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| National |
| Ntaba's appointment under fire |
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by
Denis Mzembe, 30 March 2004
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17:20:58
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The appointment of National Congress for Democracy (NCD) president Hetherwick Ntaba as minister for Energy and Mining has been described as abuse of power by President Bakili Muluzi.
“This government is only there for the next 7 weeks and is it sensible to appoint a new minister to only serve for that period. There is nothing new that Ntaba will bring apart from draining tax payers money,” Chairman of Malawi Human Rights Consultative Committee (MHRCC) Rogers Newa said on Tuesday.
He said MHRCC condemned the appointment saying Muluzi is only bent on deliberately “destabilising and corrupting” the opposition ahead of the elections.
Newa hailed the opposition coalition of Mgwirizano for rejecting Ntaba’s request to join the coalition recently.
“They were right in rejecting his interest to join the coalition because he was not going their with good intentions,” said Newa who traced Ntaba’s relationship with Muluzi to the time the former MCP stalwart escorted Muluzi’s mother to get treatment in South Africa.
But Ntaba himself said it is wrong to think his appointment will not be useful considering the time factor between now and the elections.
“Development will not freeze before the elections. Development will continue even after the elections. And the business is not just to get votes but to carry on the development process of this country,” Ntaba said.
He said he is confident the UDF, Aford, NCD coalition will win the May 18 elections because the opposition is both short-sighted and splintered.
“They would as well have included the NCD, NDA and MCP in the coalition if they were to win. There are members with incomprehensible conduct in the coalition, PPM is hopelessly splintered and the Republican Party is a small faction of the MCP. Where will they get votes?” queried Ntaba describing the Mgwirizano coalition as Mgawikano Coalition.
He said his major concern as minister of Energy and Mining are perpetual industrial interruptions due to frequent electricity black out.
“And as a doctor I am concerned with the blackouts because some hospitals do not have generators. But even those that have sometimes they are not operational when there is a blackout. It can be life threatening to patients when life supporting systems go off,” Ntaba said.
Reacting to the appointment coalition spokesperson, Kholiwe Mkandawire accused Ntaba of having tried and failed to use the coalition as a stepping stone to join the UDF.
“We are now comfortable that he has gone to the right camp. He need not have used us. He wanted to use us as a stepping stone so he gains mileage in the UDF. And he cannot talk about Mgwirizano because he has never been a part of it. In fact, choosing between Mgwirizano and UDF is like choosing whether to kill or not. He has chosen to kill,” Mkandawire said.
Executive Director of Malawi Watch Billy Banda said Ntaba’s appointment confirms “the suspicion, fear and worry people had about his association with Muluzi”.
“The appointment raises a lot of questions. When did Muluzi find Ntaba as material for cabinet. Why now?” he asked. |
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