President Banda says he will not use his executive powers to degazzete Senior Chief Bright Nalubamba of Namwala in Southern Province for his continued attacks and name-calling against him.
Mr Banda said he will allow Senior Chief Nalubamba to continue being on the throne so that people can judge the kind of a traditional leader he is.
Addressing a mammoth campaign rally at Kagoro Basic School in Milanzi yesterday for MMD candidate Whiteson Banda in the April 29 parliamentary by-election, Mr Banda said Senior Chief Nalubamba has been calling him a liar and all sorts of names and MMD supporters have been asking him to use his powers to degazzete the traditional leader.
“Chief Nalubamba has called me all sorts of names. He has called me a liar and my supporters were furious and wanted me to degazzete him. I will not degazzete him. I will leave him to be chief so that the people can see who he really is,” he said.
Mr Banda said he has great respect for traditional leaders and people will never hear him using derogatory language against them even if some of them have been calling him names.
He said Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata and his United Party for National Development (UPND) counterpart Hakainde Hichilema have been attacking chiefs in newspapers.
The President said Mr Sata has been using unacceptable language against Paramount Chief Chitimukulu, who is his own traditional leader.
He said Mr Hichilema has also been calling Chief Mwanachingwala derogatory names and announced that the people of Mazabuka have dethroned him when the UPND leader has no powers to degazzete a traditional ruler.
Mr Banda wondered what would happen if either of the two opposition leaders became President.
The President said Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema cannot take any form of criticism and as such they are not suitable to become heads of State.
And Mr Banda said Mr Hichilema has confused the feelings of people of Southern Province by forming a pact with Mr Sata whom the province has always rejected as observed in past elections in which the PF leader has always come out the least preferred candidate.
The President said he came out second in all the constituencies of Southern Province during the 2008 presidential elections expect in Livingstone, where he won.
He said in the 2008 elections, Mr Hichilema came out first, he second, Heritage Party president Godfrey Miyanda third and Mr Sata last in Southern Province.
Mr Banda said this was a clear sign that the people of Southern Province do not want the PF leader to be President but preferred him to be head of State if Mr Hichilema was not available.
“It is a very bad decision for Hakainde to join Sata just for one reason of getting into power. They have always got zero power and they will continue getting zero. All of you here know very well that zero plus zero is equal to zero,” he said.
And Mr Banda said he has been in politics all his life and that he is the most suitable person to say true loyalty to one’s political party is good politics.
The President said this is the reason why Milanzi residents should vote for the MMD candidate in this monthend’s parliamentary by-election so that he can continue serving them.
He said voting for a candidate from the opposition will be a waste of time and votes because the person will have no direct contacts with Government.
Mr Banda also said his daily task is to ensure that every Zambian lives in peace and unity in line with the country’s ‘One Zambia, One Nation’ motto.
He said for many years, Zambia has not seen development because infrastructure like roads, schools, clinics and chiefs’ palaces have been destroyed by time.
The President assured that Government will always work towards rebuilding dilapidated social infrastructure as long as it remains in power.
Earlier, Zebron Banda and Armed Landela, who applied for adoption but were not picked, urged the people of Milanzi to vote for the MMD candidate because the party is associated with development.
[ Zambia Daily Mail ]
