N/Western geared to force Rupiah into retirement, says Malwa
By Kabanda Chulu in Kitwe
Sat 17 Sep. 2011, 13:55 CAT
PEOPLE of North Western Province are geared to force Rupiah Banda into retirement next Tuesday because his MMD government has failed to develop the economic potential of the province, says PF Solwezi Central candidate Newton Malwa.
Giving an update after conducting campaigns in his area, Malwa said people claiming that MMD has brought development to the region would be proved wrong on 20th September 2011.
"Our strategy is to educate voters on the failures of the current MMD regime, which are too numerous to mention and these failures range from allowing mining investors to exploit miners through poor conditions of service, failing to buy maize which is getting rotten along the roadsides and failing to provide clean drinking water for people living in Chawama and Zambia compounds who are still accessing water from shallow wells," Malwa said.
"So what developments are they talking about when roads are pathetic and President Banda is just commissioning projects started by his late predecessor? But this time around people are ready to retire Rupiah Banda because he has failed to develop this region despite its economic potential and it is high time (PF leader Michael) Sata is given chance to implement his visionary plans."
But MMD Solwezi Central Constituency chairman Tiki Mulofwa, who answered the mobile phone for parliamentary candidate Lucky Mulusa, responded that Malwa was not sincere because MMD has brought development to the area.
"It is MMD which looked for investors to reopen the Kansanshi mines and this has resulted in job creation for many people including those miners who were retrenched by ZCCM," said Mulofwa.
He said the mines were helping in road rehabilitation and supporting schools and health centres.
Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS, MMD, NEWTON MALWA, NORTHWESTERN PROVINCE, PF
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Rupiah is a danger to himself, says Malwa
By Staff Reporter
Thu 07 July 2011, 04:01 CAT
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda is destroying himself and the MMD by targeting individuals in the party instead of providing leadership to unite members, says former MMD North Western Province youth chairperson Newton Malwa. Malwa, in an interview, said the MMD was being destroyed by its leadership which had stuck to undemocratic tendencies.
He said this would spell the MMD’s downfall in this year’s general elections.
Malwa said Zambians had woken up to the reality of change and there was nothing that the ruling party would do to defy the will of the people toward change of government.
He said even Dr Kenneth Kaunda was cheated by people who wanted to benefit from him in 1991, but in the end the will of the people prevailed and brought the MMD to power.
Malwa said he had warned of the unpopularity of the MMD in recent parliamentary by-elections in Mufumbwe and Solwezi Central but the party defied him leading to his resignation but was vindicated later when the ruling party lost both seats to the opposition UPND.
“President Rupiah Banda is a danger to himself; you can’t have a President who is supposed to unify members become so petty. President Banda has joined the MMD with its skeletons and has added more problems to the party…,” Malwa said. “If anyone says the truth he becomes an enemy of the state. “
He said MMD was doomed for massive failure as founder members were being hounded out of the party, leaving President Banda who did not know the ruling party well enough to provide effective leadership as he was infiltrated by the UNIP mentality.
“What people are seeing on ZNBC is all propaganda because that’s what they want you general public to feel. The current leadership of the MMD has lost focus; they have fallen short of the wishes of the people.
The wind of change is not on MMD but on PF; whether they like it or not Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata would be in State House, but there are people who always want to sing slogans to the people,” Malwa said. “The more they talk about him, the more popular they make him because people will begin to ask ‘who is this Sata?’”.
Malwa, who has since joined PF and applied for adoption to stand in Solwezi Central said Sata spoke the language of the common people and issues that affected them.
He said the political scenario in North Western Province, particularly Solwezi, had changed as the mines had attracted more people from other urban areas which had put the MMD in a disadvantaged position.
Malwa said people in North Western Province were crying for long-term infrastructure development in many sectors but the government was concentrating on costly mobile hospitals.
Labels: MMD, NEWTON MALWA, RUPIAH BANDA, WESTERN PROVINCE
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‘UPND’s victory in Mufumbwe spells doom for MMD’
By David Chongo in Solwezi
Tue 04 May 2010, 03:40 CAT
FORMER MMD North Western Province youth chairperson Newton Malwa has said UPND’s victory in the Mufumbwe parliamentary by-election has clearly vindicated him and subsequently spelt doom for the ruling party in upcoming elections in the region.
And Malwa has hinted that he could join the UPND in the area if the party thought he could be useful.
He said the result of the Mufumbwe by-election was known a long time before but the MMD went ahead to field an unpopular candidate, alleging that MMD Mulondwe Muzungu’s tally was only boosted by President Rupiah Banda’s presence.
