1 September 2008
THE MMD in Lusaka has endorsed the candidature of Vice President Rupiah Banda as the presidential candidate in the forthcoming presidential by-election with more joining in the calls.
MMD Lusaka Province secretary, Cleophas Chimembe said in a letter to the party's national secretary Katele Kalumba that the provincial executive committee supported the application of Mr Banda as the most preferred candidate.
"We further state with conviction that Mr Banda is the right candidate for the job and we acknowledge the respect and confidence the late beloved President Mwanawasa had in him by appointing him to the office of vice president," he said.
He said the decision had been taken after considering that as vice president he had the capacity to campaign throughout the country and that he was the most preferred candidate.
And former deputy ambassador to Ethiopia, Wendy Sinkala has said that it is disappointing that there were many contenders in the MMD for the forthcoming presidential by-election instead of giving support to Mr Banda.
Ms Sinkala said the vice president worked very closely with the late president and would therefore not depart from the policies initiated by Dr Mwanawasa.
Speaking in an interview yesterday, Ms Sinkala said like Dr Mwanawasa, Mr Banda was is a visionary leader and would therefore be able to continue on the same economic path.
Ms Sinkala said that during the president's illness and subsequent death, Mr Banda managed to handle the affairs of the country well.
Zambia's former ambassador to Mozambique, George Chulumanda warned that the MMD risked losing the presidential by-election if it did not handle the succession of President Mwanawasa cautiously.
Mr Chulumanda suggested that other aspirants withdrew their candidature and give chance to Mr Banda.
He said that it was important that the entire MMD supported Mr Banda in the presidential by-election.
With Mr Banda as the party's candidate, Mr Chulumanda said that the MMD would not depart from the policies of Dr Mwanawasa.
Mr Chulumanda said that it was important for the party to continue with the policies of Dr Mwanawasa saying Mr Banda was the most capable candidate to lead the MMD.
In another development, the Bemba Royal Establishment in Northern Province has disassociated itself from a statement issued by the Ituna Traditional Committee urging the MMD to adopt Finance Minister, Ngandu Mangande as the presidential candidate.
Senior Chief Mwamba told ZANIS in a telephone interview in Kasama that the Bemba Royal establishment was disappointed with the statement issued by Francis Chikwanka who claimed to represent the Ituna traditional Committee.
The senior chief said it was taboo in the Bemba culture to start talking about succession when the body of the one to be succeeded had not yet been buried.
He added that police have since launched investigations to establish whether the Ituna Traditional Committee, which Mr Chikwanda was claiming to represent was legally registered under the Societies Act.
The Chief said as far as the Bemba Royal establishment was concerned, the Ituna Traditional Committee was disbanded immediately after the succession wrangles of Paramount Chief Chitimukulu's chieftainship were resolved.
Senior Chief Mwamba also said it was not the responsibility of the Bemba royal establishment to choose a candidate for the MMD as it was the sole responsibility of the national executive committee.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 The Times of Zambia. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Could this be a crisis?
By Pezzy Kudakwashe USA
Zambia has found herself at the crossroads, maybe a crisis even a dilemma. I am not fully convinced the three people who will contest the upcoming presidential elections are the best Zambia has got. I mean the three contestants, Mr Hakainde Hichilema, Mr Michael Sata and Mr Rupiah Banda. What even turns this scenario into a nightmare is the fact that somebody has alluded that the vultures have closed in the MMD camp.
Fellow Zambians this allegation is huge, to call somebody a vulture is like pointing a loaded gun in somebody’s face and suggest their life is under your control. This is what is said about vultures; they seldom attack healthy animals, but may kill the wounded or sick. Vast numbers have been seen upon battlefields. They gorge themselves when prey is abundant, till their crop bulges, and sit, sleepy or half torpid, to digest their food. They do not carry food to their young in their claws, but disgorge it from the crop. These birds are of great value as scavengers, especially in hot regions. Botulinum toxin, the toxin that causes botulism, does not affect them, and they can eat rotten flesh containing anthrax and cholera bacteria. When a vulture's dinner has too thick of hide for his beak to open, he waits for a larger scavenger to eat first.
My friends, if really the vultures have come back then we are in serious trouble. Is HH alluding that the scavengers are people like Mbita Chitala, Venon Mwaanga, Benjamin Mwila, ZADECO, Wendy Sinkala, George Chilumanda, to name the few and in this case even close at home and within the MMD itself party National secretary Katele Kalumba who are perceived as giving support so they can also be “remembered”?
It seems these vultures are regrouping in anticipation of a great feast. These are the very people who ransacked Zambia under Chiluba’s leadership. They plundered the Zambian economy left, right and center. Isn’t this a full crisis when by our own actions we have allowed these people to regroup?
Here is where this crisis deepens. There is no voice of reason. The church is silent. No one is calling for prayer meetings to ask God to lead this nation. Ecumenism is back on our Zambian door step. The NGOs who have always said they represent the plight and interest of our people are now quiet.
All those who mobilized saying we strongly needed to pray for our late president while he was in Hospital in France stating that Dr Mwanawasa was ideal for Zambia to stay on course in her economic growth, are already standing in line to position themselves for an impending loot under a new leadership. The civic society is in this queue as well. The traditional leaders are tight lipped, the people we have always looked up to for advice and integrity are also caught up in this political whirlwind and they a not saying a word.
Somebody told me many years ago that in Zambia, whenever you go to a radio repair or tailor to get their services and they assure you from the onset that “there is no problem boss come tomorrow”, you need to brace yourself for a lengthy struggle. I tend to have a similar feeling that it is the same promise Rupiah Banda is bringing. There is something wrong about everybody just deciding to like this guy from the word go especially in Zambia. However, it kind of makes me feel like he could be the unhealthy guy and the vultures have sensed the vulnerability.
His age should have caused us to worry, being a Zimbabwean born fellow, should have caused the alarm to go off. His lack of a clear and clean successful political career should have caused Zambians to ask questions. The fact that the MMD gave a vote of no confidence to long standing members of MMD in preference to Mr Rupiah Banda, is a serious source of concern.
On the other hand Mr Sata does not strike as one who may be the alternative to Mr Banda. I have always loved the way Mr Michael Sata worked as governor in the UNIP government but sometimes he makes me feel like a guitar with broken strings that cannot hold a tune. He is a bit too rough for the kind of democracy we embrace. His health is not that great although that can be disputed. He has already tied his hands by meddling with the China and Taiwan family wrangles. At this point, Mr Sata is highly unpredictable.
With HH the worry is, he is no different from RB because he also just received his baton on a silver platter when the late Mazoka passed on. He has no political experience; he does not have an outstanding political stamina of his own that can convince us that he will do what he says.
The next president must be a continuation of what the three labored for. For instance, Dr Kenneth Kaunda's major task was to liberate the Zambians and the region from colonialism in general and the British rule in particular, and then empower Zambians through our abundant resources. He did his best to achieve this vision but he became a dictator.
Chiluba’s task was to set us free from dictatorship and empower the Zambians mainly through management buyouts which were another way to distribute the wealth of Zambia to Zambians. He set the economy free then he sold all the companies and kept the money.
Mwanawasa fought against corruption but did not complete the task. There is enough evidence now that Mwanawasa may have fought this fight as a lone soldier because nobody else is carrying the arms to fight corruption. The next guy must continue where Mwanawasa left but I do not see that in RB since he showed his true colors just before Mwanawasa died.
I would like to find out if there are any prayer meetings going on to ask the Lord God to give us a true leader. If not, lets close our eyes and reflect on our future, for the road before us is tougher than where we have been before. Let us pray.