CHIEF Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya says she will not apologise for advising Easterners to emulate how Southerners vote.
And Siliya claims she did not coach headmen in Sinda on how to defraud the system to access Social Cash Transfer funds but rather, she advised them to invest in agriculture and their children’s education.
Meanwhile, Siliya has revealed that she met late President Michael Sata at State House but that a follow up meeting could not proceed as he fell ill and died.
Siliya said this in an article titled “Finished Politicians Crawl Out of Their Holes”, in which she addressed Bob Sichinga and William Banda for commenting on her recent meeting with some traditional leaders.
“On urging Easterners to copy the voting pattern that is now prevalent in Southern Province, this is my view. I am not apologizing for telling Easterners to emulate their relatives, “a bale batu” the Southerners, and vote in numbers like Dundumwezi where in 2016 there were fourty thousand votes for HH and zero votes for ECL. I will not apologies for telling Easterners that while in the past they supported Chiluba from Luapula, Levy Mwanawasa a Lamba, and even saving PF in 2015 with Edgar Lungu. Now they too must support their son, since in the past they have supported all Zambians. I urged them not to betray the support that many Zambians, Bembas Lozis, Lamba, Kaonde, Lundas, Lambas and many other tribes are giving President Lungu. And it’s common fact that UPND which has majority Tongas as followers and has never supported the Patriotic Front under Mr Sata or President Lungu,” Siliya stated.
And Siliya claimed she told village headmen not to expect to benefit from social cash transfer because they were not vulnerable.
“I will not apologize for telling my headmen that how can they expect cash transfer when they are not vulnerable and wondering if they want to cheat the system. I also went further to advise them that cash transfer, ‘Ndalama Za Mwasauka’ is nothing to be proud of and so they must do better by investing in agriculture and education of their children. But of course it’s more sensational to misrepresent facts and play recording out of context,” Siliya stated.
“The Sichingas and William Bandas must accept they have been failed Lusaka politicians with no understanding of the nuances and context of my meetings.”
Meanwhile, Siliya indicated that her relationship with Sata was not as bad as some people portrayed it to be.
“When Bob Sichinga also known as ‘Ba Shinono’ and William ‘Tekere’ Banda team up to exhibit ignorance I can’t help but put them right in their space, since they believe they can bully me because I am a woman. As for William Banda, l will not dignify his comments by commenting over someone whose only political success is unleashing violence. Banda places himself as a political commodity to buy so he can vuvuzela. My dear Bob is better off avoiding to be on a war path with me. The last time he mentioned my name was when he accused me of faking COVID-19, again a bad political move, but we all got to know him as Ba Shinono. He can’t even get his facts right about the MMD. May I remind him that President Michael Sata appointed 10 MMD MPs as deputy Ministers and recruited more to the party. And let it be known that President Sata and I met at State House when he was President and we had a scheduled follow up meeting except he fell ill and went to Israel,” stated Siliya.
“I refuse to share our detailed conversation but he clearly was a far better politician than many claiming to [know] him or know Zambian politics. He refused to make or adopt other people’s enemies as his enemies too. And another fabricated matter doing rounds about an alleged party at my house! I am shocked at the UPND heightened desperation. They have resorted to creating and posting fake stories on the Zambian Watchdog including a fake party at my house. Let it be known that there is no wind of change in Zambia. The earlier they accept this, the better.”
One Response
It is baffling to imagine that a minister can see nothing wrong, and is not ashamed of encouraging people to vote on tribal lines. I cannot understand that someone who went to university can have such a shallow mind. From the moment someone offers themselves for the high office of president they cease to be a regional candidate. The problem with our political system is it is too partisan even at presidential level. The president never thinks or talks republican, always partisan. In French speaking African countries, once someone is elected republican president they cease to be party president, so that there is ambiguity. Fredrick Chiluba never made a single speak in which he talked as republican president.