By Isaac Zulu
MMD president pastor Nevers Sekwila Mumba says President Hakainde Hichilema has made tremendous efforts to ensure that there is tribal balancing in his appointment of Cabinet Ministers.
And Dr Mumba has urged the Zambian to give the UPND government time to settle down and deliver development.
In an interview with Daily Revelation on Tuesday, Dr Mumba pointed out that, so far, the Cabinet that President Hichilema has assembled is representative of all regions of Zambia.
Dr Mumba explained that the appointments that have been made by President Hichilema meet the criteria in terms of tribal balancing as earlier pronounced by the Head of State during his inauguration.
“I think there’s an attempt to address the tribal imbalance in the President’s appointment of individuals to his Cabinet. Tremendous efforts have been made to to ensure that criteria is met in terms of tribal balancing as earlier pronounced by the President in his inaugural speech. The Cabinet that President Hakainde Hichilema has assembled is representative of all regions of the country,” Dr Mumba pointed out.
He also observed that most of the people that have been appointed to Hichilema’s Cabinet are competent, adding that some of them have served in government before.
“It’s too early to comment or condemn or condemn those that have been appointed as Cabinet Ministers. Most of these individuals have what it takes to competently execute their duties. Most of those people are not new to the Zambian people. Some of them have served in government before. So Zambian people are able to say something with regard to their ability to work for them,” said Dr Mumba.
And Dr Mumba has urged the Zambian to give the UPND government time to settle down and deliver development.
“I personally think that we need to give the UPND time…our colleagues need space. They need to settle down so that they can deliver on what they promised the Zambian people. It might take three or six months to start seeing fruits. That is when we can make a fair comment on the UPND’s performance,” said Dr Mumba, who once served as Vice President in the MMD government.
Dr Mumba further said the New Hope MMD will be objective in the way it offers checks and balances to UPND government.
He stressed that this is aimed at ensuring that MMD remains relevant in the Zambian spheres.
“In the MMD, we are an opposition that will not criticise for the sake of criticising. We want to be objective in the way we conduct our politics…we don’t want to be labeled destructive political critics. The New Hope MMD will be objective in the way it offers checks and balances to UPND government. This is important so that we remain relevant,” explained Dr Mumba. “And I think that our colleagues in the UPND need our support in order for them to deliver on the aspirations of the Zambian people.”
