And Southern Province minister Daniel Munkombwe said Zambians were not happy when President Banda was insulted by what he called senior friends.
Scores of MMD cadres that welcomed President Banda flashed blue cards and had a banner with the inscription “Blue card intention 2 vote RB back to office nafuti nafuti”.
President Banda was expected to attend the Bene Mukuni traditional ceremony in Lvingstone.
Labels: CORRUPTION, MOBILE HOSPITALS, RUPIAH BANDA
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China gives govt US$53 million loan for mobile hospitals
By Florence Bupe
Tue 03 Aug. 2010, 04:00 CAT
THE Government of China has given Zambia a 361 million yuan (approximately US $53 million) concessional loan for the construction of mobile hospitals in the country.
And Vice President George Kunda has appealed to the Zambian and Chinese governments to implement the various bilateral agreements that were signed during President Rupiah Banda’s state visit to that country in February his year.
Speaking when a visiting Chinese delegation met Vice President Kunda at State House yesterday, Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo disclosed that his country had given Zambia the loan as part of continued efforts to strengthen bilateral ties.
“On his visit, China will again provide assistance to Zambia through a concessional loan worth 361 million yuan for the construction of mobile hospitals. China will also consider providing preferential export bias credit to support the project n the Mongu- Kalabo Road and the housing project for civil servants,” he said.
China has also given Zambia grant assistance totaling 30 million (about US $4.4 million) for the completion of already existing projects, including the construction of the Government Complex and stadium.
Dai pledged his country’s continued support to Zambia’s economic growth through the provision of technical and financial resources for various projects.
And Vice President Kunda said President Banda’s recent visit to China had provided an opportunity for Zambia to be in touch with prevailing economic trends for growth.
He said Zambia was one of China’s biggest investment destinations with a total investment injection of US $700 million so far.
“I would like to appeal to the governments of China and Zambia to quickly implement the various agreements that were signed during our President’s state visit t hat country in the areas of technical and economic support,” said Vice-President Kunda.
The Chinese delegation and Zambian government officials later held a closed door meeting with President Rupiah Banda, who was not part of the earlier meeting.
The closed door meeting was followed by the signing of four bilateral agreements which included economic and technical cooperation, the Framework on the provision of the concessional loan, the agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and the agreement for the establishment of the Confucius Institute at the University of Zambia (UNZA).
Meanwhile, First Republican President Dr Kenneth Kaunda appealed to China to continue providing assistance not only to Zambia, but also to Africa as a whole if sustainable development is to be attained.
This was when the Chinese delegation visited Dr Kaunda’s residence in Lusaka’s Kabulonga area.
Labels: CHINA, GEORGE KUNDA, MOBILE HOSPITALS
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Why this arrogant insistence on mobile hospitals?
By Editor
Fri 30 July 2010, 04:00 CAT
Rupiah Banda does what he wants. Rupiah doesn’t seem to be accountable to anyone, and as such, public opinion is not something that bothers him. On most issues of great public interest, Rupiah has not listened to anyone and has simply done what he wants to do.
On Tuesday, Rupiah told off all those who were criticising his mobile hospitals, saying it’s none of their business. It seems the business of Zambia is his and his alone. And only the views or interests of his friends and sons matter. How can the use of public funds be a matter outside the business of any Zambian citizen? What Rupiah seems to be telling us is that this government is of Rupiah, by Rupiah, for Rupiah – it is not a government of the people, by the people, for the people, as Lincoln once defined democracy. This means there can be no meaningful democracy in Zambia as long as Rupiah is President. For Rupiah, our participation as citizens in the governance of our country begins and ends with us casting a vote for him. After casting our votes, the way he governs our country is none of our business. Our only business is to vote and to vote for him.
This probably explains why Rupiah has totally ignored public opinion on all major issues – the constitution-making process, the fraudulent acquittal of Frederick Chiluba and his withdrawal of the appeal in this matter. This may also explain the arrogance in his deal with his friends and sons to privatise Zamtel against the wishes of the great majority of the Zambian people.
Rupiah’s mobile hospitals have been criticised by all independent-minded Zambian doctors and other citizens of goodwill. But he has decided to go ahead and borrow US $53 million from China for the procurement of these mobile hospitals. Rupiah will not listen to anyone but his own inner demons. His lack of respect for public opinion and blindness make him a very poor leader, for a leader must temper resoluteness with listening. The exercise of power must be the constant practice of self-limitation and modesty. The use of power is not a matter of trying to show who has the final say and who doesn’t have it; it shouldn’t be a contest to show who holds political power.
