GEARS Initiative Zambia executive director MacDonald Chipenzi has urged Zambians to ignore politicians who use them during elections as stepping stones for their selfish gain and abandon them after.
Chipenzi says Inonge Wina must account for her stay as Vice-President for seven years hailing from Western Province and should also explain why the province has remained with very poor road network and poor infrastructure development during her stay as vice-president.
“We want to urge the people of Zambia, not only those in Western Province but the entire country to ignore politicians who use them during elections as stepping stones for their selfish gain and abandon them after,” he said.
In agreeing with former Barotseland Ngambela, Clement Sinyinda on the state of development in Barotseland, Chipenzi said Vice-President Wina must tell her people why the King Lewanika University, Mongu Stadium, Sesheke University and Sesheke Nursing College commissioned during the Sesheke parliamentary by-election had not been constructed during her stay in power as Vice-President.
“She must also explain why the Nkeyema-Kaoma-Katunda Junction road stretch has remained dilapidated and why Katunda-Mangango-Lukulu road despite the promise during the Mangango by-election to work on it and Kazungula-Sesheke roads remained unattended to while she flew whenever going into the province,” he said. “Bo Inonge Wina must explain to her people in Barotseland why the province does not have a modern tollgate but just simple shelters located on Sioma-Senanga road and Luampa-Mongu road and where do the toll fees collected from these shelters go to.”
He said it was also time for Vice-President Wina to explain why Nalolo district had no tarred road yet that was her former constituency as ruling party member of parliament and vice-president of the ruling party and that of the Republic.
Chipenzi said it was politically naive on the part of Vice-President Wina to now go closer to the people she neglected, ignored and abandoned for seven years only to reappear on an election year in her effort to canvass for votes with rhetoric than tangible development realism.
“Where has sonta gone or disappeared to? Unless, Bo Inonge Wina responds to the facts raised and put plainly by Clement Sinyinda on the state of development in Barotseland, people must not take her seriously on her argument that the province is underdeveloped because of having opposition members of parliament,” he said. “This political cheat and argument from ruling party officials in an effort to win political support that an area only develops when MPs are from the ruling party must be discarded in a multiparty democratic dispensation as it is old politics of the one party mentality and stifle the growth of multiparty democracy in Zambia. Look at Chama district, formerly for Eastern Province and now in Muchinga, it has had MPs from ruling party but can Inonge Wina explain why the Lundazi-Chama road is still poor and a gravel or why the Chama-Matumbo road connecting the district to its new parent province Muchinga has not been done in the last seven years despite an area having an MP from the ruling party?”
Chipenzi said it was not the responsibility of members of parliament to take development to a province but government while the MPs’ role was to facilitate, represent the people, and lobby for development and above all enact laws.
“If Inonge Wina has no any convincing message remaining to give the people of Western Province, it is better she concentrates on her exit plan as former vice-president after these elections,” said Chipenzi. “People must be free to vote for whoever they feel will give them better representation in parliament regardless of the party ticket they stood on in an election.”