Time For RB To Serve As President Is Long Gone -Kaingu

Michael Kaingu says time for Rupiah Banda to serve as President is long gone.

But MMD national chairman Kabinga Pande says there is nothing wrong with Banda coming back to politics if the people want him to do so.

The duo was commenting on a media report quoting Banda saying his return to politics would depend on the decision of the people of Zambia.

The former president was commenting on Vice-President Guy Scott’s statement that he would eat his heart if Banda returned as Republican president.

Vice-President Scott said the MMD in Eastern Province were telling people that Banda would return as president as he was merely on break.

But Banda was reported to have said his return would be dependent on the people and that he would ensure that Vice-President Scott does not eat his own heart.

And Kaingu, who is Mwandi member of parliament and former MMD vice-president for politics, said there was no leadership crisis in the country for Banda to want to come back and lead again.

“If the people of Zambia would want Kaingu to be a president, I will put my name forward, which is what Rupiah Banda is also saying but instead of the people of Zambia looking for Rupiah Bwezani Banda to come back, I think let them look for new blood. Time for people like Banda has gone,” Kaingu, who served as community development minister in Banda’s government, said.

“If people are thinking of RB coming back, then it means we are the ones who have failed, us who served under him, and it means the Zambians are also failing to discover fresh blood.”
He said Zambians must develop fresh leadership.

“If we are to fall back on the Kaundas of this world, we won’t go anywhere,” Kaingu warned.
“Men who have served their time should be given time to rest. If the people of Zambia would want Rupiah Bwezani Banda to come back, then it means this generation has failed to provide leadership but that is not all, it means that the old generation has also failed to develop leadership.”

He also said the MMD could not continue falling back on the same people that had been tried.

“We cannot continue falling on the same people and allowing them to cling to power. The arena has shifted to others,” said Kaingu.

But Pande, who is also Kasempa MMD member of parliament, said it was possible for Banda to get back to the presidency.

“You remember the current President Michael Sata used to say that late Levy (Mwanawasa) would never rule, over his dead body. Mwanawasa later became the president. Some people were saying ‘(Michael) Sata cannot rule’ but he is ruling. So the final decisions lie in the Zambians. It’s not for me or Guy Scott to say he can eat his heart if Banda is re-elected as President because he may not eat his heart. I remember one time President Mwanawasa was making a joke over President Sata that ‘Some people were saying Mwanawasa would not become president, over my dead body’, then jokingly he said ‘Oh I see them moving, I don’t know whether they are ghosts’. So even for this, we should not say it can’t happen. You can never know,” he said. “People could be jostling for power but God already knows the way it will be.”

Asked if Banda’s comeback would be reconciled with the current leadership, Pande said: “That is a decision that can be made by the party if that was to happen. The party can make a decision. Of course, I have heard it and read about.”

Posted by Kunda on September 10, 2014. Filed under POLITICS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry