LUSAKA businessman Austin Chewe (above) says he is not interested in the MMD leadership in the short or long-term, contrary to a list in the possession of Daily Mail that earlier stated that he was one of the top contenders.
He said this in Lusaka yesterday in a statement.
“I categorically deny that I am vying for the MMD presidency neither do I have plans in the near or distant future to lead the MMD,” Captain Chewe said.
This leaves eight people on the list less than two weeks before the party can close the “expressions of interest” for the job, which seems to have lost its allure as analysts call for a “strong opposition” to offer checks and balances to the President Sata-led Patriotic Front government, following Mr Rupiah Banda’s decision to retire.
But MMD Chisamba member of Parliament Moses Muteteka says he will embrace the original ideologies and aspirations the party stood for the time it was formed if elected party president.
Mr Muteteka, who is one of the MMD members who have expressed interest in the party presidency, said he will reform the party so that it can regain the support it lost from the people of Zambia.
Mr Muteteka is one of the eight party members on the list of MMD members who have applied for the party’s top-most position.
The others are former Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande, former Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane, former Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Felix Mutati and Zambia’s High Commissioner to Canada Nevers Mumba. Former Minister of Local Government and Housing Brian Chituwo, Charles Ngesa, a party member based on the Copperbelt, and Mr Nason Msoni, who contested the Kabwata parliamentary seat as an independent, are the other aspirants.
Mr Pande said he will issue a statement at an appropriate time while Mr Musokotwane said he would talk when ready. Mr Mutati also promised to issue a comprehensive statement on his plans to contest the MMD presidency.
However, Mr Muteteka said he needs support from the elderly politicians because they have always said the youth are future leaders. He said most politicians have been talking about the youth being the “leaders of tomorrow” but never support them (youth) when tomorrow comes.
In an interview yesterday, he said, “We had the best ideologies which the people of Zambia believed in, I want to take the MMD to those beliefs they embraced at the time the party was formed.”
Mr Muteteka, who observed that the people of Zambia have over the years lost confidence in the party because it abandoned its principles over the years, promised to provide credible leadership that will manage financial resources and ensure the youth benefit.
Mr Muteteka said it is now time for the youth to provide leadership for the nation. He said he gets his inspiration from being a youth and has understood the challenges the youth face in the country.
He said he wants to give attention to the youth, who make up 78 percent of the Zambian population so that they can look after the parents. “I’m not saying we are going to ignore our parents, but we will take them as serious consultants of knowledge. I would rather their put us in front,” Mr Muteteka said.
He said he is enjoying support in the party and he will be judged by his performance as party youth chairman. “The loss of Rupiah Banda has changed everything and, therefore, since I already had the intentions, I have expressed my intention to contest the position now.
I cannot wait for 2016 because an opportunity has come,” he said. He advised Zambians criticising President Sata to do so within reason, saying “we will provide constructive criticism, but let’s support him (President Sata) because he needs our support”.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
