Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Stop lying, C/belt PF advises Rupiah

Stop lying, C/belt PF advises Rupiah
By Kabanda Chulu
Tue 02 Nov. 2010, 04:01 CAT

THE Patriotic Front (PF) has advised President Rupiah Banda to stop telling lies about developmental programmes in rural parts of the Copperbelt Province. But Lufwanyama MMD chairman Moses Chiyuka asked the people not to politicise visible developmental programmes in the country.

Reacting to President Banda’s statement at the Chabalankata traditional ceremony of the Lamba people that there was every reason for Zambians to have hope for the future since his government was building up on various projects including those initiated by late president Levy Mwanawasa, Copperbelt PF vice youth secretary George Sichula said President Banda was wrongly advised.

“It is a lie and put in black and white, and the problem with President Banda is that he does not mix with people on the ground and those fake advisors are misleading him because they see things and tell him different stories. For instance, President Banda has never been to Lufwanyama, and how many times have people complained about the state of Kalengwa-Kalulushi road and many other roads?” Sichula asked.

“Imagine this government has decided to speed up construction works for a prison and a police station, does it imply that people here are criminals? In fact people are furious and they want President Banda to come and point at those projects which his government is claiming to have done because development is simply not here.”

Masaiti district PF chairman Stardy Mwale challenged the MMD government to stop telling lies and build a hospital in Masaiti since people were walking to the nearest hospital over 50 kilometres St Theresa Mission at Ibenga in Mpongwe.
“The MMD government is claiming that by January 2011 there will be a hospital here but these are lies since nothing is happening and building plans were drawn many years ago,” Mwale said. “People here want roads leading to markets for their produce and imagine, this area is rich in emeralds and various precious metals but government has just failed to develop it; and come 2011, people have made up their minds and the MMD is on its way out.”

He said it was disappointing that the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) had not paid farmers who were now experiencing financial challenges despite delivering their produce.

“… Masaiti will experience hunger because the planting season is near but farmers can’t plant and farmers are concerned that they will not receive inputs for failing to pay cooperative annual membership fees,” said Mwale.
But Chiyuka said developmental projects being undertaken by the government were visible in Copperbelt rural and the country in general.

“It is a false story especially here in Lufwanyama. Government has done so much; for example, we have a new boarding high school which is almost complete and construction of the district hospital has entered phase two; and there are various projects being undertaken such as construction of prisons and police station, council houses and offices for the district health management and district education officials are under construction and for the Kalengwa road, government assured that the road will be tarred starting from 2011,” said Chiyuka. “So we find no reason why our colleagues should politicise developmental activities that are visible for everyone to see.”

Officiating at the Chabalankata ceremony of senior chief Mushili, President Banda assured that the government would achieve education for all through construction and upgrading of schools at Katanino, Kankoshi, Muwaya, Misapa and Nkambo.

President Banda said construction of Masaiti and Masangano boarding high schools would be completed soon while feeder roads were also being worked on.

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Friday, February 12, 2010

Lufwanyama MMD quizzes official for attending pact meeting

Lufwanyama MMD quizzes official for attending pact meeting
By Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Fri 12 Feb. 2010, 03:57 CAT

THE MMD in Lufwanyama has given its information and publicity secretary a seven-day ultimatum to exculpate himself for attending a UPND-PF pact meeting or face a six-month suspension.

In an interview on Tuesday, MMD Lufwanyama district chairman Moses Chiyuka accused Mwansa Kunda, the MMD Bulaya ward councillor, of leaking party information when he attended a UPND-PF pact meeting in Lufwanyama on January 31. Asked if it was wrong for Kunda to interact with other Zambians from the opposition, Chiyuka said it was not wrong to interact at a personal level.

“But if one is leaking party information to the opposition, then that is wrong. It simply means that he is not with us,” said Chiyuka.

Chiyuka insisted that it was unacceptable for Kunda to have attended the opposition’s meeting.

“We have not expelled him but if he fails to exculpate himself within seven days, he will have to be suspended for six months. This is just a first step in the disciplinary process. He is a very hard working person and he is still our member if he does not defect,” he added.

Asked if he thought that Kunda’s decision to attend the UPND-PF pact meeting meant that he had lost confidence in MMD, Chiyuka said actions spoke louder than words.

And in a statement, Chiyuka restrained Kunda from performing all party and civic duties in accordance with article 50(5) of the MMD constitution.

“Mr Kunda committed the following offences; being in the company of some district and constituency officials organising and holding a closed door meeting with opposition UPND-PF pact Copperbelt provincial leadership on 31st January 2010; attending opposition PF-UPND pact public meeting held at Makoloi on the same date and divulging of party secrets and confidential information to unauthorised people or outsiders,” stated Chiyuka.

But Kunda yesterday explained that he merely followed his wife who had defected to the UPND and ended up attending the pact meeting to witness what was happening there.

Kunda said he did not go against any party rules and denied ever influencing anyone to defect to the opposition.

He accused MMD Lufwanyama member of parliament Dr Lwipa Puma of instigating his suspension because he recently vowed to finish him Kunda off.

Some MMD councillors in Lufwanyama recently threatened to suspend Dr Puma for allegedly saying that they councillors were illiterates.

But Kunda said the person who made that statement to the media was well-known and wondered why Dr Puma was targeting him.

He expressed disappointment with Dr Puma for allegedly threatening his life, saying he was supposed to learn how to dialogue with people as a man of high calibre.

Kunda said he was not mad to accuse Dr Puma of threatening his life if he did not do so adding that he even reported the matter to police who advised him to be calm.

Kunda said he personally campaigned for Dr Puma with his own resources during the last elections and he had no grudge against him.

Dr Puma denied ever threatening Mwansa saying he phoned him merely to ask why he was causing confusion in the MMD in Lufwanyama.

“I have information that Mwansa was causing confusion in the party, he has been working with the opposition. He is even the one behind that story that I called the councillors in Lufwanyama that they were illiterate, he just concocted the story,” charged Dr Puma. “Mwansa is treading on a dangerous path, we are aware that he is a Congolese and his name is not Mwansa.”

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