The Open Society Foundation has charged that the MMD’s 20-years in office was marred by gross mismanagement and unbridled corruption which gave birth to Zambia’s massive unemployment. Foundation Executive Director Sunday Chanda says the MMD never planned for the 400,000 youths offloaded on the labour market each year for 20 years and that they should be the last party to comment on youth unemployment.
Mr. Chanda said that the MMD’s economic policies failed to benefit Zambian youths adding that they must be held accountable for the employment problems the country is currently facing.
He has described the former ruling party as the chief architect of today’s massive unemployment levels and has therefore dismissed the statement attributed to MMD President Nevers Mumba in the media that Zambians across the country are now apologizing to the MMD for ushering the PF into office.
Mr. Chanda who is MMD losing Kanchibiya parliamentary candidate in the 2011 elections candidate said that the PF is mandated to deal with this cancer left behind by MMD and that Zambians are asking for a workable and realistic plan from government.
[pullquote]He dismissed the statement attributed to MMD President Nevers Mumba in the media that Zambians across the country are now apologizing to the MMD for ushering the PF into office.[/pullquote]
He explained that the MMD must be the one to sincerely apologize to the Zambians for betraying their cause and creating so much poverty instead of asking Zambians to apologize.
The Executive Director has also challenged the PF government to invite different stakeholders to the process and develop a comprehensive marshal plan to deal innovatively and permanently with Zambia’s unemployment.
He says government alone will not find lasting solutions to the unemployment question, hence the need for them to bring everyone on board.
And Wusakile Member of Parliament Richard Musukwa has charged that Nevers Mumba is exhibiting high levels of “immorality” by attempting to shift the blame for the difficulties Zambians are going through to the Patriotic Front (PF).
Mr Musukwa said the challenges in the country were as a result of the MMD’s mismanagement during the time it was in power.
He charged that the MMD president’s barrage of “cheap” criticism would not derail the PF Government from fulfilling its campaign promises and addressing other challenges people were facing especially that these were inherited from bad governance and “unbridled” corruption by the MMD leaders themselves.
[pullquote]“It is unacceptable and immoral for Nevers Mumba to attempt to transfer the blame over the difficulties the Zambians are going through to PF, which has only been in Government for a few months,[/pullquote]”
“It is unacceptable and immoral for Nevers Mumba to attempt to transfer the blame over the difficulties the Zambians are going through to PF, which has only been in Government for a few months,” Mr Musukwa said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday.
He said the PF Government was aware that the MMD was bitter as it was “rudely interrupted” from continuing with the alleged abuse of the country’s resources after the September 20, 2011 elections defeat.
Mr Musukwa said the Government had laid a strong development foundation through decisive steps taken, and cited the reinstatement of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Abuse of Office clause, which the MMD had removed.
QFM/Times of Zambia
CNP always blaming, You are now 10 months in office and still finger pointing!! Learn to take responsibility guys. I would have been more happy if you narrated on what you are doing about the vast unemployed youths other than blaming MMD who are licking their wounds
Bear in mind that Sata,Guy Scott et al where MMD before they became PF.So who do we blame for unemployment? I think we should start blaming ourselves-Zambians.AS long as we don’t take responsibilty and just point fingers we won’t solve anything.
Chanda,are you not the onw who launched a red card campaign for youth jobs against PF? Your change of stance and attack on the party you stood on in Kanchibiya tells something.
MMD is not in power therefore PF should stop making references to it. PF must own up! I now agree why they call you CNP. The reason why PF was given the mandate to rule is to correct all the mistakes made by the previous regime. If you guys have no clue on how to develop the country, simply step aside. There are many capable Zambians who can develop the economy. You now agree that RB is better than Sata. You can lie and fool a few people, but lies will eventually catch up with you. It is like lying to your employers that you possess certain qualifications and when you are given a job, you fail to perform. Don`t promise what you can`t deliver.
That s the reason we voted you in, please don’t start blame-games
PF on the right track….too much politicking in Africa, poverty and unemployment are current emergencies, i wish state of emergency could be considered to address this, govt machinery is too slow how it moves…..otherwise people will be fed up with waiting and promises even if PF means well ….No party MMD or UPND can solve this problem in a year ……
U fools 99% of PF members came from the shrinked MMD and only 1% came from other parties. what are u trying to tell us. *****s do the work and stop talking viva upnd!
Just create jobs for the youths. Who are the MMD? You are the same people today called PF, do not give blame to MMD lelo nimwebo bakutashi as leader.
@Politico Observer. You have completely missed the point! Is it so hard to analyse the comments made by Mr Chanda and comment objectively? What do you want the PF to own up for? Creating unemployment that was caused by MMD? Look at the way the coalition in the UK constantly blames Labour for causing all the problems with the economy and this almost half way through their term. What we should be advising the PF is how we as a nation can get youths into employment, just as Mr Chanda has suggested in the last 2 paragraphs.
