GBM: i did not snub Sata

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:23:02 +0000

Defence minister Geoffrey Mwamba has denied reports that he did not go to see off President Sata in protest because the President no longer has the confidence in him.

Mr Mwamba said Mr Sata still has the confidence in him and that he was still working under his leadership.

He said he did not snub Mr Sata in way of protesting the misunderstanding that had rocked the two cabinet ministers.

Mr Mwamba for the first time did not go to the airport to see off President Sata as he left for Japan on Monday.

The Defence Minister had in the past accompanied Mr Sata for various assignments even seeing him off whenever he was leaving the country.

However, speculations suggested that his absence at the airport on Monday was because the President had no more confidence in the minister after the beef between him and the justice minister Wynter Kabimba.

Mr Mwamba said that it was not because of the recent happenings that had forced him not to see off President Sata but that he was attending to other national issues.

“Why should the President lose confidence in me?  If at all the President had no confidence in me, that is when I should have gone to the airport to show him my support.

“But because I was busy and I had notified him then people think otherwise.

“If anything the President doesn’t like more people to see him off, he wants people to work other than being at the airport,” said Mr Mwamba.

He said that he had notified the President of his busy schedule and the issues that needed to be attended to.

The minister said as far he was concerned he was performing as before and that Mr Sata appreciates it more when people were working.

Recently there has been a lot of talk about the defence minister over allegations that he solicited for tender to supply poles to ZESCO for one year.

And following these revelations the Anti Corruption Commission has since instituted investigations on the two conflicting ministers.