Zambia
Zambian President "must leave State House"

Misanet.com / The Post, 9 August - Former local government and housing minister Ackson Sejani has given President Frederick Chiluba up to 29 November this year to vacate State House. The statement is another reaction to the ongoing speculations Chiluba might seek an unconstitutional third presidential term. 

Addressing The Post's Press Freedom Committee's Newsmakers' Forum at Ndola's Executive Lodge last evening, Sejani said Zambians will not tolerate President Chiluba after November 29 because his tenure of office would have expired.

- Chiluba's tenancy at State House ends on 29th November this year, Sejani declared. "The tenancy he signed with the people of Zambia ends on November 29. We are not going to allow him to cling on after that." Sejani also warned that President Chiluba may come back as president through the "back door".

He said the fact that he would still be the president of the ruling MMD party would make him so powerful that he could even expel his successor and install himself afterwards.

- Chiluba is even capable of coming back through the window so put burglar bars on your windows, Sejani told a cheering audience.

He said the chosen successor would merely be his puppet. "Why should one man find a president for the country?" Sejani asked. "It means that person is going to be his puppet. He will be his zombie because he will be playing to the tune of Chiluba behind the ant hill." 

Sejani said President Chiluba will through his machinations attempt to amend the Republican Constitution even after the elections to ensure his come back.

He has since advised members still in the MMD to ditch the party because it was a dead entity.

Sejani said President Chiluba had destroyed MMD by personalising it. "This is no longer a people's party, it is Chiluba's," Sejani said. "The MMD has been abandoned because it is one man's party."

Sejani said President Chiluba was afraid of the recently formed Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) because of its strength and sound organisation. "The difference with us is that we are a national movement and we are strong," Sejani said. "That is why President Chiluba is scared because he knows we are organised and have potential."

FDD deputy secretary Teddy Mulonga said his party would strengthen institutions through constitutional reforms. He said morality and integrity will be given priority to avoid what happened in 1991.

- This time you will have to subscribe to our morality and integrity before being president, said Mulonga.

By Webster Malido in Ndola, The Post

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