Monday 17 January 2011

NO POLLS ON FOOLS’ DAY - RB

President Rupiah Banda says the country will not hold its tripartite elections on April 1 which is a fools’ day.
And President Banda says he will release to the public a reply letter written in response to Mr. Sata ‘s politicizing of government’s decision to evacuate his wife,  Dr. Catherine Kaseba, to South Africa for specialist treatment recently.
The President said this year’s polls will not take place on April 1 saying it is, “only foolish people who vote on that day.”
Recently PF leader Michael Sata claimed that he had information that this year’s elections will be held on April 1.
Mr. Banda said the MMD was approaching this year’s elections with full determination and scientific approach to understand where the party has been, where it is today and where it is going.
“The MMD is a ruling party that has remained in office for sometime not by accident but by being methodical and getting all systems in place including renewing of the party leadership through Provincial conferences being held across the country,” the President said.
The President was speaking when he opened the fifth -5th Luapula Province MMD party conference held at Mansa College of Education.
Meanwhile, the President says he will release to the public a reply letter written in response to Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata who has politicized government decision to have his wife, Dr. Catherine Kaseba evacuated to South Africa for treatment recently.
The President said when Mr. Sata’s wife fell ill, he and his colleagues in government quickly agreed to transfer Mrs. Sata to South Africa for treatment.
He said to show gratitude, Mr. Sata wrote to him a letter to thank government for rushing his wife to South Africa for treatment. Mrs. Sata has since recovered from the illness.
However, in the same letter, President Banda said Mr. Sata went beyond by becoming argumentative and bringing in politics saying it is a shame for Zambia in this day and age to send its sick people to South Africa for treatment.
The President said Mr. Sata has decided to release the same letter written to him to the media and was published in the Post newspaper of yesterday, January , 16, 2011.
Mr. Banda told MMD cadres from across Luapula that he had responded to Mr. Sata’s letter, and he was going to make available the letter to the public so that the Zambian people could read for themselves what he said about Mr. Sata’s way of showing gratitude.
The President said he normally does not release his presidential correspondences with citizens to the general public, but added that he was going to do so this time in order that citizens could understand government position on Mr. Sata.
“In this letter I said to this man that anyone can be faced with health difficulties and your wife, unfortunately, had this problem and we all agreed quickly to help her but un fortunately you are now bringing in politics saying in this time and age it is a shame for Zambia to send sick people to South Africa,” President Banda said.
The President has also challenged Mr Sata to tell the nation why the health services are in their current state if Mr. Sata who was Health Minister for a long time had made any improvement to the health sector of this country.
“I have not been Minister of health, but since you were minister of health for a long time why is it that our health services in this country are in this state?”
President Banda said he hopes people across the country will read the government letter that will be released so that everybody could hear what government thinks about the PF leader.
The President charged that Mr. Sata waffles about a lot of things in this country. “He talks about elections that he hopes these elections will be free and fair; he waffles about a lot of things in this country.”
President Banda said Mr. Sata is not new to the Zambian people, as he was the National Secretary of the MMD, Minister of health and Minister without Portifolio.
The President said the only thing he remembers Mr. Sata to have done as minister of health was to buy uniform that comprised a trousers for the nurses and nothing much.
“Mr. Sata is not new to the people in the country. He was national secretary for the MMD, everybody knows that.
But President Banda said government under his leadership has done much more than what Mr. Sata and his friends had done to the health sector.
And President Banda has questioned the PF leader’s cleverness who he said caused the problems which Second Republican President Frederick Chiluba faced over the third term.
He charged that Mr Sata was advising Dr Chiluba to have a third term, knowing too well that the people of Zambia did not favour the idea for the third term.
However, the President said that when Dr Chiluba got into problems over the third term, Mr. Sata jumped out of the MMD and went off to form  his own political party.
“What kind of cleverness is this? Everybody knows the record of this man, Sata,” President Banda said.
The President said it was good that the elections were coming, and the MMD was going to tell the people what it knows about Mr. Sata so that he stops being clever.
ZANIS

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