Reject leaders inciting violence – RB

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has called on Zambians to denounce violence by rejecting leaders that are promoting fighting ahead of this year’s elections.

And Mr Banda has wrapped up his four-day tour and campaign programme on the Copperbelt with a rally at Mishikishi Basic School in Masaiti yesterday where he asked the Zambian people to vote for him, his parliamentary and local government candidates for continued development.

Speaking when he addressed a mammoth rally at Kamuchanga grounds in Mufulira yesterday, President Banda said Zambians should reject violence because it had the potential to reverse all the economic gains the country had achieved.

He said every leader was obliged to condemn any form of fighting and that the best way to reject violence was to vote against leaders promoting violence.

President Banda said no leader should be permitted by the Zambians to bring hatred against one another and that every leader should not practise politics of name-calling.

“I saw on television and heard on radio that some opposition leaders are encouraging violence, but let us denounce violence by rejecting leaders that are inciting people to fight back when provoked.

“Make your point and let people decide, Zambians are intelligent people and so don’t underrate them,” he said.

President Banda said Zambians should remain united regardless of their tribe and that the primary objective of every Zambian during and after elections, should be to build the country further so that citizens enjoy better lives.

He urged the electorate not to be provoked into fighting others with different political views. He said this year’s campaigns should be enjoyable and a basis to build the foundation for the construction of a better country.

The president urged the electorate to vote for him and all MMD parliamentary and local government candidates so that appropriate laws could be passed for the benefit of the country.

He reiterated that Copperbelt Province residents should not vote for opposition leaders, especially councillors because they had failed to perform in their respective councils in the last five years.

Mr Banda said Zambians should vote for him for continued peace and promised that his Government would continue building schools throughout Zambia.

He said the country’s population was growing and there was therefore need to grow the economy by building more schools, hospitals and factories so that the Government could collect more revenue and improve the country.

Mr Banda said the Government would continue improving the road network, fix bridges throughout the country and ensure that good, clean water was provided to the people.

He also said the Government would continue providing farming subsidies so that farmers could grow enough food for the whole country.

“Elect me so that we can have peace and so that we look after our country because things are looking good and the country is doing well economically,” he said.

At the same rally, President Banda said offer letters to sitting tenants of Kamuchanga and Mine Basic School houses were ready while those for Mokambo customs would be given out next week.

He said he had continued receiving petitions throughout the country, especially on the Copperbelt Province requesting him to assist them.

Mr Banda said the Government would continue responding to the petitions positively and noted that many families had suffered for a long time without houses while others were living in dilapidated units.

He further said the Government had decided to issue letters of offer to demarcate forest areas and also demarcate areas such as Ipusukilo and Bwana Mkubwa in Kitwe and Ndola, respectively.

And after the rally, President Banda visited the residential area of the 46 relocated Zambia Railways families for whom the Government constructed houses in Kamuchanga Township.

Later, the president toured Kankoyo, Buteko and Kamuchanga markets with a view to familiarising himself with the challenges facing marketeers in the district.

Meanwhile, President Banda castigated the opposition for failing to appreciate the development which the MMD Government had brought into the country.

He told a huge crowd of MMD supporters in Masaiti that since 2008, the country had become better where even the international community had appreciated the development.

President Banda said the Government had allocated resources to all the people of Zambia in the nine provinces and serviced them with facilities to build infrastructure.

“To my amazement, the opposition denies to talk about these facts, that the country is making progress. When the opposition says there is nothing happening, ask them to open their eyes so that they can see. The people of Zambia are seeing that there is change,” he said.

President Banda said real change was already happening in Zambia and that his administration wanted change to continue if voted back into power.

He said his party would not stop building quality infrastructure, improve access to health facilities and work on providing clean and safe water to the people so that they could enjoy a better life.

He said a leader was supposed to be a servant of the people and not their master and that the only basis upon which a leader could stand in front of the voters and ask for their vote was to work for them.

He thanked the Zambian people for their dedication to hard work, saying much of the development and agricultural revolution could not have taken place without their cooperation, hard work and discipline.

And three losing MMD aspirants for Masaiti Constituency have pledged their support to the adopted candidate, Michael Katambo.

The trio, who included Jazzman Chikwakwa, Robert Lwebesha and Michael Musonda and had been co-opted in the campaign team for Mr Katambo, said they would campaign for the party’s adopted candidate.

Speaking at the same rally, sister of the late third Republican president Levy Mwanawasa, Eva appealed to the people of Masaiti to give President Banda another term.

Ms Mwanawasa said President Banda was brought in by the Lamba people, hence the need for them to give him a new term of office.

MMD national secretary Richard Kachingwe urged the MMD members to remain peaceful to ignore those provoking them.

Zambians are clever people they would not give votes to people who threaten violence but if MMD members practise peace they would get more votes.

“My colleagues go to the people and beg for their vote for President Banda based on humbleness, they will give you their vote,” Major Kachingwe said.

Former Home Affairs minister, Newstead Zimba cautioned the people against listening to some opposition leaders whose messages had nothing better to offer to them.

And former vice-president Enoch Kavindele urged Zambians not to vote for opposition leader Michael Sata because he failed to work when he was a Cabinet minister.

[Times of Zambia]