There is need for Rupiah to realise that he is not President of this country because he is the most intelligent citizen. Rupiah is simply an ordinary man who became President because of extraordinary circumstances. And he should never pretend to know what he doesn’t know, he should not feel ashamed to ask and learn from the masses of our people. And Rupiah should learn to listen carefully to the views of others, including those of ordinary citizens. Rupiah should become a pupil before he tries to become a teacher; he should learn from the masses before he issues orders. What the ordinary people say may or may not be correct; after hearing it, he must analyse it. Rupiah must heed the correct views and act upon them. He should also listen to the mistaken views; it is wrong not to listen to them at all.
There is need for Rupiah to guard against arrogance. There is no need to be arrogant when one is a public servant, and not a master.
To succeed in his work, Rupiah will always need to rely on the masses of our people, on everyone taking a hand and not only on himself issuing orders and doing what he wants. We say this because experience teaches us that the right task, policy and style of work invariably conform with the demands of the masses at a given time and place and invariably strengthens the ties of the leaders with the masses. And the wrong task, policy and style of work invariably disagree with the demands of the masses at any given time and place and invariably alienate the leaders from the masses.
To link oneself with the masses, a leader must act in accordance with the needs and wishes of the masses. All work done for the masses must start from their needs and not from the desire of any individual, however well-intentioned.
There is need to listen attentively to the voice of the masses. And instead of standing above them, a leader should immerse himself among them. If a leader insisted on leading the masses to do anything against their will, he will certainly fail.
Rupiah and his friends must not assume that the masses have no understanding of what they themselves do not yet understand. It often happens that the masses outstrip their leaders and are eager to advance a step and that nevertheless, their representatives fail to act as leaders of the masses and tail behind certain backward elements, reflecting their views and, moreover, mistaking them for those of the broad masses.
To make Zambia rich and strong needs several decades of intense effort, which will include, among other things, the effort to practice strict economy and combat waste, that is, the policy of building our country through diligence and frugality. The principle of diligence and frugality should be observed in everything. We must particularly advocate diligence and frugality, and we must pay special attention to economy.
We must not take a short view and indulge in wastefulness. Spending US $53 million on mobile hospitals is wastefulness. We must do our utmost to ensure that the very limited resources of our country are utilised to the maximum benefit of our people. And we must take resolute measures against anyone wasting, misusing or misapplying public resources. We must pay special attention to thrift and economy. Thrift should be the guiding principle in our government expenditure. And wastefulness in public expenditure should be a very serious crime. We therefore need modest and prudent leaders who are free from arrogance and rashness in their style of work.
We should be prepared to work very hard. And every decision and action of government should be subjected to maximum public scrutiny so that it is cleansed of its weaknesses or vices. There are no straight roads in the world; we must be prepared to follow a road that twists and turns and not try to get things on the cheap. We should also not forget that the wealth of our country, very limited as it may be, is created by the workers, peasants and working intellectuals. If they take their destiny into their own hands and take an active attitude in solving the problems of their country instead of evading them, there will be no difficulty in the world which they cannot overcome. So it doesn’t make sense for anyone to tell them that government business, the borrowing of US $53 million to use in the procurement of mobile hospitals is none of their business. If this is none of their business, what is their business?
Let us not forget that the history of mankind is one of continuous development from the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom. This process is never ending. Therefore, we have to constantly sum up experience and go on advancing.
In approaching a problem, we should try to see the whole as well as the parts of that problem. A frog in a well says, “The sky is no bigger than the mouth of the well.” That is untrue, for the sky is not just the size of the mouth of the well. If it said, “a part of the sky is the size of the mouth of a well”, that would be true, for it tallies with the facts.
We must learn to look at problems all-sidedly, seeing the reverse as well as the obverse side of things. In given conditions, a bad thing can lead to good results and a good thing to bad results. Of course, no one should go off into wild flights of fancy, or make plans of action unwarranted by the objective situation, or stretch for the impossible.
Arrogance is not a good thing for a leader. It is dangerous for a leader to be arrogant. Even if we achieve gigantic successes in our work, we win elections overwhelmingly, there is no reason whatsoever to feel conceited and arrogant.
Modesty helps one to go forward, whereas conceit makes one lag behind. This is a truth we must always bear in mind. With achievements, with success, certain moods may grow in us – arrogance, the airs of a self-styled hero, inertia and unwillingness to listen to anyone. All such things become encumbrances or baggage if there is no critical awareness.