“The results in Mufumbwe were known a long time ago but MMD was trying to campaign. It was known that UPND was going to win; the results were fully expected. This is an indication that President Rupiah Banda is cheated.
If this continues he will be cheated again. If President Rupiah Banda does not change his advisors, this is the beginning of the end of MMD in this province. If President Rupiah Banda was not there the MMD couldn’t have gotten 4,000 votes; they could have flopped catastrophically,” he said.
He said if MMD and President Banda continued moving in the same direction, they could as well forget about 2011, observing that the party had yet to recover from the Solwezi Central debacle.
“If President Banda continues moving in the same direction, the problem will be higher in 2011. MMD should sit down to reconcile and accept the situation. If MMD does not sit down and look at their failures in North Western Province then there won’t be any MMD victory 2011,” he said.
“When MMD lost Solwezi Central there was no postmortem to find out why the party lost the election and to know how they were going to deal with the next election. They didn’t get to find out what really made the party to lose that election. But they went into the Mufumbwe by-election with the same attitude.
This is the reason why they have lost! The Bembas say amano yafuma mu chipuba or mukantu akanono (wisdom comes from a fool or a small thing) but they ignored it (his previous assessment that the MMD would lose the election if they fielded Muzungu who he said was unpopular in Mufumbwe).”
Malwa challenged those who were calling for his eventual resignation from the party to raise their heads now that the Mufumbwe result showed that he was ‘bluffing’.
“For those who were challenging me to resign from the party that I was bluffing and cheating, they should now come out in the open and deny what I was saying. Let’s see who is bluffing and cheating now. Let’s see who is laughing now. They say ‘he who laughs last laughs the loudest’. And I am laughing the loudest; I have been vindicated,” he said.
“When I said MMD was going to lose the Mufumbwe seat, the PEC (Provincial Executive Committee) even sat to suspend me but they were surprised that instead of attending the meeting I took my resignation letter.”
Malwa alleged that President Banda was surrounded by “liars” who were ill-advising him on issues, stating that if the party was not careful it could lose the influence it had in other provinces ‘related’ to North Western Province.
“There are so many liars especially those who move with flags… that they are close to President Rupiah Banda. MMD should also know that the influence of North-Western Province goes to Western and Central Province. These provinces interact and they have shown that they interact; they are related somehow,” he said.
Malwa reiterated that UPND’s recent electoral victories in the province showed that the masses were definitely behind the opposition party.
“Whether you like it or not the wind in this province is on UPND’s side. Those unpopular MPs in North-Western will be pancakes for UPND in 2011,” he said.
He also condemned the violence that characterized the Mufumbwe election advising youths in political parties not to be used by candidates to fulfill their political ambitions for public office.
And when asked to comment on lingering rumours in Solwezi that he had intentions of joining the opposition UPND, Malwa said he was a free man who was ready to work with people interested in national development.
Labels: BY-ELECTIONS, MMD, NEWTON MALWA, NORTHWESTERN PROVINCE, UPND
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MMD suspends youth chairman for urging Rupiah to curb corruption
Written by Mulimbi Mulaliki in Solwezi
Friday, June 05, 2009 11:07:15 PM
THE MMD in Solwezi has suspended provincial youth chairman Newton Malwa for urging President Rupiah Banda to curb corruption in the party. In a letter of suspension addressed to Malwa, North Western province vice chairman Pinakin Patel stated that Malwa had been suspended for three months.
"You have repeatedly stated that some provincial executive committee and district committee members have been receiving monies from Hon Magande for campaigns in Solwezi through Western Union," read the suspension letter in part.
"You gave information to the print media - Times of Zambia on June 2, 2009 in particular where you were quoted as having information on the conduct of certain NEC members, whom you have alleged of funding campaigns during the run-up to Solwezi district elections. You also through the same statement alleged that the same NEC members were dividing the party in the province which you have failed to substantiate."
Patel who is also chairman for the disciplinary committee charged that Malwa using his own authority had issued press statements at random without getting clearance from either the provincial chairman or the provincial secretary.
"You and your provincial youth secretary Felix Mwenze have openly aligned yourselves and campaigned for your preferred candidates in the district. You have been informing members that both Solwezi district executive committee and provincial executive committee are going to be dissolved," stated Patel.
But when contacted for a comment Malwa refused to comment saying he would leave it to the NEC to deal with his suspension.
MMD members in North Western Province are divided with one camp supporting President Banda while another camp is campaigning for N'gandu Magande as president and Katele Kalumba as his vice.
Sources within the party said this led to President Banda to cancel the district lections which were supposed to be held because it seems most members were not for him but Magande to be adopted in 2011 as presidential candidate.
Labels: CORRUPTION, MMD, NEWTON MALWA, RUPIAH BANDA
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