CHIPIMO EMERGES AS STAR OF SECOND ROUND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE The second and final round of presidential debates lived up to the pre-stage hype with the candidates making the most of their hour in the limelight to press their case for election on Tuesday. UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema said that electing a national president was not a joke that depended on people twisting their tongues about things that were unachievable. And Forum for Democracy and Development president Edith Nawakwi who seemed more composed than her male contemporaries said that African states were led by good presidents but with bad constitutions. National Restoration Party president Elias Chipimo may have very easily been the star of the night if it were down to rhetoric with his damning pronouncement that he would reduce the cabinet to 12 ministers sitting well with the huge audience. With ruling Patriotic Front candidate Edgar Lungu staying away, the audience may have had a little compensation by the high standard of debate that had an additional US$15 billion Marijuana spice Gross Domestic Product injection promise from the ever green Peter Sinkamba from his proposed ganja revolution. Meanwhile, Forum for Democracy and Development leader Edith Nawakwi said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had become a dumping ground for party cadres that were sent in foreign missions without being properly vetted. MMD president Nevers Mumba’s prognosis that Zambia needed a moral leader did not go well with his opponents who roundly drew the air off it with Nawakwi arguing that Zambia did not need a good leader but a good constitution. “Africa is led by good people but with bad constitutions. We need a good constitution and not good leaders,” Nawakwi said. However, Mumba stood his ground and submitted that a bad leader could corrupt a bad constitution. Chipimo said that if NAREP is handed the instruments of power they would have a 12 member cabinet. “What we are going to do as NAREP once we get into power is to have a cabinet of 12 because cabinet ministers are only advisers to the President,” Chipimo said. The UPND leader submitted that he would deliver a people driven constitution before the 2016 general elections and also stuck to the mantra of providing free education. Hichilema also said he would ensure that NGO Act of 2009 is repealed as demanded by the civil society organizations. However MMD’s Mumba disagreed with Hichilema saying that Zambia needed an economic manager arguing that Zambia’s problems could not be reduced to one aspect of expertise like an economist as argued by Hichilema. Hichilema had said, “If you are sick where do you go to? Do you go to a mechanic? No. You go to a Doctor. If your car is broken down, where do you go to? A mechanic. Where do you go if your economy is ruined? You need an economic manager.” But Mumba argued, “To limit the presidency to one area of expertise like a business manager because a president is not a jack of all trades but one who acknowledges his limitations and the strengths of others and creates a team that works together.” Nawakwi said that the Foreign Service had become a dumping ground for relatives and cadres who could not add any value to the foreign service. Green Party’s Sinkamba charmed the audience with his green revolution that he said would leap the country’s Gross Domestic Product from its current US$15 billion to US$35 billion in just one year of being in power. zambiareports/2015/01/16/chipimo-emerges-star-second-round-presidential-debate/
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 08:10:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015