Ba Honourable, jacket kwati yakupelwa fye. Dress properly honourable.
As for the unemployment, MMD should shut up, and the PF should not waste time talking about this, but prove their critics wrong by delivering on their promises. We don’t want to see a repeat of the last minute pre-poll developments.
Sunday Chanda is very un principled young man no wonder FELIX MUTATI lost election of MMD President, serious how do you want tolead a party like MMD and use such traitors like SUNDAY CHANDA to campaign for you and expect to win and now this CHANDA CHIMBWI is confirming issues which were going around during MMD Presidential campaigns that SUNDAY CHANDA was given K200million from UKWA to make sure that Dr. Mumba dont win the election. CHANDA is as empty big tin which never hold any water and he says MMD FAILED ON UN EMPLOYMENT THEN he is confirming that UKWA SATA he is the one who failed MMD ON THIS MATTER BCOZ SATA WAS Minister of LABOUR during late President Chiluba and UKWA did nothing apart from just went to fire the NPF DIRECTOR Mrs. Mulwila on tribal lines chanda chimbwi u r a
The Open Society Foundation is not allowed to be open about society :)
MMD was boasting about statistics like single digit inflation and all that crap, but zambians were out of employment hence that army of youths we saw fighting to get into the security wings of govt.
Whats with the dusty white outlook? is Pf that backward that they are dusting themselves with breakfast meal to show they are no longer eating roller meal? Clean yourself up man its 2012 and you are there looking like a vimbuza dancer and pull that tag out the sleeve
How serious can you take a Member of Parliament who wears his tie like a schoolboy? Not to mention, what’s up with the most ill-fitting jacket I’ve ever seen? Please, Sir have some respect for yourself and the office you hold! (btw – quiet advice, when you buy a suit, you’re supposed to remove the manufacturer’s label from the sleeve!)
Any objective person can see that the MMD in it’s first ten years under the tenure of Chiluba made a lot of mistakes. What is also undeniable is that in those ten years, the likes of Sata, Luo, Scott and others were in govt. It would be churlish and disingenuous in the extreme to say that under Mwanawasa and Banda the MMD did not make significant improvements in the lives of ordinary Zambians. Of course the levels of poverty were still high but we were going in the right direction. PF are in power now and have to grow up and deliver on the promises THEY made. MMD is not in power now and if Mwanawasa and Banda made such catastrophic mistakes, then Ukwa should have been wise enough to know that those mistakes would not be remedied in his beloved 90 days.
Did the man in the picture inherit his suit at a funeral?
Do these people take us for fools? We all know the shortcomings of the MMD gov. hence them being ousted, we don’t need daily remainders of this. The way these people are going on you’d think we’re holding elections next month.
Of course the voters knew it that is why they chose you…. Am I missing something here. Are we going back to the tale of Chiluba telling the voters Kaunda is to blame, years after KK lost!!! THEY EMPLOYED YOU TO FIX THE PROBLEM – tell them who is to blame is definately not part of the solution!!!
#3 @Chikaipa Bweza and #10 @membe, you are right. Sunday Chanda is becoming irritatingly shallow. Firstly, this young man was seen at Nevers Mumba’s side when meeting with President Zuma in South Africa during those days Mumba was VP. When it suited him, he was Mumba’s right hand person. Secondly, when the MMD intra-party elections were held, he (as Mutati’s spokesperson) made a lot of negative statements against Nevers and even MMD, his party. Some of these statements were not even sanctioned by Mutati. Thirdly, in March 2012, he got a police permit to demonstrate against the PF government’s failure to create jobs for the youth. Now, he is talking about MMD being the ones to blame for the unemployment.
Okay, this guy is part of the MMD and has been for a long time.
What’s up?
Any party that wants to take over from another party should be equal to the task and must be able to reverse all the failures of the previous Government without complaining, if the Govt is not able and all they do is complain about the previous Govt then they are not equal to the task. Zambians are not looking for sympathy but are looking for a Govt that is able to reverse all failures of the previous Govt, that is why they change Govts not for sympathy.
we are not apologizing to the mmd for ushering the pf into power but we are very disappointed with the choice we made. even if pf messes up as it has started doing, i can’t look up to the mmd can’t never!
Unemployment has is a problem for generations in Zambia and the rest of Africa…lets look for solutions and please stop the blaming game…its pathetic…
True 20 years you still want to get to power again…. how does one expect then a corrupt rich ex-official to sit back and say….I stole a lot mwe…. MMD MUST not even be allowed to even be there…. I am PF but if we fail….. Chipimo rules…. Insanity is MMD finish and full STOP
Its not the jacket which has caused unemployment. RM has the cash and he is gaining nothing mu fya bupuba ifi ma politics fya pa Zed. Let us waste our time making useless comments bcoz we ve nothing to do.
