James Muyanwa
20 October 2008
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) leader, Michael Sata, has said there will be no presidential elections in 2011 because whoever will be elected president in this month-end's election is supposed to rule for five years.
And Mr Sata has pledged to restore dignity to Kabwe town by reviving all closed and ailing industries in the once mining district, if elected president.
Speaking at a public rally in Kabwe at the weekend, Mr Sata said that whoever would emerge winner in the October 30 election was expected to reign for five years and therefore there would only be parliamentary and local government elections in 2011.
Mr Sata said that apart from in the case of death and incapacitation, anyone elected President of Zambia was supposed to rule for five years and therefore the next elections would be in 2013, five years from now.
During the same rally the PF presidential candidate alleged that service chiefs in Zambia had started transferring officers to disenfranchise them and ensure that they did not vote for him.
Mr Sata said it was bad for the commanders to do that and called for the postponement of the transfers and sending officers for refresher courses just to make sure they did not vote.
On development, Mr Sata said if elected, he would ensure that Kabwe was returned to its glory days by ensuring that he revived all industries which were currently either closed or performing dismally.
Mr Sata said that his government would invite new investors, rather than the Chinese, for Mulungushi Textiles to revive the factory which was once a pride of the town.
He would equally address the operations at Kabwe Industrial Fabric Corporation (KFICO) and other companies.
He said Kabwe occupied a special place in the wellbeing of Zambia and that should be reflected through its economic status.
In the military arena, Mr Sata said that all defence and security related training being offered in Zambia would be moved to Kabwe to harmonise their operations and improve the district's status as a garrison town.
In the same vein the Kabwe Airstrip would be upgraded into a fully-fledged airport which would also be used by ZAF for its training purposes.
Mr Sata assured that he would continue with the crusade against HIV/AIDS and would continue providing free antiretroviral treatment to all Zambians living with the virus to mitigate the scourge.
Mr Sata said he would not demolish squatter townships like Makululu and Katondo but would upgrade them saying that there was no way some people should continue living in ramshackles while other were building mansions.
He said it was the duty of the Government to accommodate its people and pledged to embark on a national housing project in all the districts for the accommodation of the people noting that many categories of people did not benefit from the Chiluba housing empowerment scheme.
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