Zambia April 2006 |
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| Congolese nationals have applied as MPs, (Post of Zambia, 2006-04-19):-MMD Lusaka district chairman Paul Moonga yesterday disclosed that a number of Congolese nationals had applied to be adopted as parliamentary candidates in Lusaka. Moonga who has applied for Matero constituency said some aspirants from Congo had applied and the provincial executive committee (PEC) and the national executive committee (NEC) should help weed them out. "Some people are going in for jobs, some people who have applied have criminal records. Some people are Congolese. One is even building a house in Congo. I can't go and stand in Congo but we have got some Congolese who have applied to stand in Lusaka district," he said. Moonga said the district could do nothing apart from making recommendations to the PEC. "Some of these characters who have become number one on the list thinking they will be adopted, they won't. They have to wait for the whole process to finish," he said. Moonga said those who were least on the list should not get worried because no organ had the monopoly to choose a candidate. Moonga said the best candidate in some cases were put last not because they did not have money but because they could not bribe anyone. He said people should look at the applicants' history and what contributions they had made to communities in which they lived. Moonga said currently, majority of the voters were not MMD cadres but ordinary citizens. He said most cadres were merely interested in money. "There are some cadres who are dangerously corrupt. They only go for money," he said. Moonga said instead of people looking for money, they should look at the credibility of the leader. He urged people not to be bribed by applicants that wanted parliamentary seats. Moonga said he had declared interest and decided not to be part of the officials interviewing the applicants. Recently, some MMD cadres protested against Moonga saying they did not want him to be adopted in Matero. But Moonga said a few disgruntled characters that were drunk with opaque been could not move him. "It's like a fly, it can't kill me. I am too senior to worry of such issues," he said. One of the aspirants for Mandevu constituency Ricky Mwanza said if adopted and elected, he would facilitate for projects such as market in Olympia, a clinic in Chaisa and other infrastructure. Mwanza said he wanted democracy to prevail and people should be able to speak out on issues affecting them. He said he would want people to be able to summon their elected representatives if they failed to visit constituencies. Mwanza said elected representatives usually went to the electorate in the last year of their term. | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |