UPND reveals Rupiah’s offer | Post #Zambia: postzambia/news.php?id=5219 THE UPND says Rupiah Banda approached them with an offer to support the party if it agreed to discontinue his court cases. Commenting on the revelations that Banda is supporting Edgar Lungu’s candidature in exchange for an acquittal, UPND deputy spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa said Banda had sent a team of high powered emissaries to broker a deal for him. “Yes, it is true that RB sent emissaries. A high-powered team was sent to meet high ranking UPND officials with a proposal that if RB supports us, then the issue of RB’s cases should be dropped and other related issues of RB’s interests,” Mweetwa said. He said information of Banda’s proposal had been communicated to him confirming that the former president’s emissaries had met with senior UPND officials who, however, rejected the proposal. “RB was of the view that since UPND and MMD MPs had been defending him over the issue of lifting his immunity when it was first brought to Parliament, he would maximise on that to get his immunity back,” Mweetwa said. He, however, revealed that the party officials refused Banda’s proposal because it undermined the rule of law. “We refused his support, we do not promote sectional or personal interests based on unlawful transactions. We do not want to come to government based on hell binding treaties that would dent us,” Mweetwa said. He further wondered what vision Lungu was following if he was embracing all the people that president Michael Sata had fired or castigated on grounds of corruption and abuse of office. “But what is now interesting is that the people who called RB corrupt are the people that RB is endorsing, thus it is very evident that when you marry RB and Edgar Lungu, you stand for nothing but self-interest,” said Mweetwa. “This is the reason that justifies that Lungu is visionless and moreover, he does not carry Sata’s vision in any way. In fact he has come to vanquish Mr Sata’s vision by eradicating any footprints of Sata’s fight against corruption and abuse of office. A number of people that Sata fired are the ones Lungu has embraced.” Sources have disclosed that the former president agreed to support Lungu’s candidature on condition that he discontinues his court cases, closes down The Post and removes Mutembo Nchito as Director of Public Prosecutions. But Banda said he is committed to the court process that was trying him. Reacting to the revelations, Banda said he had not sealed any deal with Lungu. “Why would I suggest the chasing of the DPP so that Lungu can easily drop my cases when I have been attending court sessions all along each time I was required to do so?” he asked. “I have often stated that we need to unite Zambia in harmony and regress from championing hatred and evil against one another. I have not hatched any deal with Lungu, a young politician, to have the DPP removed through a tribunal or a transfer to the Supreme Court so that my cases can be stopped. No.” And Banda said he believed in free speech that he could not encourage or scheme with Lungu or any candidate that would win the January 20 presidential polls to close down The Post. “Why would I want to close The Post now when I could have done [it] when I was president if I wanted? I have no intentions to encourage anybody to close The Post,” he said. “There is no way I can encourage anyone to close the [news]paper, whoever is peddling that story just wants to divide the country. Why would I want to see The Post to be closed when I am even with you a journalist from there moving with me? Closing The Post will not bring peace and unity in the country.” Banda said he had even advised Lungu to move on a path of reconciliation with every Zambian instead of being vengeful if he was elected president. “Even when I was president, I could not close The Post because I did not want to be tyrannical leader who is an affront to press freedom. So the so-called deal is unfounded as it contains no aorta of truth,” said Banda. - See more at: postzambia/news.php?id=5219#sthash.BLyKVZK5.dpuf
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 16:30:44 +0000
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