President Rupiah Banda says the ruling MMD will hold a party convention contrary to allegations that they do not want to do so.
President Banda said this today, when he addressed several Solwezi residents at Solwezi airport on arrival from Chipata in the Eastern Province.
He said his party has not refused to hold a convention as being expressed in sections of society but that it was only concentrating on development.
Mr. Banda, noted that people should not be distracted by issues of the convention but instead focus on strengthening the party.
Calls for the ruling party to hold the convention have in recent months received a mix of opinions throughout the country with a number of provincial MMD committees suggesting that the convention should not be held as Mr Banda would be the sole candidate at the convention.
Northern Province MMD Provincial chairperson Grievas Sikasote said during Mr Banda’s tour to the Province that the convention will only drain the party coffers which can be used in other developmental areas.
Meanwhile, Mr Banda has thanked the MMD party membership in Northwestern Province for their loyalty to the party and the Presidency.
The President has further urged people of Solwezi not to worry about the PF/UPND pact which he said has no basis.
Mr. Banda urged Solwezi residents to vote for MMD candidate Albert Chifita during the November 19, Solwezi Central By- elections.
The seat fell vacant following the death of area MP Ben Tetamashimba.
The PF/UPND pact is fielding Watson Lumba, Forum for Democratic Alternative (FDA) is fielding Muhammed Kalela while Thomas Kafula will stand as an independent candidate.
And North western MMD chairperson Peter Patel has said that MMD will not lose the seat at any cost.
Mr. Patel said the party is strong in the province and would beat the pact come November 19th.
President Banda is in Solwezi to drum up support for the MMD candidate.
ZANIS
YABA NISHI ZAMBIANS ARE FOOLS??? OR WHAT…
To shut up at times is Golden than to show ones foolishness.northwestern show MMD that you are above corruption.
This by election is gonna send people into ICU, coz it looks like its a do all die. If Pact wins…it strengthens their moral, and will make them stronger. If Pact loses, nishi UPND yachula, bcoz it would have failed to deliver like its counterpart delivery of Kasama. This one is a do or die for UPND, or else it will confirm them escorting PF to state house….come on guys!!!
MMD is the mother and founder of the Zambian democracy.It was founded and thrives on the precerpts of democracy and consensus unlike titular parties dependent on useless marriages of convenience due to their inferiority and irrelevancy. People who understand politics appreciate the fact that it would be signing up to failed politics if the a ruling party with new leadership ever rashed to a convention without finishing its institutional realignment and fostering leadership ascertiveness.MMD is now almost ready as structures and logistics are steadly flowing in place. MMD is not the HakaSata circus of 9 allergic years of no convention but one man making appointments from typist s to co-President.
Let de pipo’s will cum tru. Ba mambala ba MMD. Nkanshi VJ na RB obe mwa bashani.
i wanted to football issues not this usual crap
IS THIS THE SAME MOUTH THAT SAID THAT THOSE WHO ARE FOR THE CONVENTION SHOULD RESIGN. THAT IS WHY THE CALL HIM “UWABUFI BWA KUNYA”
President Rupiah Banda
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has told MMD members agitating for the holding of the national convention to resign from the party and join political parties they think will hold conventions soon.
Mr Banda urged those trying to cause confusion in the party to resign than pretend to be MMD members when they were being used by the party’s enemies.
President Banda said he believed in democracy and that the MMD’s national executive committee (NEC) had, in fact, not yet met to discuss the convention.
Mr Banda was speaking when he addressed a mammoth rally to drum up support for MMD candidate Burton Mugala at Kasama’s President’s Park yesterday.
He said the MMD would do everything necessary to ensure transparency and there was no need for people to incite…
No one can believe Bwezani that there will be a convetion untill we see the party holding one after all he is just campagning in Solwezi. Thats what he says on corruption that he is fighting corruption when corrupt people are left to go scort free.