It is not good to see someone harming the interests of the masses and yet not feel indignant, or dissuade or stop him or reason with him but instead allow him to continue. We should never let things drift simply because they do not affect us directly; we should not try to say as little as possible while knowing perfectly well what is wrong; we should not be worldly wise and play safe and seek only to avoid blame. And we should not let things slide for the sake of peace and friendship when a person has clearly gone wrong, and refrain from principled argument because he is an old acquaintance, a fellow village or townsman, a schoolmate, a close friend, a loved one, an old colleague or old subordinate. Or touch on the matter lightly instead of going into it thoroughly, so as to keep on good terms. The result is that both the nation and the individual are harmed. It is not being a good citizen to hear incorrect views without rebutting them, but instead take them calmly as if nothing has happened. Rupiah’s mobile hospitals are certainly a waste and misuse of public funds. If that US $53 million loan is available to any project in our health sector, let’s get it and use it prudently on more deserving projects. The insistence on these mobile hospitals smells of corruption. There is something that seems to be corrupt about this whole deal. And moreover, the arrogance with which it is being pursued is corruption in itself. When we talk about corruption, we include arrogance. We say this because arrogance leads to abuse of power and of public office. And we know very well that abuse of office is corruption. And that’s why today, Rupiah and his corrupt friends want to remove the offence of “abuse of office” from our statute books.
Labels: ENOCH KAVINDELE, MOBILE HOSPITALS
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US$53m mobile hospital loan unnecessary – EK
By Florence Bupe and Misheck Wangwe
Fri 30 July 2010, 10:00 CAT
ENOCH Kavindele has said the US $53 million borrowed from China for the procurement of mobile hospitals is the most unnecessary loan and a drain on the country’s financial resources.
And Kitwe Anglican priest Richard Luonde has said Zambia needs a government that will respect God’s creation. In an interview, Kavindele, who is former Republican vice-president, said the loan would do nothing but commit future generations to unnecessary debt repayment.
“It is most unfortunate that government has gone against the advice of the people who have had experience with mobile clinics which were tried before and didn’t work. This loan is the most unnecessary, it is just a drain on the country’s resources and future generations,” he said.
Kavindele, a former health minister, said mobile hospitals could not work in Zambia because there was no supporting infrastructure in place.
He said the concept did not make sense because most fixed health institutions in the country lacked adequate manpower to manage them.
“In Zambia, the state of our roads can’t allow these hospitals to operate efficiently. In addition, we don’t even have sufficient doctors to man these hospitals, and I am privy to this information as former health minister,” he said.
Kavindele said mobile hospitals would be a wasted procurement that would end up being a white elephant.
He said the government should have listened to concerns raised by Zambians and other stakeholders who opposed the idea because those concerns were valid.
“It is our business as Zambians to know what government is doing because they are in government on behalf of Zambians. They should, therefore, do things on behalf of Zambians but this idea was opposed by Zambians,” said Kavindele.
Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) said the procurement of mobile hospitals would not address the existing bottlenecks in the delivery of health services.
CSPR executive director Patrick Mucheleka advised the government to resolve the problems of drug shortages and inadequate medical staff in health centres.
“The non-availability of essential drugs and a crisis of inadequate medical staff are serious concerns in the health sector. A mid-term evaluation of the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) showed that despite improved access to health care services for vulnerable communities, most health facilities had inadequate supply of drugs and other medical supplies,” he said.
Mucheleka said the budgetary allocation to the health sector had continued to be inadequate, thereby affecting the availability of drugs and other supplies.
“We at CSPR do not approve of the proposed mobile hospitals as a solution to the challenges prevailing in the delivery of health care services to poor people, particularly those in rural areas,” Mucheleka said.
“The proposal of mobile hospitals will not only be expensive but also unsustainable, which may end up being a waste of taxpayers’ money.”
Mucheleka urged the government to analyse the gains and losses of such a venture in the medium and long term, taking into account the interests of ordinary Zambians.
“The proposed mobile hospitals may reverse the development in the health sector in the sense that the concentration may be tilted towards new but not viable projects that are short-lived as opposed to traditional hospitals and clinics,” said Mucheleka.
And Fr Luonde charged that the MMD government does not want to listen to the people it governs.
Fr Luonde said it was disappointing that the government had refused to heed people’s calls for permanent hospitals, especially in rural areas where people had to travel long distances for medical attention and not mobile hospitals.
He said it was surprising that the government decided to get a loan for mobile hospitals when the roads in most rural areas were in a terrible state.
