Levy, Musa confrontation
Levy, Musa confrontationBy Editor
Sunday June 03, 2007 [04:00]
Any kind of food can be eaten, but some foods are better than others.
And just as the tongue can distinguish the flavours of different kinds of meat, so can a sharp mind detect lies. A person with a warped mind causes trouble but an experienced person knows how to pay it back.
Fools say whatever comes to mind; wise people think before they speak. A person can be rebuked in the wrong way; it may be wiser to keep quiet than to speak. Admit when you are wrong, and you will avoid embarrassments. It is said that “using force to get a point across is like a castrated man trying to rape a girl” (Sirach 20 : 4).
A skilled craftsman is admired for the things he makes, and a leader’s wisdom is proved by his words. Someone who speaks rashly and recklessly is feared and hated.
There is no need to be angry with someone for every little thing he does wrong. One should avoid doing anything out of injured pride. Pride is like a fountain pouring out evil, and whoever persists in it will be full of wickedness. Stubbornness will get you into trouble at the end. If you live dangerously, it will kill you. A stubborn person will be burdened down with troubles. Stubborn people go on adding one trouble to another. There is no cure for the troubles that arrogant people have; wickedness has taken deep root in them. Intelligent people will learn from proverbs and parables. They will listen well because they want to learn. And wisdom takes care of those who look for her; she raises them to greatness. Loving her is loving life itself. If you are polite and courteous, you will enjoy the friendship of many people. It is better to be humble in everything one does, and people will appreciate it more than gifts. The greater you become, the more humble you should be. Many people have been misled by their own opinions; their wrong ideas have warped their judgment.
There is no excuse for unjustified anger; it can bring about your downfall. Wait and be patient, and later you will be glad you did. Keep quiet until the right time to speak, and you will gain a reputation for good sense.
This is the way we look at Levy Mwanawasa’s confrontation with Musa Mwenye. We say confrontation because this is how Levy himself describes his conversation with Musa: “People should be able to discuss confidently on the position they had taken and when they are confronted, they should not be apologetic about the position they have taken. If they have a point to make and make it publicly, they must be prepared to defend it publicly. When I spoke to Mr Mwenye during part of our discussion, he sounded like a lying witness who had been called in court.”
It is very clear from this that Levy phoned Musa to confront him; for a confrontation. It was not to learn or listen attentively and respectfully to Musa’s views.
Musa is a very young lawyer with no, or very little, contact with top politicians. Probably, this was the first time for Musa to receive a telephone call from or talk to the President of this country. This can be intimidating especially if the President does not adopt a more calm and friendly approach. It can actually be very frightening when one looks at what African political leaders do to those who differ with them, to those who oppose them or stand in their way. Musa was made to feel he is standing in Levy’s way; he is unjustifiably critical of Levy’s approach to the constitution-review process. Musa had every reason to feel scared. Actually, what Levy did to this young man amounts to harassment of an ordinary citizen holding a view that is contrary to his. Levy should learn how to engage other citizens without being seen to be intimidating them, to be harassing them.
Levy says Musa sounded like a lying witness who had been called in court. Is he telling us that he had subjected Musa to a telephone kangaroo court? It’s very clear that Musa must have been subjected to some rough cross-examination by Levy because that is the only way he could have sounded like a lying witness who had been called in court. This is not the way for the President to deal with citizens of this country. Every one of us has the right to participate in the affairs and governance of our country without any hindrance from anyone, President or otherwise.
Those who support Levy’s position on the constitution-review process are not subjected to any harassment and enjoy free and extensive state media coverage. Government resources are being used to propagate Levy’s view on the constitution-review process while other views are not receiving the same type of treatment. This is not the way to approach this constitution-review process. What Levy is doing is actually to unite all those who are opposed to his approach and sooner or later he will be dealing with a much bigger force than the Oasis Forum.
And there is a point Musa makes that Levy needs to pay a lot of attention to. Musa says he disclosed everything he had discussed with Levy because he was mindful of the fact that the President is in the habit of revealing secrets. This is true. Whenever it suits him Levy doesn’t hesitate to reveal whatever private or confidential conversation one might have had with him. There are many decent citizens with very good views which they would like to share with him but they are inhibited because they don’t want their names to be dragged into the public domain. It is very important for Levy to learn to keep confidences. If a person does not keep confidences, he is cruel; he will not hesitate to hurt you or have you humiliated.
Levy says he is in a no win situation because it seems when he dialogues he is criticised and when he doesn’t dialogue he is also criticised. We don’t think this is true. He is not being criticised for dialoguing. Levy is being criticised for the way he is attempting to dialogue with other citizens. We would be the first ones to defend him if this was true because we have encouraged or urged him to do so. We say this because to govern is to communicate. To make intelligent decisions about public policy, our leaders need to have access to a wide range of viewpoints and divergent opinions.
And to get to such viewpoints and opinions Levy will need to create a favourable atmosphere under which those who hold such views and opinions feel free to dialogue with him. The current atmosphere is one of intimidation, one of hostility and one of anger towards those who oppose Levy, those who don’t share his view on the constitution-review process and other matters of national importance. Levy needs to marshal more humility, tolerance and shed-off arrogance.
It is not good for the President to be picking up petty quarrels with young men like Musa. And Musa has now challenged him to produce the 10-page record of their conversation. It will be interesting to see what is in it. And what if Musa has a recording of their entire telephone conversation and Levy is found to have distorted or omitted certain facts or his record of the conversation is in material facts a lie? Is he going to fire himself the way he had fired Vernon Mwaanga for telling the nation lies?
Labels: EDITORIAL, OASIS FORUM
posted by MrK @ 9:43 PM
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