RB is at it again
#8 spot on!! It seems we have a president who doesnt even remember what he said yesterday which is VERY dangerous for our country. When people say that he tells lies he complains that he is being insulted.
Sorry to say…but i think our republican president has 3 senses!
Allowing a sustained intra-party debate is healthy democratic practice healthy parties foster. But those allergic to the debate only interested in a convention without room for an exalted debate are free to leave MMD and go where the likes of MMD’s healthy debates do not exit or thrive.They can go to some circus with “one dimensional man” who says no convention in my party for 10 years or until death because I’m the defacto president who has to keep losing elections regardless for life until death do me a apart.
I think RBs’ PR advisors should not allow him to talk without a script. To rely on him to think of a response by himself is a huge risk to his self preservation as president. Its like jumping from the frying pan onto the red hot stove.
Party elections are executed by party members who happen to be delegates to the convention not not disillusioned tabloids or moles daily but in vain insulting the party members and structures.No delegate to the convention would vote in noise gongs of exposed certified moles struggling in vanity.
Number 11 and 8, don’t mislead yourselves. Read the full context in which that statement was made and you’ll see there’s no contradictions with RB’s statement(s) in Solwezi…
Those that are calling for a convention in MMD, why don’t they do the same for PF. That party has been a one man ship for over ten years now without a convention, contrary to the PF party’s constitution!
pliz brothers and sisters in solwezi..abash mmd and vote for the pact..we need real leaders..people that will look back and work for you..the pact is a factor..rb iwe admit that!!
Don’t think Zambians are foolish people who could just be listening to every foolishness that comes out of your mouth. We are able to remember what you said a year ago.
Remember we are watching at a distance. There is no one whom you can fool this time.
Fyatampokukaba bayambo kuchinjo lwimbo! It may be too late the song could be the requiem.
do you ever hear yourself talking mr very oldman??? im embarrased to be over 50!!!
Has HH as Sata’s foster child or wife also gone anti China for mass deportations, pro 90 days national development of new universities, and hospitals in every distance of 100 miles in each chiefdom and district with all cadres turned billionaires within 60 days?
The frailty of the PF/UPND pact
It is not difficult to see why opposition Political Parties in Zambia remain just that ‘opposition Parties’. The ruling Party will have been in office for 20 years by the year 2011 since dislodging from power in 1991 Kaunda’s United National Independence Party (UNIP). Besides offering no plausible alternative to Government, policy wise, the opposition remains reeled in internal wrangles and squabbles.
With the next Presidential and General elections billed for 2011, less than two years from now, one would imagine that the main Opposition Party Patriotic Front (PF) led by Michael Sata will be busy consolidating the grip on its strongholds. Instead, they seem doing the very opposite. Luapula, which has been one of PF’s main strongholds, has in all intents and purposes been lost to the ruling party, the Movement for Multi Party Democracy (MMD).
Members dubbed ‘rebel mps’ for defying the Party’s President Michael Sata directive not to attend the on-going National Constitutional Commission (NCC), the constitutional making process and for which they were expelled, contesting the expulsion and then winning a court injunction against it, has caused a major rift in the Party.
This wrangle has particularly dealt a major blow to PF, essentially crippling its chances of victory in the up coming 2011 elections. The other opposition party United Party for National Development (UPND) remains a stronghold only among the Tonga speaking people of Southern Province. They too have shown signs of internal factionalism. Recently one of their pillar members was expelled for voicing dissenting views, which views are shared by others in the party.
Attempts to form alliance among the Opposition have not done enough to dispel the negative notions. The two opposition Parties, PF and UPND, have entered into a political PACT leading onto the 2011 elections.
Today, an average Zambian if asked what he/she anticipates in a PF/UPND led government; the answer is ever open-ended “dependent on who will eventually lead the alliance”. This hanging issue surrounding who leads the ‘PACT’ above anything else reveals the susceptibility of the alliance to failure and eventually the incapacity of the opposition to spearhead a formidable campaign.