“They government want to create a huge debt for this country again by getting unnecessary loans. It would have been understandable if they got a loan to build hospitals or health centres because that’s what the people in rural areas need. If mobile hospitals have worked well in China, it doesn’t mean that they can suit the Zambian situation,” Fr Luonde observed.
“We don’t have roads in rural areas, people struggle to move and these vehicles once they are brought they will breakdown within a few months. We opposed this move but they have gone ahead. The problem is they don’t want to listen to the people they govern and they are doing things to the contrary. Their priorities in the health sector are misplaced.”
Fr Luonde said the government, under the leadership of President Rupiah Banda, was busy signing deals recklessly without due consideration.
He said the country was in need of permanent solutions in the health sector and not temporary interventions that would vanish.
“Zambia is in need of a government that would respect God’s creation, leaders that will govern the nation with humility; and not what we are seeing today. Why are they imposing the mobile hospitals on the people? Is that what we really need in this nation? People expressed displeasure over this matter but they have gone ahead with their illogical motive. Are they going to be telling people ‘please don’t fall sick because the mobile hospital is now shifting to another area?’ This is regrettable,” Fr Luonde remarked.
He said the rural population was in need of permanent structures and medical staff that would be stationed on a full-time basis.
Fr Luonde said people in rural areas had immense difficulties accessing medical attention and many people had died because they had been neglected in terms of medical facilities.
The government of China has given Zambia a 361 million yuan approximately US million concessional loan to acquire mobile hospitals.
Labels: ENOCH KAVINDELE, MOBILE HOSPITALS
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Rupiah lists mobile hospitals among projects to be funded by China
By Fridah Zinyama
Sun 28 Feb. 2010, 04:30 CAT
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has submitted to the Chinese government possible projects which include the controversial mobile hospitals to be considered for the US $10 billion that China has provided to African countries in form of concessional loans.
Stakeholders had opposed the government’s intended purchase of mobile hospitals and asked the government to first deal with the challenges prevailing in the delivery of health services in rural areas before considering mobile hospitals.
During a meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Friday, President Banda said China’s gesture in providing the US $10 billion concessional loans to African countries would go a long way in consolidating the gains that have been achieved by countries such as Zambia.
“We have since submitted to the Chinese government projects for possible financing from the concessional and preferential loans in the following areas: health; particularly the provision of mobile hospitals, water and sanitation: in particular the provision of boreholes in the rural areas and improvement of water supply in Lusaka, construction of a stadium in Lusaka, housing and road construction,” he said.
President Banda said Zambia would be grateful for the Chinese government’s support to implement these projects speedily as they would positively contribute to poverty reduction.
And speaking at the China-Zambia Investment Promotion seminar at China Non Ferrous Metal Corporation headquarters in Beijing, President Banda urged more Chinese investors to visit Zambia as the country had many investment opportunities in different sectors of the economy.
“It is our wish to promote an environment in which partnerships between Zambian and Chinese business houses can be strengthened for the mutual benefit and to ensure a win-win outcome for the two countries,” he said.
President Banda said it was befitting and symbolic that the Zambia-China seminar was being hosted by China Non Ferrous Metal Corporation (CNMC), a Chinese company which had already made serious strides in consolidating the partnership between the two countries in economic, political, technological and cultural fields.
“I would like thank the Chinese government for their unwavering support during the global financial crisis,” President Banda said, adding that China’s contribution to the wellbeing of Zambia would be remembered especially when mining houses were closing in the country.
President Banda thanked the Chinese investors for coming to the country’s rescue and taking over a mine that had closed and not laying off any employees at Chambishi Metals.
“We would therefore like to invite more Chinese investment in areas like agriculture, mining, tourism, and manufacturing, energy and technology,” he said.
President Banda said the two countries have always enjoyed cordial relationships, which had seen China helping with building different infrastructure projects in Zambia.
Labels: CHINA, MOBILE HOSPITALS, RUPIAH BANDA
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Hakainde is right about Rupiah’s deals
Written by Editor
Our democracy, our holding of elections in itself guarantees us nothing. It offers us instead an opportunity to succeed as well as the risk of failure. In Thomas Jefferson's ringing but shrewd phrase, the promise of democracy is "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".
This democracy we are pursuing is then both a promise and a challenge. It is a promise that as free human beings, working together, we can govern ourselves in a manner that will serve our aspirations for personal freedom, economic opportunity and social justice. It is a challenge because the success of our democratic enterprise rests upon our shoulders as citizens of this country and no one else.
