The ruling MMD Kasama Central Constituency chairperson Nathan Ilunga says the ruling party risks going into extinction if it continues pretending that all was well.

Mr. Ilunga has however commended MMD acting spokesperson Mike Mulongoti for being sincere when he ( Mr. Mulongoti ) observed that the ruling party lost both the Kasama and Solwezi central constituency by-elections because of losing touch with the glass root.

The MMD official said this in a release to ZANIS in Kasama today. He added that he fully agrees with the statement by Mr Mulongoti in which he observed that the party has lost touch with the glass root.

Mr Ilunga said the shortcomings in the ruling party were there for all to see and warned that if not addressed, the party should forget about being in power beyond 2011.

He alleged that party structures started dying out during the reign of the late President Levy Mwanawasa as he never funded them.

Mr Ilunga added that had it not been for the personal sacrifice by MMD Provincial Chairperson Griever Sikasote who has funded most party activities in the province, there could be no party at all in the region.

And Mr Ilunga has said President Rupiah Banda should not be judged based on the late Mwanawasa’s legacy as he had his own individual vision.

Mr Ilunga further claimed that MMD founding members were enduring a lot of frustrations as the party has diverted from its original ideals enshrined both in the manifesto and constitution.

Recently MMD acting spokesperson Mike Mulongoti was quoted as having said the loose in the Kasama and Solwezi central by elections was as a result of having lost touch with the grass root.

ZANIS

MMD acting spokesperson Mike Mulongoti says Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata should be ashamed to demand the removal of Mr Mchenga when he is a beneficiary of his services.

Mr Mulongoti said a number of Mr Sata’s cases have in the past been dropped by the DPP.
He said this in an interview in Lusaka yesterday in reaction to continued calls for the DPP to resign.

“The DPP has exercised his independent discretion to drop cases in the past and Mr Sata himself has been a beneficiary. How can he (Sata) forget easily and start accusing Mr Mchenga of being biased when he has used his mandate to set him (Sata) free.

“These same constitutional office holders whom the opposition and in particular Mr Sata is accusing of all sorts of things will be there if they, God forbid, find themselves in Government. They should not look at us as evil people,” he said.

Mr Mulongoti said the opposition should desist from intimidating professionals like Mr Mchenga because they might in future shun taking up positions in Government.
He said professionals should be protected and allowed to safeguard the interests of all Zambians.

“Some of the people calling for the resignation of the DPP are not even educated, yet they want our professionals to resign. My question to them is if professionals resign, who is going to replace them?[quote]

“You see, we should appreciate these professionals because if we try to give flimsy excuses in an effort to chase them from their offices, they might in future refuse to join Government service due to the politics surrounding the positions,” Mr Mulongoti said.

On Sunday, Mr Kunda said the accusations against constitutional office holders by the opposition are in an effort to weaken Government.
He said the scheme to remove constitutional office holders is against the penal code and that it is a treasonable act.

Mr Kunda said this when he featured on a Radio Phoenix programme, ‘Government and You’.
He said Government will not allow the scheme to work because it is recipe for anarchy in the country.
Mr Kunda said constitutional office holders can only be removed through a tribunal.

CHIEF Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha has challenged All People’s Congress (APC) party president Ken Ngondo to provide evidence which will link Vice-President George Kunda and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Chalwe Mchenga to any act of corruption in the Judiciary.

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha said Mr Ngondo has no basis to demand the resignation of Mr Kunda and Mr Mchenga.

Gen. Shikapwasha was commenting on a story that appeared in yesterday’s edition of The Post Newspaper attributed to Mr Ngondo, who is demanding the resignation of Mr Kunda and Mr Mchenga.
He said in an interview yesterday in Lusaka that Mr Ngondo should stop making unwarranted allegations which he cannot prove.

Gen. Shikapwasha said since Mr Ngondo has decided to talk about the alleged rot that exists in the Judiciary, he must also state whether the acquittal of Post Newspaper News Editor Chansa Kabwela is an act of corruption.

Mr Ngondo was quoted as having said that he supports The Post newspaper’s editorial policy.
“Zambia has an independent Judiciary. If Mr Ngondo thinks the Judiciary is corrupt, he must lay the evidence for us to see, otherwise, he must desist from making unwarranted statements in the media,” Gen. Shikapwasha said.

He said as a leader, Mr Ngondo has no right to demean Mr Kunda as reported in The Post Newspaper.[quote]
Gen.Shikapwasha said Mr Ngondo must respect elected leaders just as he would like to be respected if he were in the same position.

But when contacted, Mr Ngondo claimed he has evidence to prove that the Judiciary and some government ministers are allegedly corrupt.He said he will soon hold a press conference to prove his allegations.

On his lack of respect for Mr Kunda, Mr Ngondo said he had great respect for the Vice-President but he has come to realise that the respect is not mutual.

