Sata’s Ignorant, Says Ronnie

21 May 2011

CHIEF Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha has described a statement by Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata that the road construction works would not take off due to lack of budgetary allocation as a reflection of his deep levels of ignorance on themanagement of the country’s affairs.

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha said the national Budget provided forallocations for the donor community, both local and international toprovide development assistance.

Gen Shikapwasha was commenting on adverts in yesterday’s Zambia DailyMail where the Road Development Agency (RDA) was seeking bids for theroad maintenance of urban roads in Chingola and other roads funded byDanida in Luapula and Western provinces under the projects launchedby President Banda.

Gen Shikapwasha, who is also Minister of Information and Broad castingServices said Mr Sata must seek an orientation on how Government runsto avoid cheating people because some of the mistakes he was making were unbearable for an opposition leader.

Mr Sata on Thursday said there was no budgetary provision for theconstruction of Chembe bridge, Kapiri-Mposhi-Kasama Road and the restof the projects that were launched by President Banda.

Mr Sata said the launch was meant to hoodwink the voters ahead of theelections.Gen Shikapwasha said the commencement of the process shows howignorant Mr Sata was and how much he had exposed himself to the lowestlevels due to failure to understand issues.

The adverts sought consultants for financial and technical proposalsfor the road construction and bridge maintenance.

Gen Shikapwasha said everyone expected Mr Sata to understand basicfacts on the role of international institutions such the World Bank,the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the African Development Bankand the private sector within Zambia.

It was not true that every project was funded directly from the national Budget and wondered why Mr Sata keeps on embarrassing himself every day.

Gen Shikapwasha said Mr Sata must have qualified advisors instead ofusing call boys as advisors in a world that had transformed technologically.

The minister said while Mr Sata was preaching wrong information thatthe road construction project launched in Kitwe would not take place,Government had mobilised firms to start construction.

“Let me invite Mr Sata to come for an orientation workshop on howGovernment is managed.

When President Banda commissioned theconstruction of Mongu-Kalabo Road, Mr Sata said the project would nottake place because there was no funding but construction is going on.

He opposes everything even things which people are seeing,” Gen Shikapwasha said.On Mr Sata’s claim that he was a credible leader with a cleanrecord, Gen Shikapwasha said the old editions of his personalautograph, the Post newspaper had a compilation of the things Mr Satadid.

He wondered why Mr Sata had not denied the allegations and taken the Post newspaper to court if what they wrote on the pact were incorrectabout the type of leader Mr Sata was.

Gen Shikapwasha said some of the editions had been published by ‘standup for Zambia’ that airs on the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) television and Mr Sata had failed to deny them.

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