And government of and by the people means that we, as citizens of this country, share in its benefits and in its burdens. Josef Brodsky, Russian-born poet and Nobel Prize winner, once wrote, "A free man, when he fails, blames nobody."
It is true as well for us as citizens of this country who, finally, must take responsibility for the fate of the country in which we have chosen to live, to make our homeland. In the end, we get the government we deserve.
And transparency and accountability are indispensable to the type of society - a democracy society - we are trying to build in Zambia. It is impossible to establish an open and democratic society without transparency and accountability. Lack of transparency and accountability leads to increased abuses, violations and corruption.
Where there is no transparency and accountability, leaders become demi-gods. We need to build a political system founded on the deeply held belief that government is best when its potential for abuse, corruption and intolerance is curbed, and when it is held as close to the people as possible.
And whatever the level of their contribution, a healthy democracy depends upon the continuing, informed participation of the broad range of citizens. The essence of democratic action is the active, freely chosen participation of its citizens in the public life of their community and nation. Without this broad, sustaining participation, democracy will begin to wither and become the preserve of a small, select number of people, groups and organisations. But with the active engagement of individuals across the spectrum of society, we can weather the inevitable economic and political storms that sweep over every society, without sacrificing the freedoms and rights we have sworn to uphold.
These important tenets, if applied properly, can improve the way we govern ourselves and consequently bring about the much-needed development in our country.
And democracy, being a government of the people, by the people and for the people, affirms the need to justify decisions made by those in government on behalf of the people. Our politicians have been given power by the people to make decisions, and they have to be answerable for their actions.
Accountability is about responsibility, the responsibility to answer for our actions. Where there is transparency and accountability, there is no room for speculation because all decisions made will be clearly understood. If citizens do not understand or cannot access information easily on how those in government are using the power given to them, the public resources they are managing, speculation arises. And why should people be blamed for speculating in the absence of facts, satisfactory and clear answers to questions raised on various issues pertaining to the management of public resources and affairs?
Rupiah Banda and his friends have been in power for six months now and their agenda as a government is not known at all. They might have campaigned on the basis of continuity - whose agenda most Zambians are familiar with - but they are not seeing that continuity. The last six months have been characterised by dubious dealings involving Rupiah, his sons and friends in various spheres of our country's economy and many honest questions that seek equally honest answers have been raised. We have seen outrageous inconsistencies from Rupiah and his friends even on straightforward issues such that our people have been left with no option but to draw their own conclusions. The recent proposal to procure mobile hospital units at a cost of US$53 million (K301 billion) from China is one issue that can be cited.
When the story broke out that the government wanted to procure mobile hospitals from China, efforts were made to get government's official position on the matter but no one was ready or willing to say anything. But later, after the donors raised queries, Ministry of Health permanent secretary Dr Velepi Mtonga wrote a letter in which she stated that Rupiah had indicated during the official opening of the National Assembly this year that mobile clinics would be procured from a friendly country to complement efforts to construct 15 hospitals in the 19 districts that do not currently have any. Strange enough, when Rupiah was arriving in the country from Zimbabwe, he said the concept to procure mobile hospitals was from the Chinese but "it is a damn good idea". Following Rupiah's statement, the visiting Chinese Ambassador was asked questions on the matter and he said the Chinese government did not play any role in the deal, it was a private deal. This statement by the Chinese also leaves much to be desired since the company, which is to supply these hospitals, China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC), is a large-scale state-owned conglomerate headquartered in Beijing. We should also not forget that Dr Mtonga said a committee from the Ministry of Health sat to look at the idea of mobile hospitals and decided to support it and at the same time Rupiah said experts were still studying the proposal and a decision will be made at a later stage. In the meantime, this same government has already been granted authority by the Zambia Public Procurement Authority to single source on the procurement of mobile hospitals.
In light of all these inconsistencies, lies, contradictions and half-truths on such an important issue, which involves taxpayers’ money being forked from a few Zambians in formal employment, what can prevent people from speculating? What do Rupiah and his friends expect from our people when they feed them on a daily diet of lies and inconsistencies on the way they are presiding over national issues?
It is clear that Rupiah and his friends are taking our people for granted going by the statement from chief government spokesman Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha's reaction to opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema's statement on Rupiah.
