No wonder this man is confined inside State House. His mouth is his own enemey. I can imagine him addressing a press conference,, mamamama Sata warns chief Jumbe against ‘careless’ utterances Lusaka, July 22, ZANIS---President Michael Sata has severely reprimanded chief Jumbe of the Kunda people of Mambwe district for verbally attacking Paramount chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni speaking people and Chairperson of the House of Chiefs chieftainess Nkomeshya Mukamambo II. President Sata warned chief Jumbe to be careful with his utterances and advised Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Nkandu Luo to lecture the traditional leader on what happened to dethroned chief Chitimukulu of the Bemba people Henry Sosala. The President told Chief Jumbe soon after arriving in the chamber of the House of Chiefs to officially open the sessions of the house this morning that he was aware of the traditional leader’s verbal attacks on the senior chiefs. “Where is chief Jumbe?” President Sata asked soon after entering the chamber of the House of Chief. “You chief Jumbe, you are condemning Paramount Chief Mpezeni and the Chair of the House of Chiefs Chieftainess Nkomeshya then what am I doing here?” Mr. Sata said he knew everything that chief Jumbe was saying every day even in secretive places. “If I don’t greet my Paramount Chief who am I going to greet. You chief Jumbe you were saying how can Sata introduce Mpezeni at a public meeting. You need to be very careful,” President Sata warned. He said he was aware of everything chief Jumbe has been saying everyday even utterances he makes in the confines of his house. He said he was trying to revive respect for traditional leaders who were not respected hence he was dismayed with chief Jumbe’s behaviour. Chief Jumbe is said to have attacked two traditional leaders after President Sata introduced Paramount Chief Mpezeni to the people at a public meeting recently. And President Sata took a swipe at the Clerk of the House of Chief Michael Pwete for allegedly failing to facilitate the travel of three chiefs from Muchinga province to attend the official opening of the House under instructions from the Attorney General. He said the traditional leaders were free to go anywhere in the country and wondered what powers the Attorney General has to direct that the three chiefs should not attend the ceremony. He directed the Ministry of Chiefs to arrange for an aero-plane to pick the three chiefs so they can also attend the sessions of the House of Chiefs. Meanwhile, President Sata said government was concerned with chiefdom wrangles the country was currently facing especially on matters bordering on boundaries and succession. He has since appealed to the chiefs to address the wrangles among themselves rather than in the courts of law as the time and money spent on resolving such issues deprive the country of development. Mr. Sata however commended the role the House of Chiefs continues to play in the socio-economic development of the country. Meanwhile, the President said government wants chiefs to live in humane conditions saying the way they were currently living was not worth of their status in society. President Sata said the Patriotic Front (PF) government wants to electrify chief’s palaces and sink boreholes at their premises and in villages. He lashed out at Mr. Pwete for not availing government a design of chief’s palaces so that construction of these houses can commence. He said the PF government was now 21 months old in government but chiefs’ palaces have remained un-electrified because certain people were not doing their job. President Sata said chiefs were the government of the day as they help in the day to day running of the country adding that as such they need to be respected. ZANIS/ENDS/PM/KSH…………………DRY
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 06:18:29 +0000