Mbeki Hails Chiluba For Not Seeking A Third Term

Mbeki Hails Chiluba For Not Seeking A Third Term
October 30, 1999 

Mildred Mulenga, PANA Correspondent 

LUSAKA, Zambia (PANA) - South African President Thabo Mbeki has hailed his Zambian counterpart, Frederick Chiluba, for maintaining that he is not going to amend the constitution to allow him serve for a third-term when his second term ends in 2001.

Speaking at a state dinner Friday night, he said the region needs the kind of example Chiluba is setting.

"The constitution of Zambia allows the president to serve only two terms. I have now heard for my myself that you are not going to amend the constitution to serve for a third term...To be a president is not the beginning and ending of everything," Mbeki told Chiluba.

Recently there have been claims by the opposition that Chiluba intends to run for a third term.

Chiluba also paid tribute to former Presidents Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Ketumile Masire of Botswana and the late Julius Nyerere of Tanzania for their timely decision to step down from the presidency, saying that this is one way in which democracy is allowed to flourish.

"Great leaders come and go. The greatness of a leader does not depend on how long he or she holds the reigns of power. Great leaders are those who bequeath to posterity more than they inherited from the legacy of the past and Mr Mandela was one such leader," he said.

Meanwhile, Mbeki commended Chiluba for the role he is playing to end the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Zambian leader has been mandated by the Southern African Development Community to resolve the crisis in Congo where rebels have been fighting to unseat President Laurent Kabila.

Mbeki said any notion that Africa does not have leaders of quality is wrong.

Chiluba appealed to the international community to fund the Joint Military Commission, charged with the implementation of the Congolese cease-fire accord signed in July.

He noted that while the countries of the region and all the parties to the agreement have demonstrated their commitment and willingness to implement the agreement, progress has been slow mainly due to lack of resources.

"Our task...as Africa is to ensure that the cease-fire agreement is implemented fully and successfully," he said, adding that "no matter how beautiful the cease-fire agreement may look, it will remain a dead letter if it is not implemented."

Chiluba said the resources which have so far been contributed are far from adequate and there is need for the international community to be more "forthcoming." 





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