Hichilema on Wednesday described the US$ 53 million mobile hospitals deal as a white-collar crime in which Rupiah and the MMD want to get a commission. Hichilema went further to say that Rupiah speaks highly of things that are meant to benefit him, his party and his family. Who can blame Hichilema for drawing this conclusion on Rupiah in light of the glaring inconsistencies and contradictions on important issues? This government has just provided fertile ground for speculations due to its dubious, secretive and questionable dealings and the sooner the situation is corrected, the better.
Threats will not help because you cannot silence millions of determined people. Rupiah and his friends should just sweep their house clean. Actually, Lt Gen Shikapwasha and defence minister George Mpombo should not even waste time condemning people that are criticising them. Instead, they should advise Rupiah to take a more honest approach to public affairs. Lt Gen Shikapwasha says Hichilema should withdraw or substantiate his remarks which are suggesting that Rupiah had criminal motives in considering the purchase of mobile hospitals while Mpombo says the comments border on defamation of Rupiah and are an assault on him. Have these two people taken time to wonder why Hichilema made those remarks? How many of our people, who might not have a platform to express themselves, are holding the same opinion as Hichilema? If Lt Gen Shikapwasha and Mpombo think that gagging and arresting people that criticise Rupiah and expose and condemn the crimes of his league is the solution to their problem, how many of our people are they going to take on?
Rupiah and his friends should come down to earth and take a look at how they are governing the country before they start unleashing police on people. It is not too long ago that Rupiah and George Kunda defended Dora Siliya on the RP Capital Partners deal. Concerns on this deal were raised by various stakeholders in our country and the letters from Attorney General's chambers were very clear on how Siliya never followed the legal advice when she engaged RP Capital Partners to valuate Zamtel assets before partial privatisation at a cost of US $2 million. Rupiah defended Siliya and that the allegation that she signed RP Capital Partners memorandum of understanding (MoU) illegally was nonsense. Rupiah went on to say that Siliya was smarter than her critics. As if that blunder was not enough, Kunda went on to hold a press briefing, flanked by Siliya, where he defended her, saying she is a layperson and the matter needed to be dealt with by a lawyer like himself. Kunda even went to great lengths of schooling people on the law and maintained that the memorandum of understanding that Siliya signed was approved by the Solicitor General on behalf of the Attorney General. But when the tribunal that was constituted to probe Siliya for breaching the parliamentary and ministerial code of conduct released its report, it turned out that the smart woman had breached an even bigger law - the Constitution. Too much for being smart! Can you blame Zambians and arrest them for drawing conclusions of Rupiah's involvement in the RP Capital Partners deal going by the contradictions? This is a deal in which one of his sons, Henry, is involved and this was also brought out during the tribunal hearing. His other son, James, was also linked to the company that imported Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) maize not too long ago. And when Rupiah was asked about that issue, he told journalists at the airport just before he left for Tanzania in February that it had nothing to do with his sons. Rupiah went on to say, "Regarding my son, as far as I'm concerned I gave you all my sons. Does it mean that anybody who is related to me should cease to participate in whatever is happening in this country?
... If he did get a contract, he got it himself like anyone else. Because we are the same people who are saying that if our children should live, they should leave the countries where they are living to come back and stay in Zambia. So if they come to Zambia, it's just it? They have to participate like everybody else as long as they are not doing something wrong."
So should people be arrested for saying Rupiah speaks highly of things that benefit him, his party and family? Actually, on Siliya, Rupiah still maintains that she was just confused by the Attorney General's chambers as the tribunal established as a matter of fact and that he will reorganise that office. This is a man who has continued to defend a person who was found to have breached the Constitution, which he, as President, swore to uphold and defend. What kind of circus is this?
The concept of mobile hospitals has been opposed by politicians, civil society, the Church and the Zambia Medical Association. They say it does not make economic sense. But Rupiah endorsed it as a damn good idea while his government spokesperson said experts are looking at it. So what are the experts supposed to say when Rupiah has said it is a damn good idea? How can Rupiah say it is a damn good idea when the people who are supposed to use the facilities reject them? And if Rupiah insists and he is accused of having some interests in the deal, why should he complain? These are things which are bringing suspicion. We are aware that technocrats at the finance and health ministries and officials at the tender board opposed this idea.
Why has government continued to tell lies that there is no deal when they have been given permission to single source? Why should people be gagged for making observations on such outrageous and grandiose ideas when they are the ones paying taxes from their hard-earned incomes? All the issues that our people have raised involve taxpayers’ money which is being raised from a number of workers in formal employment and has continued to reduce looking at the job losses in the country. Why should people close their eyes when they are being robbed of their money and freedoms in broad daylight? This is tantamount to pouring water from a cup on one's face and asking them to believe that it is raining. There is nothing that will redeem Rupiah and his friends on these issues apart from honesty, humility, transparency and accountability.
As we have always said, transparency and accountability are two important aspects which ensure efficient functioning of any democratic society, both socially and politically. In a democracy, people transfer their powers to leaders and there has to be some form of assurance that the delegated powers will not be ineffective and abused. Where there is transparency, information is available which can be used to measure the government's performance. In that sense, transparency serves to foster accountability - those in government should be ready to be held accountable for their actions.
The current culture of lies, inconsistencies and contradictions is a recipe for social instability and an environment that is less conducive for economic growth. Rupiah and his friends need to put their house in order. Threats on innocent citizens will not do.
Labels: CORRUPTION, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, HEALTHCARE, MOBILE HOSPITALS, RUPIAH BANDA, UPND
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Hichilema insists Rupiah wanted a cut
Written by George Chellah
Saturday, May 09, 2009 4:19:07 PM
UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema yesterday challenged the government to arrest him over his statement that President Rupiah Banda (left) wanted a 'cut' from the US$ 53 million mobile hospitals deal.
Reacting to information minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha's statement that Hichilema must withdraw his remarks and that the statement, which borders on libel could not go unchallenged, Hichilema said he was ready for the government.
"I am more than prepared. Nobody would come for me, they must go for 12 million Zambians I am speaking on behalf of. I’m not afraid. You tell Shikapwasha, sometimes he tries to use his big body to threaten people," Hichilema said.
"Before they come for Hakainde they should go and deal with the job losses on the Copperbelt, before they come for Hakainde, they must reduce the mealie-meal prices, before they come for Hakainde they must not feed us with GMO maize. When they have done those things, they will find me waiting for them. If they attempt to come for me, let them do so because the public will be reminded of all this chain of corruption under the MMD and that will help them to be taken out of office quickly."
Hichilema said he would continue to speak on behalf of the public.
"We will not stop and for your own information, Shikapwasha has no capacity to threaten anybody, myself included. We will speak for the people. Shikapwasha must focuss on serving the people and not threatening the people. The reason why children have no jobs it's because of behaviour which is corrupt like Zamtel, behaviour which is corrupt like buying mobile hospitals," Hichilema said.
He maintained that the government was corrupt.
"I put it to the public to judge if someone occupying public office is making decisions against public interests, what should we call that? If you see somebody dishing out mealie-meal and sugar in Katete during a campaign using public resources to advance themselves getting to the presidency, what would you call that?" Hichilema asked.
"You are using public money to advance your personal cause, what do you call that? That is corruption. What we are doing is to save the people of Zambia US$ 53 million. If we don't talk about it, they are going to do it against public interest. I think that is the definition we are putting and I think we are in order to highlight issues."
Hichilema said the RP Capital Partners deal was a good example of corruption.
"Society objected the Zamtel issue and the person who came out to support Dora Siliya who was wrong and the tribunal has proved... that was the President followed by the Vice-President. Now, who are those? They represent MMD, they represent the government. So holistically, it means that you actually have a rotten team out there that is pursuing personal interests against public interests," Hichilema said.
"How will you define a President, a Vice-President who are supporting a minister who was pursuing an agenda which the public did not agree with? Is that not personal agenda? Why should Zambians pay to RP Capital Partners because of the minority interests? That is corruption, that is white-collar crime."
On defence minister George Mpombo's statement that his remarks were an assault on the President's integrity and borders on defamation, Hichilema said Mpombo was blowing hot air.
"He still believes that being a defence minister means that you can flex your muscles to scare people off. What is there to scare somebody off about? Mpombo is talking about caliber of leadership, does Mpombo understand calibre?" Hichilema asked.
"Mpombo is not qualified to talk about calibre of leadership. Mpombo was languishing there in the village so he must not talk about the calibre of leadership. They are trying to threaten people. You know, I don't understand these fellows.
"He tried to talk of privatisation, whose policy was privatisation? Was it Hakainde's? Was that not an MMD policy? Am I an MMD minister myself? The issue of privatisation was an MMD policy. Can you tell these chaps to stop threatening Zambians because we are not afraid of them."
On Wednesday, Hichilema said President Banda and his government should be blamed for the proposed procurement of mobile hospital units from China.
But Mpombo on Thursday said Hichilema's comments bordered on defamation while Lt Gen Shikapwasha advised Hichilema to substantiate or withdraw his statement.
