25 June 2009
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has implored United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema to desist from practising politics of insults.
The president said it was regrettable that Mr Hichilema intends to outshine his Patriotic Front (PF) counterpart Michael Sata in using politics of insults.
Mr Banda said since the formation of the alliance between the PF and the UPND, Mr Hichilema had been constantly insulting him without considering the age difference.
"Hakainde may have some Western education but we live in an African society and he does not need to use unpalatable language. Hakainde is as good as my son and he does not need to insult me, it is unAfrican," Mr Banda said.
He said as a result of Mr Hichilema emulating Mr Sata, some people were now calling the UPND president 'Prince Cobra'.
He said the opposition leader was at liberty to offer constructive criticism but not to insult him all the time.
Mr Banda said that he often ignored insults from Mr Sata because he was his age mate and besides that, the two were traditional cousins.
"I know Sata's mental state, he is fine. He is my age mate and I take it as my traditional cousin but Hakainde is not my age mate and not my traditional cousin, he is as good as my son. I advise Hakainde, please be African," Mr Banda said.
He dismissed the call by the PF/UPND pact for early elections, saying the law dictated that an elected president serve a whole term.
Even after forming an electoral pact, he said, the two parties would still not manage to wrestle power from the MMD.
Mr Banda said Mr Hichilema was so desperate to assume the presidency that prior to last year's elections, he approached him over a possibility of the MMD and UPND entering into a pact.
"He came to me and asked for a pact, this was before the elections, what matters to the two is to ascend to the presidency. The two are ambitious for the presidency and that is why the two will make a joint presidency called Haka-Sata," Mr Banda said.
The president predicted that soon, the pact would crumble as none of the two leaders was ready to work under the other.
On corruption, Mr Banda said the cases that had lately been exposed did not happen during his time as president and had come out because he had given law enforcement agencies the freedom to operate.
He said the Government would strengthen the Anti-Corruption Commission as the lead investigative agency on corruption-related matters but would maintain all the other institutions in their current form.
On the hearses, he directed that the available consignments should immediately be distributed to the various parts of the country.
He, however, said that he was not privy to the procurement process and that the matter was never tabled in Cabinet when he was vice-president.
Mr Banda said former Local Government and Housing minister, Sylvia Masebo was at liberty to tell the nation what she knew about the procurement process.
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It is being shallow minded when a leader of a political party resorts to insulting other political figure heads no matter who they are. Politicians by virtue of what they advocate are supposed to critises policies,programes etc. we elect political leader based on what they promise to deliver not on how good they are at hailing insults at other political heads. Hachilema wakeup insults do not put food or create jobs for our brothers.Critise RB on policies and programmes then you will earn the respect of people.
I for one think it is much more shallow-minded of a president to parry attacks using such "weak, relative argumentation": i.e. Hakainde Hichilema vis-ŕ-vis Michael Sata attacking / “insulting” Rupiah Banda on a myriad national issues. It is clear from Mr Banda’s allusion (to these two) that it is permissible for Sata to “insult” him not only because he is his age-mate, but also because he is his “tribal cousin”. The latter part is especially wrong, sounds awkward, because it slyly drags tribe into matters of national political consensus, national consciousness. Zambia has more than 70 tribes and I personally see it as WRONG for Banda to seem to expect us to agree with him that a Bemba may insult him but not a Tonga. This type of thinking is political crap, lazy, backward and low-level.
That’s my own opinion. And yes, I am Zambian.
Mr. Banda’s grounds for Mr. Hichilema not to “insult” him do not hold much water. Mr Banda is president of a republic, not a traditional village chief more inclined to blood ties of tribal cousinship than political solutions argued out in the limelight of a national stage. Perhaps it would do good if the article, or Mr. Banda himself in his argument, pinpointed the insults that Mr. Banda is referring to? Otherwise, it all sadly sounds like the Ol’ Boys politics of a bygone Africa. Nowadays, such tactics must not be allowed to work. It should mean nothing that Mr. Banda could be Mr. Hichilema’s father. So what?