Can the history of MMD be complete without the mention of Sata? I think the rot starts and ends with Sata as both president and former CEO of MMD.
YOU WILL FILL IT MUSUKWA,PF IS IN POWER AND NOT MMD JUST CREAT JOBS U PROMISED THE MASSES, AS ZAMBIANS WE DONT WANT LAME EXECUSE BECOUSE EVEN FIVE YEARS AFTER U WILL BE TELLING THE SAME FAKE STORIES. U SAID IN 90 DAYS NOW IT WILL BE 90 MONTHS. SHEMUNENI !! SHAME!!!!!!!!
this madness shud end.stop blaming MMD .u wanted to take over from mmd and sort out issues.free advice next time give us policies and how are going to create employment.poor finishers
holy African youth unemployment is a national issue jst try to address it than pointing fingers.
It is strange that Foundation Executive Director Sunday Chanda is now lamenting that the MMD never planned for the 400,000 youths. This raises speculations on the education standard of Chanda who is re-aligning himselves to his tribal group. How would any fair-minded Zambian explain the employment opportunities created by MMD when its govt facilitated the development of giagantic Mines in Solwezi and Lumwana as well as the revival of mining life in Luanshya. Let Chanda and Musukwa visit Mwinilunga to see the development of a hydroelectric power station at the Zambezi Rapids which is supplying power to a Kalene Hospital and schools in Ikelenge. These projects will silence Chanda and Musukwa. The PF is now challenged to extend a tarred road from Mwinilunga up to IJIMBE to employ more youths
MMD caused the problem, yes it did, and SATA was part of the organization. Thats all.
There has not been an issue so far where anything positive is credited collectively and inclusive of former MMD members. In fact, it is more often than not credited to a sole President. Negative issues are without exception collective and inclusive. Civil service employees who have served both sides probably have opinions on each but I have not seen any subjective report by media independent or not that reflects anything but a partisan approach to what is going on. As I support neither party but have respected both when in power I wonder whether such a thing is an independent media exists. All media can be dubbed Political Times as for the most part that is the area of society they are all collectively and inclusively obsessed with. Perhaps that is the market trend :)
Excuse any typos.
Perhaps objective is a better word than subjective in this instance :)
Let’s not forget that when we are refering to the failures of MMD we include Sata as well. He was in cabinet for 10years and at one time he was number three from the top in MMD hierachy, ask him if at all he had planned for the youth or who stopped him from planning for the youth. Mind you if you talk about failures of MMD, you are talking about failures of Sata your president. Ask Kambwili the Hon. for the youth if he has any tangible plans for the youth employment ? Nothing, Ukwa nothing,Chikwanda never budgeted for any project for the youth, nothing
For heaven’s sake everyone knows what MMD failed to do and the all the problems MMD caused. That is exactly why PF is in government today. We don’t need to be reminded day in day out about them. We need PF to tell us what they are doing about those problems. For how long are we going to be listening and reading about what MMD did or did not do. Enough!!!! Start working.
Now its Under Five Opposition ,These boys are Chancers especially my brada Nervous , Given an Opportunity to be VP he cant let go.God is watching you broadday thief “
The MMD is trying to become the Zambian TEA Party. The protectors of the rich, and when in opposition, they will do nothing other than oppose.
They have not policies that people will vote for, and they have been in power doing the same thing over and over since 1991. That’s a whole generation while they had the opportunity to push back unemployment to, say 20%. They chose not to do so, and take the bribes from the foreign mining houses so they coulc steal the Zambian people’s copper and cobalt without paying taxes or paying dividends.
That is what they want to get back to.
They’re losers, they can’t make it outside of politics, and all they know how to do is take bribes. And now they want to criticise the PF?
No way. And hope we can all Never Say Nevers Again.
I CANT UNDERSTAND PIPO WHO ARE BLAMING PF FOR UNEMPLOYMENT. GIVE THEM TIME ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY. PF ARE BARELY A DAY IN OFFICE AS COMPARED TO MMD, HOW DARE DO YOU BLAME THEM FOR PROBLEMS CREATED BY MMD. GIVE THEM TIME, BUT ALL THE SAME THE POOR WILL ALWAYS BE THERE.
It is true that the MMD is the root of all the unemployment problems in Zambia. But for how long will the PF continue to point figures at MMD, instead of finding solutions to the problems. I understand that 90 day slogan was just to win votes, but time is ticking and solutions need to be found for the large youth unemployment we are facing or else … Kuyabebele.