And UPND spokesperson Charles Kakoma said the tribal sentiments made by their member of parliament for Sinazongwe Raphael Muyanda were his personal views.
"We did not even know that he was going to say those things. As a party, whereas we support freedom of speech by every member, we think that freedom is limited within the laws of this country. And our laws currently are that we should not say anything that hurt the tribal feelings of other citizens and therefore, as a party, we do not think that attacking Bembas or attacking the Church is the correct thing to do. It is not necessary. We have obviously counselled the honourable member several times. It's regrettable that he uttered those things. As a party, we would like to distance ourselves from that statement," said Kakoma.
Muyanda on Thursday accused the Catholic Church of dividing the nation, adding that they used Bemba in their English mass in one of the churches in Lusaka at the expense of the majority who did not understand the language.
Labels: CHARLES KAKOMA, CORRUPTION, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, MOBILE HOSPITALS, RUPIAH BANDA, UPND
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HH has assaulted Rupiah’s integrity, says Mpombo
Written by George Chellah
Friday, May 08, 2009 5:00:10 PM
DEFENCE minister George Mpombo yesterday said Hakainde Hichilema's statement that President Rupiah Banda wanted a 'cut' from the US $53 million deal is an assault on the President's integrity and borders on defamation.
Reacting to UPND leader Hichilema's statement that the US $53 million mobile hospital deal was a white-collar crime in which President Banda wanted to get a commission, Mpombo said Hichilema's attacks were demeaning to President Banda.
"They are totally unacceptable. It's unacceptable assault on the President's integrity and Mr Hichilema must have a piece of humanity when dealing with other human beings. You can't just pass those cruel and scurrilous remarks on a colleague without actually getting the facts," Mpombo said.
"This conduct by Hichilema is a serious threat to Zambia's democracy because leaders will just wake up and start yapping. Surely, is the nation going to continue to be fed on a diet of character assassination?"
Mpombo said Hichilema's remarks borders on defamation of the President. "Absolutely, it borders on defamation of the President. It's a cruel remark because he must be sensitive. Even Mr Hichilema knows that he is a human being but surely to stand up and say those offensive words without...you know I think Mr. HH has an injured or a moribund conscience. His conscience is not functioning," he said.
Mpombo further said Hichilema's remarks were highly malicious and irresponsible.
"It's also a vivid manifestation of Mr Hichilema's low calibre leadership. It's saddening that he could make such a sweeping statement because it is totally unfair and totally inhumane to say what he has said on a colleague. How does one say that Mr Banda wants a cut from that?" Mpombo asked.
"It doesn't make sense because these things, he is not right to assume that by virtue of him being President he is behind any transaction in government or he originates those transactions."
Mpombo said Hichilema's remarks were morally and politically unacceptable.
"Furthermore, it is an unacceptable assault on the President's integrity, totally unacceptable. I think it's cheap leadership. Mr Hichilema, I know he got into politics by virtue of being anointed. He didn't come through a normal political process, he was anointed and he came with very little experience but let him check the way democracy works," Mpombo said.
"He must see how these issues are handled in the UK and also in the US in civilised democracies. You don't just make up those injurious remarks about a colleague because those are very, very serious remarks to say he wants to get a cut."
Mpombo questioned Hichilema's integrity.
"The challenge is that he should look in his rear view mirror regarding privatisation and things like that. Let him look at his role in the privatisation exercise before he starts attacking innocent people. He should first remove his 'logjam' in his eyes before he starts talking about other innocent people," said Mpombo.
"He is an inconsequential political figure and he would disappear from the Zambian political scene just like a puff of smoke. He is just puffed up with cheap pride."
On Wednesday, Hichilema urged the nation to squarely put the blame on the Zambian government and President Banda in particular on the government's planned procurement of mobile hospitals from China.
Hichilema's remarks came in the wake of a statement by visiting Chinese government special representative on African Affairs Ambassador Liu that his government did not play any role in the mobile hospital deal.
According to a letter dated April 28, 2009 and addressed to Department for International Development (DFID), health permanent secretary Dr Velepi Mtonga stated that President Banda indicated during the official opening of the National Assembly that the government would procure mobile clinics from a friendly country to complement efforts to construct 15 hospitals in the 19 districts that did not currently have any.
And last Sunday, President Rupiah Banda said the concept of mobile hospitals was a "damn good idea" from the Chinese.
Labels: CORRUPTION, GEORGE MPOMBO, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, MOBILE HOSPITALS, RUPIAH BANDA
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