The alliance has two candidates, Sata and HH, to choose from, to lead them in the 2011 Presidential elections. Both candidates are clearly hopeful to lead the PACT with, Sata, enjoying the greater prospect to emerge the sole candidate.
HH, the younger of the two, representing UPND has however, not counted himself out, relying on what some have termed ‘dicey grounds’ for his aspirations. Some of his Party members have openly criticized him for ‘falling to the whims’ of the politically seasoned Sata. However, HH has been quoted saying “I am my own man under no duress,” counting on deductible but presently concealed derivatives and eventualities which, he hopes, will sway the tide to his side.
Some have openly said that HH’s strategies are partly reliant on the assumption that Sata, who was last time evacuated to South Africa for medication, will eventually be unable to keep up or ‘fall out’. Whilst others have said that HH hopes to reap from the NCC recommendations restricting Presidential candidates to degree holders, which if implemented may basically exclude Sata from the upcoming Presidential elections.
Another dent on the PF/UPND alliance is the absence of defined fundamentals binding them together and as such the impression created that the ‘PACT’ is simply a marriage of convenience solely formed under the pretext to ‘kick out’ the MMD formed government. This alliance has been compared to that between the ‘Vulture and Hyena’.
In the last bye election held in Kasama (Bemba land), it is said, “The Tongas escorted the Bembas and so the Bembas will escort the Tongas in Southern Province (Tongaland)” implying that the PACT does not have tangible evidence of its claims. It is easy to see how fragile the alliance is from such statements.
Such is the frailty of the PF/UPND alliance plagued on one hand with fundamental incompatibilities and on the other, an un-saleable agenda.
The ruling Party has its share of problems, not spared from internal squabbles, but nothing compared to the kind found among the opposition, remaining more or less the same level they were at the last Presidential elections, enjoying a countrywide support.
Given decisive measures by the Party’s (MMD) hierarchy to curb the manageable dents and if they devise a clear cut campaign strategy, behind the backdrop of opposition party fragmentation, it is not difficult to see that the MMD could easily make huge inroads and thus consolidate their lead, remaining in government beyond 2011.
No hope, Iwe, uletusha pakulemba, abantu tabalebelenga ifi ulembele fya fulisha. Start afresh, this time remember to post one paragraph per day, that way people will know what you are talikng about.
No hope, Iwe, uletusha pakulemba, abantu tabalebelenga ifi ulembele fya fulisha. Start afresh, this time remember to post one paragraph per day, that way people will know what you are complaining about.
number 14..pliz allow me to quote you,your statement is classic
Spot on # 35 / 36 Alistoto. Mwebe uyu cimbwi. He is wasting space as we really cannot read all that stuff from one individual or is it spam?
Winstone Zulu II:
So why don’t the MMD lead the way in democratic behaviors than fall into the same rubish bin that the opposition are in?
If you want to clain a higher moral ground for your Party, then show us that you are who you preach to be; “DEMOCRATS”!!
For sure RB has been sending mixed signals on this issue. Why can’t he just come out and put this issue to rest once and for all. He is the Party President, isn’t he? He should stop talking from “both sides of his mouth!!”
# 13, 14 Veteran or whatever you call yourself these days, please spare us your rhetorical BS.
How can this man rule Zambia, when he cannot tell simple truths? He is the person who has been castigating those calling for a convention. Zambians, please wake up.
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#39 Yambayamba thanks for that observation:
My only augument is that we should apply the same standard to all parties when we call for these democratic acts. If Sata cannot uphold the constitution of the party that he himself created, what gaurantee do you have that he’s going to uphold the republican constitution & the rule of law once he’s in power…. with all the state machinery at his disposal? Let us not be quick to forget that this is the same man that has clearly shown a propensity to abrogate the rule of law, not only within his own party, but even when he was a minister in Chiluba’s regime. Do you not recall that he was at the forefront advocating for “the third term”or have you forgotten?
