LETTERS - Misplaced priorities

Misplaced priorities
By Francis Liyambo.S, Namibia
Saturday March 10, 2007 [02:00]

It was indeed a disgraceful momentum on Monday evening when I heard His Excellency, the incumbent President of Zambia at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross when he publicly degraded the constitution like any other document in a company.

First of all, I thought misplacement of priorities was just a thing known by honourables like Brian Ntundu who instead of debating real issues like poverty alleviation, would rather talk about Jaguars, suits, payslips and so forth.

Unfortunately, this contagious disease has spread to the highest office of the land. Now the President is saying the amount of money scheduled for the constitution is too much in preference to the Zambian people. Country-men and women, let’s be realistic and turn the coin to the other side by asking: Isn’t it biased and too much to allocate one billion kwacha for the house to be built for the President and neglect many Zambian people who are suffering?

As the saying goes: “Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones”. A constitution is a benefactor document for the whole nation, not personal property like the house. This is pure misplacement of priorities at its highest point.

In conclusion, I would advise the President through his Cabinet to help him work rightly and above all, I wish him good health and God’s wisdom to help him set his priorities right.



http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=23621

Public announcements
By Concerned citizen
Saturday March 10, 2007 [02:00]

I would like to make an earnest appeal to Mwanawasa to take control of the situation in as far as making public announcements is concerned. The current chaotic situation in making public announcements cannot be allowed to continue.

The situation is getting out of hand and irritating some of us. First, we had the deputy minister of home affairs announcing that issuance of permits by the police to hold public rallies had been cancelled. A few hours later, the minister of home affairs nullified the announcement.

Next we had the President himself announcing that K3 trillion had been stolen by some civil servants, only to discover later that the amount was actually K36 billion. And then we had been told that the earlier announcement that Women’s Day which falls on March 8 would be a public holiday had been nullified and that the correct position was that this public holiday shall be effective March 8, 2008 and not this year.

According to media reports, we were told that the day was declared a pulic holiday effective this year following a Cabinet meeting. Does this mean that whoever made the announcement had no mandate?

What is the role of the so-called chief government spokesperson?
It seems to me that his role is just to correct wrong pulic annoncements being made by his colleagues in Cabinet and other government officials to save the government from embarrassment.

If this is the case, then the title of chief government spokesperson is misleading and irrelevant. If Mwanawasa does not correct the situation, these costly mistakes he and his government officials are making, will one day throw the country in turmoil.



http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=23622

Justice and fairness
By Concerned citizen
Saturday March 10, 2007 [02:00]

I suppose Rolf Shenton’s letter to The Post of March 7 2007, on the arrest of Ross Michelson is meant to draw us (the public) into the issue. Well, if as potrayed by Rolf, Michelson has suffered unfair and unjust actions, then I for one offer my sympathy to him and his family.

Let me however, say that Shenton’s viewpoint and tone are misplaced. He seems to suggest that Michelson does not deserve the treatment he has received, on grounds that he is an investor who has contributed much to the development of our country.This viewpoint is rather unfortunate because it smacks of the "us and them" idealogy which advocates for preferential treatment of a section of society.

Shenton, I agree with you, Michelson and indeed all other people living in Zambia should not receive unfair and arbitrary action from anyone. We should not apply double standards in advocating justice and fairness. Justice should be for all and should not be measured on people's status in society, perceived personal contributions, colour, creed or nationality.

I find it unfortunate that the need to create a favourable environment for investment in Zambia is often abused by some people. At the rate we are going, it will not be surprising for some people to start advocating a special investor constitution. Investors are not missionaries driven by religious convictions to offer service.

They are businessmen whose motivation for investing is profit.Yes, we do badly need the investors to help us in creating jobs and wealth. They also need our resources and available opportunities to make profits for themselves. There thus is need for mutual recognition of each other's importance and the obligations that go with that.


http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=23635

Land allocations
By Concerned Citizen
Saturday March 10, 2007 [02:00]

I would like to appeal to our new lands minister to push for the de-centralisation of land allocations and title deeds to provincial level. Currently, the system only favours the few who are well-to-do. Application fees and hiring land surveyors from Lusaka are very expensive.

I feel for people in the rural areas who must travel to Lusaka or Ndola, and still wait for months and months before acquiring these documents. May people in authority, those we voted for, begin to work for us if the electorate is to be satisfied and see the need to re-employ them in 2011?


http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=23631

Cleaning Lusaka City
By Baston Mwadalo
Saturday March 10, 2007 [02:00]

I would like to make an observation on the issue of littering on our streets and market places and I hope the local authorities will buy my opinion as they did with the relocation of the bus stop in the Kamwala area en route to Chilenje. You may agree with me that the garbage and litter on our streets is distasteful and an eyesore to most of us. The introduction of the litterbins on the commuter buses has not yielded any positive impact. This issue can surely be sorted out in one way or the other. My suggestion is that the system of a fine for persons throwing litter in undesignated places be introduced.

As a deterrent, some penalty fee for anyone throwing litter for example K5000 for individuals, K25, 000 for privately-owned vehicles and K50, 000 for passenger buses would be workable. This can in turn create some form of employment for the idle youths in our cities to book the culprits and at the same time create some revenue for our cash-strapped councils and ultimately our cities will be cleaner. Also each concerned citizen should be duty-bound to take down the registration number of the car where litter has been thrown from and report it to any relevant authority that will be dealing with this mess. I for one am ready to volunteer and I believe many others are too.

Prior to the introduction of this suggestion to members of the public, a sensitisation and public awareness campaign should be implemented together with provision of litterbins every 200m in the city centre and at all the bus stations. I have a strong feeling that this will be a welcome move by the majority of the Zambian people.