IF ZAMBIANS DON’T FUND MY CAMPAIGN, IT MEANS THEY’RE HAPPY WITH HOW THINGS ARE – SANGWA
MOVEMENT for National Renewal leader John Sangwa says he would rather not take part in an election than beg foreign interests to fund his campaign.
He adds that if he doesn’t receive campaign contributions from Zambians, it would indicate that citizens are satisfied with the current state of the country.
Meanwhile, Sangwa argues that Zambia’s judiciary is currently weak.
Appearing on the Justified Politics Podcast earlier this week, Sangwa said renewal was about trying something new.
“Renewal is not about doing the same thing, it’s actually about abandoning things that have been repeatedly done and trying something new. And no one has ever come out in Zambia to say I’m going to have my campaign fully funded by Zambians, we want to do that. And somebody asked me to say, what if you don’t get the money? Well, if I don’t get the money, it means Zambians are happy with the status and there is nothing I’m going to do about that, it’s as simple as that. I love my country and I can make sacrifices, but there is one line that I cannot cross and that is to start begging money from business interests and foreign interests, that I will not do. I would rather not take part in the election at all. If we don’t get the money, all what it means is that Zambians are happy with the way things are. If Zambians don’t fund it (campaign) then that’s it, I’ll respect that it’s a democracy after all,” he said.
Speaking on the independence of the judiciary, Sangwa said Zambia’s judiciary under the one-party state was more effective than it is now.
“What we have seen since 2021 is the complete distraction of oversight institutions. By oversight, I mean the Judiciary, you’re also talking about the National Assembly, you’re also talking about institutions like that of the Auditor General and all these institutions that are supposed to serve as a check on the presidency. They are either occupied by people that are sympathetic to the regime or they are just weak, underfunded and ultimately completely ineffectual.
They exist on paper but in real terms they are completely ineffective. What is worse in every country; I have a saying [that] it’s okay to have a corrupt and weak president, it’s okay to have a weak and corrupt National Assembly but you cannot survive to have a weak and corrupt Judiciary,” said Sangwa.
“Once you have that, you’re basically gone as a people and that is where we are. Not only is our Judiciary very weak but I have been practicing law for 36 years and I have never seen the Judiciary at this point in terms of weakness. In fact, the Judiciary we had during the time of one-party rule from 1972 to 1991 was a far more effective Judiciary than we currently have.
.So, really when you talk about Judiciary, you are not just being serious, this is an institution that has literally collapsed. Still on the Judiciary, the biggest problem is not really the structure of the institution, the biggest problem is the character of individuals appointed to these offices.
Recently they were recruiting some judges and I said as a way of improving the status of the Judiciary, can we have a transparent system of appointment? I’ve always challenged judges and some of them are my friends and I always say that none of the judges in Zambia often say they were appointed on merit. Not a single judge in Zambia can say ‘I was appointed on merit,’ why? There is no transparent system”.
News Diggers
Stop blackmailing Zambians, useless politicians. You want funding from the same people you say are impoverished. If you don’t know what to do , leave the playground, go back to Ziale where you block people by failing them 90 percent controlling market for lawyer entering the field , selfish chaps
Why should people fund John Sangwa’s personal political agenda? If he truly has humanity at heart, how many ordinary Zambians has he offered free legal services to throughout his legal career?
Secondly, isn’t it misleading to claim that all judges were not appointed on merit? Doesn’t such a statement insult the integrity of the judiciary? Can John Sangwa explain how transparency in appointing judges should be achieved and how the judiciary can be strengthened?
So how has the same judges recruitment process used by other previous regimes changed under this presidency? As a lawyer you should know making unsubstantiated sweeping statements is very lazy. Let’s have an intellectual debate and not making subjective statements to push a lame agenda.
A useless scammer! He woke up too late. He realised how his fellow crook scammed Zambians by pretending to be humble and when they made a mistake of putting him there, he turned around and shook everything. This scammer wanted to use the same trick, he just realised that Zambians changed from what they were in 2015. Why should Zambians pay for your campaign? What great things have done for them to do that. You’re a failed shameless chap. Go to he’ll!
Yes, we are happy with the direction things are going.
And there is no obligation on the part of citizens to fund anyone’s political career.
If Sangwa was serious, he would have raised the funds himself. This begging from the public is a huge red flag about his political intentions.
Mr John Sangwa can be so naive and simplistic in his logic. “If Zambians can’t fund his election then they are happy with the current government…”, what kind of basic reasoning is that and he wsnts to be our President? He prefers local Funding to Foreign Funding. What is the difference? The only local Funding he can get is likely to come from powerful local businesses with foreign connections. Whether Local or Foreign the “Piper will choose the Tune” It is the same stupid reason that our Independence Politicians fed us with by telling us that we should kick out thd White Masters only to be replaced and enslaved by the Black FacesI who are often even worse.
Individual Zambians at personal level do not have money to waste funding a Politician who may just eat their poor hard earned income. I wouldn’t.
Zambia is a better place today than it was during the time of MMD and PF.The HH Administration has done well this far they have built a good foundation what we can do is support them to continue building in the next 5 years
Another lawyer from Congo is seizing opportunities and positioning himself for the presidency in Zambia just like Mutaware. Now, he seeks financial support from impoverished Zambians to realize his ambitions. Ikona man.