#43 Winstone; worry about your own party, clean up your house then you can point a finger at your neighbour,Mpombo,Magande and others want democracy to prevail in their party, the mmd not PF, i really cant see your argument,is it about PF or MMD. Quote:PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has told MMD members agitating for the holding of the national convention to resign from the party and join political parties they think will hold conventions soon.
argue on this basis not on PF,RB is very very economical with the trueth
This man’s length of memory is as short as Chiluba, is he not the only only a month ago was telling people advocating for the convention to resign from the party? Anyway, with advisers like Griver Shikasote, Shikapwasha and the ever dull Mlongoti whose only purpose in their current lives is to kiss the stinking and rotten Chewa baboon’s backside, where it never shines!
Chess Grandmaster Honored by President of Zambia
UT Dallas Graduate Student is Sub-Saharan Africa’s Highest-Ranked Player
A UT Dallas chess team grandmaster has been formally recognized by the president of Zambia, his home country.
Amon Simutowe, an international political economy graduate student, was honored by President Rupiah Banda with the President’s Medal of Meritorious Achievement.
“This honor is generally given to people who are older. The average age of recipients is usually above 40, so it was a great surprise for the president to honor me much earlier,” said Simutowe. “It’s great to have attention from my home country, especially when you are just doing something you enjoy.”
Simutowe is the only grandmaster (GM) from Sub-Saharan Africa and is Africa’s only black GM. He is only the third black GM in the world.
The GM title is awarded to outstanding chess players by Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), the world chess federation. Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. It is awarded to players whose FIDE ratings exceed 2500. Once achieved, the distinction is held for life.
Simutowe was honored during the Zambian Independence Day investiture ceremony on Oct. 24, but he was unable to return home in time to attend the ceremony and receive the award in person.
He earned two international master norms when he won the African Junior Chess Championship in 1998 and retained the title the following year after winning all the games. He later competed and finished second at the World Junior Championship.Simutowe is from the Zambian capital of Lusaka. He came to UT Dallas in 2003 to study economics and graduated in 2006. He is currently an international political economy graduate student in the School of Economic, Political & Policy Sciences.
#4 Iwe Chi Veteran who gives you authority to talk about MMD when you were UNIP at the time we were forming MMD. Yes as the letters say MMD is supposed to be the mother of Democracy in Zambia, but it has become a non caring mother who has let her children to become STREET KIDS. It all started in 1996 when Ka Chiluba doctored the consititution in order to bar KK from standing. This was followed by the 3rd Term nonsense. It became worse when former UNIP vermin jumped on board. So what democracy are you talking about?
bushe Ba President inchito yabo yama compaign fye. every time he is in Zambia he talks about politics. so next week he is going abroad some where.
Are the service commanders pregnant or what in the picture or it is obesity. If they are obese, they need something to be done. If they are preg we can organise baby showers for them.
power for sure. I think some of these powers of the president should be striped off if Zambia is to develop.
Vote for MMD, It is the only party that makes sense in this country , look at all the development it has brought. Please people listen to THE vICE pRESIDNET vOTE FOR THE PARTY THAT HAS THE RESOURCES.
#44 Smoothcriminal:
1. In a democracy ones views and opinions are not and should not be confined to one’s political party affiliation.
2. It is undisputable that our country does need CHANGE owing to the many social, political and economic hardships that continue to plague our people. Indeed people hunger for change (myself too)! However, my only concern is that people’s hunger for change, should not cloud their reasoning and critical ability!
Am nt suprised dis is rb we talking abt changin his stance coz of da by-elections
RB you have no shame aii you just talk talk like one who has no advisers. You make the people of Zambia lose even the 0.5% hope they have in you. can’t you first reflect to the past statements you made you talking again. elo uleikalako napanshi ulepwisha ulupiya lwa chalo. some of the trips you delegate, stop making unnecessary epxpenses. chabashanipa ZED KANSHI.