“Mr Kunda has no respect for me. He referred to my party on national media as ‘Mr Ngondo’s party’. My party is called All People’s Congress Party and he must refer to it as such,” he said.

[ Zambia Daily Mail]

KAFULAFUTA Member of Parliament(MP) George Mpombo has called for reconciliation in the MMD in readiness for 2011 elections.

Mr Mpombo said in Ndola yesterday that time to quarrel should now be over and that there was need for the leaders in the party to take a reconciliatory path in readiness for the 2011 tripartite elections.

But MMD deputy national secretary Jeff Kaande said the party had never differed with Mr Mpombo and that it was his statements that portrayed a picture that there were differences between him and the MMD.
He said time had come for the healing process to commence and give another chance to the members in the spirit of charting the way forward.

Mr Mpombo, who recently has been issuing statements against the party and its leadership, said the mistakes had been made but that now was the time to sit down and find the way forward for the party.

He said people like MMD chairperson for elections, Mike Mulongoti should by now know that time was running out before the 2011 elections and should be the one to promote reconciliation in the party.

“Mistakes have been made, differences have been there but time has now come for us to sit down and chart the way forward for the party,” said Mr Mpombo who declared himself ready for reconciliation if called upon.

Mr Mpombo wondered where the party trustees were to help reconcile the MMD members whenever differences arose.

He said the MMD was still a strong party and that the party leadership would make history to hold a reconciliatory meeting at which the party would be put together before 2011.

But Mr Kaande said no specific person in the party had differed with Mr Mpombo and advised him to instead take a reconciliatory path before it was too late.

[Times of Zambia]

The long awaited fresh voter registration exercise begins soon. The exercise has been on the cards for some time now.

Electoral Commission of Zambia(ECZ) Florence Mumba, says the exercise in all the 72 districts of Zambia will be done over a period of 90 days.

In some areas, especially those in remote areas, the exercise will be conducted through mobile services.

Ms. Mumba told a consultative meeting in Lusaka on today that the fresh registration exercise will help to remove deceased voters from the register.

The new voters roll will also enable more people to take part in the 2011 general elections.

The stakeholders’ meeting was attended by Town Clerks and Provincial local government officers.

[ZNBC]

President Rupiah Banda is on Tuesday scheduled to officially re-open the Luanshya Copper Mines (LCM) and commission the production of copper following the successful acquisition of the mine by a new investor.

President Banda will join the new investor China Non-Ferrous Metals Corporations (CNMC) at LCM in Luanshya on the Copperbelt Province to reopen the mine which was put on care and maintenance by the previous owners before it was sold to CNMC.

This is contained in a press statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka today by President Banda’s Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations Dickson Jere.

President Banda and his delegation are expected back to Lusaka after the commissioning of the mine, which has so far created about 2, 000 jobs for the people in the area.

Meanwhile, President Banda is on Wednesday expected to travel to Eastern Province where he will officially open a Technical and Vocational college in Chipata before flagging off the construction of the Chipata-Mfuwe road.

President Banda will spend his Christmas in Mfuwe where he is also expected to hold meetings with various groups on a number of national issues.

ZANIS

VICE-PRESIDENT George Kunda says the claim by Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema that they are both presidential candidates for the 2011 elections shows that there is confusion in the PF-UPND pact.

Speaking on a Radio Phoenix programme ‘Government and You’ in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Kunda has challenged the PF-UPND pact to tell Zambians who the candidate is between them. He also alleged that The Post newspaper is promoting Mr Sata while Mr Hichilema is considered a thug.

“I am just wondering why an intelligent man like HH should make an alliance with Mr Sata, whose conduct we all know is not very good. The earlier you (Mr Hichilema) come out of it the better because Mr Sata is just using you.

“If he can dismiss 22 members of Parliament without even blinking, how do you trust such a man? UPND, please leave that sinking ship because there is confusion where you are,” he said.

Mr Kunda wondered whether Mr Hichilema has given up his ambitions of being republican President.[quote]
“Are people of Southern Province happy? Please leave this confusion; you are a learned man,” he said.
Mr Kunda said Mr Sata expelled late UPND president Anderson Mazoka from MMD.

He said Mr Hichilema’s alliance with Mr Sata is betraying Mr Mazoka’s legacy.

He said the MMD will continue talking about the PF-UPND pact because people talk about the MMD as well.
“We have seen a weakness in the pact. Southern Province is cracked. Even chiefs in that province are saying Mr Hichilema has made a blunder. We must also gain mileage out of the mistakes of our competitors. So, even tomorrow (today), I will sharpen my tools to fight the pact. This pact is only between Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema,” he said.

Mr Kunda said Government has information that some UPND members of Parliament will not be adopted.
He alleged that Mr Sata is a die-hard dictator because his party has made it clear that some jobs will be reserved for PF members only.

[Zambia Daily Mail]