Veteran politician Vernon Johnson Mwaanga has declared that President Hakainde Hichilema has set a very high standard of anti-corruption that must be followed by people he is working with.
Dr. Mwaanga said people working under President Hichilema must follow his high standard of anti-corruption or be relieved of their government duties.
The former Chief Government Whip in the MMD regime also said it will not be easy for the New Dawn Government to clean-up the mess left by PF.
Dr. Mwaanga further highlighted the importance of adhering to democratic tenets.
“Our country has gone through a number of governance phases since independence in 1964. We had multi-party from 1964 to 1973, when we then had a socialist one party system, which lasted the next 18 years, when we reverted to multi-party system. Each of these systems was called a democracy. The one party socialist system subsequently became unpopular with a great majority of our people, because it failed to put food on the tables of a great majority of our people. We even experienced ugly food riots which started on the Copperbelt. The country went through a dark period. Our mothers spent hours on end, queuing for a mealie meal, cooking oil, bath soap, sugar, washing powder etc. Fanta, Coca-Cola, Sprite had disappeared and poor alternatives had hit the market in the name of Tip Top, Tarino and Quench,” Dr. Mwaanga stated.
“When in 1991 the people of Zambia, overwhelmingly voted for change, the MMD took over a country which was riddled with domestic and external debt. Nearly 80% of the national economy was under State control, including the mines. The people of Zambia developed a culture of fearing their leaders, instead the leaders fearing their masters- the people who elected them. The people were afraid to tell their leaders what was going wrong in the country, for fear of retribution. Citizens should not fear their leaders. They should fully respect their leaders and leaders must earn this respect, through their words and deeds,” he said.
Dr. Mwaanga charged that the PF regime has left a debt burden and the general government mess.
“When UPND was voted into power in August, 2021, they did not expect to find the debt burden obtaining and the general government mess. It will not be easy to clean-up the mess they found. Key areas of milking government, was largely through faulty tender procedures for fertiliser and fuel procurement. Care must be taken to avoid mistakes of the past. Fertiliser under the Fertiliser Input Supply Programme (FISP) , enables small scale farmers to produce the bulk of the food consumed by our citizens. Fertiliser supply in good time and distribution to the rural most parts of Zambia is critical. Local companies with the capacity to supply and distribute, must not be ignored at the expense of local companies, even if it invokes the old adage which says that “the devil you know, is better than the angel you don’t know”. Politics is a commitment to serve the country and people. Politics is not for people who want to make money. President Hakainde Hichilema has set very high standards of anti-corruption and those under him must follow or be relieved of their government duties,” he said.
Dr. Mwaanga added that the UPND led Government will always face criticism even after implementing some election campaign promises like provision of free education, ending cadrelism, paying retirees, recruiting over 40,000 civil servants.
“UPND was nationally elected to make a difference from PF and President Hakainde Hichilema defeated the incumbent President by a whooping margin of one million votes, something never done before. There will always be critics, even after implementation of a number of key election promises like free education, ending cadrelism, paying retirees, recruiting over 30,000 teachers and 11,000 health personnel among others. People are now free to criticise the government and the President. Those who are misguided seem to think that the democracy reintroduced by the New Dawn Government, has no limits. Even in the oldest democracies, there are limits in the form of laws which must be observed without exception by all citizens,” he said.
Dr. Mwaanga concluded:”Democracy is not price neutral and carries citizen’s rights as well as responsibilities. Both must be given equal emphasis. Most importantly, we should remember that our belief in democracy must always be consistent. We should avoid believing in democracy only when we are in opposition, but forget its importance when we are or were a ruling party. This important warning applies to all political parties, and they are well advised to heed this call. Whether we are in government or in opposition – the meaning and importance of democracy should remain the same.”
Sounds like Father of the Nation to me!
Bed time……
Look who’s talking…. look into his mouth.
Dr. Mwaanga is a Wreckage left by the way. He is no longer useful.
Probably indirectly and politely soliciting for donations…. he’s always been a bad finance manager.
This old man should just be resting at the farm and retire from politics
Well said veteran politician, plunderers like PF will never welcome your message. Kambwili who was in their party told us of how the corrupt PF was, that message was direct from an insider
Name one corruption case in which any person has been convicted under hh. If you fail to do so then you and this sick womaniser Vernon are all f00Is
Mbuzi
Sit down iwe shaa
I have asked you to name a single convicted corruption case. I am still waiting
Well said VJ, the guilty are afraid
I will always tap into the wisdom of VJ, ignore the negative comments from the late PF party, it is bruises from the August 12 drubbing talking
You tap into wisdom of a drug dealer like Vernon. Says alot about you
A rickety shelter called a toll gate between Ndola and Kitwe was costing 80 million kwacha one under PF, and one wants to abuse VJ for calling a spade a spade, stained plunderers you are.
Honestly the kind of mouth pieces speaking on corruption in Zambia, no wonder our standards are low and we don’t get anywhere with the fight. He who comes to justice must himself have clean hands.
Vernon comes with tainted drug hands
Political persecution ati high standard? My foot!
Actually I have to agree. The ACC is active now and has something to do. This is even better than during Levy’s time.
You can’t call this high standard. It is clearly witch hunting on revenge mission by BMW
Self-confessed Mandrax Dealer now turned Praise-Singer-in-Chief trying to launder his image.
Attack his WORDS and not his person. There is nothing wrong in what he says, He has just stated facts.
No wonder SOME of you Zambian bloggers are just a waste of time, you don’t focus on the content that is quoted, you are always looking at discrediting the author. And that is an indication that you have NOTHING to offer. Period. You spend time insulting and ridiculing others, instead of providing valuable content in form of countering what is mentioned in the article, that way other people will learn. How does the younger generation who might have not experienced VJ, learn from your comments?
No wonder Zambia is in the ditch where it is, it’s because YOU let politician take advantage of YOU because they (politicians) realize how STU.PID you are, and you will “bark” based on the sh!t they give you. You don’t custom your brains to think, but to follow. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
Nomba you want people to blog the way you want them to? Who are you?
What is there to learn .? Tell us …..if you know.
Better to keep quiet sometimes. The past of some so called freedom fighters is not worth talking about. We can appreciate and remember Mainza Chona , Mungoni Liso, Daniel Lisulo, Julia Chikamoneka, Simon Kapwepwe, Nalumino Mundia, and others. But Hussein and Mandrax awe.
VJ your message has hit the plunderers hard, going by their reaction above. Instead of focusing on your message, they are deflecting as usual, these hard cores, nobody will escape the drag net.
VJ is always on firm ground, the corrupt are shaking especially from the ubomba mwibala alya mwibala regime
My advice to VJ is to as much as possible avoid partisan statements. HH hasn’t even started to govern, so there are many of us that don’t agree with the statement on the anti-corruption crusade. We’ll gauge HH when he begins to take action on those close to him like the fertilizer man
The dogs hit by the bricks are the ones barking….we’ll said VJ.
Mr VJ has played his part in writing of Zambia’s history….and he has seen and worked closely with all BUT ONE of Zambia’s presidents, and that president is no other than ECL. So for him to say that HH is raising the bar, he knows what he’s talking about. KK raised the standards in terms of integrity and morality, but these standards started falling under FTJ with whom VJ was very close to. LPM attempted to raise them but alas, these fell and hit rock bottom with ECL. HH has a very simple task of just stooping low and lifting them off of the floor.
The president has refused to lift DPPs oath of secrecy..And a fo.ol is busy doing praise singer..Why not lift that oath!
Mr. Has served in almost all Govt’s to date except PF and UPND. What is interesting is his choice of words. Hakainde did not set up the Acc, he just brought it under his feet(state house). The emphasis on corruption fight is no one man’s show. What happens when Hakainde is not president anymore.? The Acc under Hakainde is very swift in acting on Hakainde’s political opponents. Also suffice to say the the majority of the people of Zambia rejected the PF. The southern vote has always been constant for UPND.