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Xavier CHUNGU, former president-aide
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The Zambian Government at many occasions insinuated that you had run away from your country to seek protection in Canada. What is your comment?
How I wished to be in that beautiful country. Unfortunately I have only been to Canada once when I was negotiating for the procurement of the Presidential aircraft from the Bombardier Canada. Since then, I have never been to Canada. The reason why the Zambian Government though of accusing Canada, among a few other countries, was to try and force the International Community to press on Canada to help look for me. This has been Mr. Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, s way of misleading everyone in his so-called fight against corruption.
There has been some protracted debate on how Zambia should proceed in adopting the new Constitution Review by the Mungomba Constitutional Review Commission. What is your submission to the debate?
It is sad for Zambia that even a Lawyer in a President, Mr. Mwanawasa, who should understand what a National Constitution means to its people has refused to heed the popular calls for an acceptable form of adopting the new Constitutional Review. He has tossed the peoples demands through the window with impunity and dared them to go to hell. Well, like all his predecessors, I can only assure Mr. Mwanawasa that sooner than later he will be feeling the people’s power when they vote in December this year-2006.
The President has completely refused to listen from the People. He has refused to listen to the calls from the Civil Society. He has refused to listen to the Labor Movement who represents the workers. He has refused to listen to the Church and instead, he has labeled all these institutions together with the rest of the voters as corrupt for asking for their Right. He has called everyone asking for the adoption of the new Constitution through a Constituent Assembly as corrupt. Mr. Mwanawasa, s contention is that it would be too expensive to adopt the new Constitution through a popular Constituent Assembly.
But the President is continuously creating and financing by-elections at great cost. In January 2006, he ordered the Minister of Finance to find one million American dollars to send the National Football Team to the Africa Cup of Nations. The monies spent on the by-elections since the people started calling for a Constituent Assembly to adopt the new Constitution together with what he spent on the Football Team to Egypt would have been sufficient to host the much needed Constituent Assembly, let alone with the support of the Donor Community.
The Ruling Party has just won yet another set of by-elections in the country. Is that not sufficient to tell that probably President Mwanawasa is very popular and he probably is right in going the way he wants on the adoption of the new Constitution?
I do not agree with anyone thinking that people are behind Mr. Mwanawasa at all. The man has lost popularity to level never seen in the history of Zambian politics. Of course he is still in office because in Zambia we do not subscribe to violent means of changing Governments. I can only assure you and the rest of the World that the feeling of the people in Zambia is that Mr. Mwanawasa must not be voted but for anyone else.
Mr. Mwanawasa has insulted the biggest voter population of the Bemba people in the North and the Luapula Provinces of the country. He has described them as dirty and stinking people. He has told the workers that he can do without them and he has instead preferred to deny them appropriate protective Laws in preference to the Investors inhuman working conditions. He has described the Civil Society, the Church and the rest of the voters as corrupt people for asking for a Constituent Assembly.
And then he does not believe anyone in any arm of Government is competent enough to handle their day-to-day business and instead he must be consulted for his personal approval on daily basis. Is this the President you think or anyone thinks can be voted back into power? I believe people in Zambia are very much alive to all these and are just waiting to cast their vote when time comes.
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Levy Mwanawasa, zambian president
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How effective is the Opposition in your country. You seem to have too many but very weak Political Parties to have capacity to oust the ruling party
The by-elections results are not about the person Mr. Mwanawasa, no. They are about the ruling party MMD and an alternative political party in the Opposition to assure the population at the moment. Indeed there are just too many Opposition Political Parties some of which are merely paper parties. This is the main problem that people in Zambia must work on if they are to convince and assure the voters. Thank God the voters are primed at the moment and with a well-organized campaign program, Mr. Mwanawasa should be leaving State House at the end of this year 2006.
I am now convinced that soon or later the Opposition is coming up with a strong Alliance with a leader to contest the Presidential seat. I want to call on the Opposition in Zambia to heed the peoples cry that they cannot be insulted any further. They are asking for assurances from those in the Opposition that they will not be insulted. The Opposition in Zambia must realize that personal differences are not basis for serving the people. We must all unite and join hands in voting Mr. Mwanawasa out of office deafening defeat.
The Press has been asking for Press Freedoms for sometime in your country, what has been the difficulty in adopting Laws that guarantee Press Freedoms?
For a long time the political leadership in Zambia has had no genuine interest in enacting Laws that can guarantee Freedoms of the Press or indeed those of private individuals. Unfortunately no one will accept the blame at the moment. The only solution is by changing the current leadership for better and committed leaders who will accept to adopt Laws that protect the People, the Worker, the Press and the Investor.
We need Laws that can last the test of time and which shall not be changed as and when political leadership change. As a country we do not expect to be stable and grow economically without stable and assuring Laws. Otherwise we risk degenerating into similar predicaments like some of our neighbors, without mentioning names at all.
Read the french version
Afrique Expansion Magazine Website
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