Maravi

Let us emulate ambassador Saudubray

Let us emulate ambassador Saudubray
By Editor
Monday July 16, 2007 [04:00]

As French ambassador to Zambia Francis Saudubray concludes his tour of duty and prepares for another assignment elsewhere, we would like to wish him and his family all the best in their future endeavours. As we wish all the best to ambassador Saudubray, we would like our people to reflect on his three or so years stay in Zambia. Let our people reflect on the good or bad, on the wrong or right things that ambassador Saudubray did and learn lessons from such acts.

On our part, we would like to remember that ambassador Saudubray’s stay in Zambia was riddled with controversy, which is uncommon with most diplomats. Be that as it may, we think that ambassador Saudubray has made some major contributions in uplifting the lives of our people across all sectors of life. Unlike most diplomats, ambassador Saudubray was not shy to say the truth as he knew it. He was not shy to fit into the Zambian way of life.

Ambassador Saudubray participated in any activities that promoted our culture and traditions, he participated in activities that helped lift the welfare of our people across the country; he also strived in ensuring that those who deserved to be helped were helped to improve their education in various ways. Above all, ambassador Saudubray actively participated in the fight against corruption in our country more than some of our own people did.

Ambassador Saudubray came to Zambia at the time President Levy Mwanawasa and his lawyer friends in government attempted to shield former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, Kashiwa Bulaya, from prosecution for stealing or diverting K3 billion which was meant for the purchase of drugs for our HIV/AIDS patients. We remember that ambassador Saudubray was among the many other patriots and all those who detest corruption that demanded for justice in this case.

He played a very instrumental role in ensuring that Bulaya got back to court to face the law. Today, Bulaya stands convicted. Thanks to ambassador Saudubray and all those who fought to ensure that wrongdoers receive appropriate rewards for their actions.

However, we know that some of the many activities ambassador Saudubray involved himself in sometimes brought him in direct conflict with some of our government officials, former president Frederick Chiluba and indeed ourselves. At other times, he did or said certain things even at the risk of breaching diplomatic etiquette, which possibly could have landed him in deep waters.

But that is how human life is. We all have weaknesses and strengths because we are not perfect. Even the most professional and seasoned diplomats make mistakes. That is why many have fallen.

With this in mind, we would like to learn lessons from some of ambassador Saudubray’s activities. In so doing, we would like to isolate ambassador Saudubray’s involvement in the fight against corruption in Zambia. This is so because some of our people do not see the urgency of fighting corruption in the country. In fact, we have more and more people who today hero-worship plunderers, thieves have become their role models in society. Some of our people are not ashamed to publicly hire themselves out in support of plunderers, the thieves that looted our national coffers. They stand on anti-hills and declare that this convicted plunderer is their hero.

If a foreigner who may not even be affected by these plunderers’ loot of public resources can see the need to fight against corruption, why should the people who are directly affected refuse to fight this scourge or sometimes assume a casual approach in fighting this evil?

Corruption is the abuse of power by a public official for private gain. Corruption is willingly acting dishonestly in return for money or personal gain. Corruption is an act done with intent to give some advantage inconsistent with the official duty and the rights of others. It is also an act of an official who unlawfully and wrongfully uses his/her station or character to procure some benefits for himself or for another person contrary to duty and the rights of others.

This is a real problem in Zambia, just like is the case all over the world. Corruption eats up public funds, ruins investment opportunities and compromises development. Corruption is a very bad cancer which can consume or destroy the entire country if not arrested. It also destroys the moral fibre of human society.

Today, more and more of our people are dying from preventable and curable diseases because our hospitals do not have drugs. The standards of education are constantly declining because the government does not have sufficient money to fund the education sector. As a result, our teachers are opting to go out of the country for greener pastures because the government cannot even afford to put on a pay roll newly trained teachers who are in thousands.

Our economy is not as viable because of corruption. Corruption has been institutionalised and accepted as a way of life. That is why it is difficult to record genuine positive growth as a country. And things are just getting worse. Most of our people are engaging in corruption with impunity. We are aware that corruption cannot be eradicated but it could be reduced to very significant levels if all our people were as vigilant as ambassador Saudubray.

Indeed, our people should be courageous, ambitious and have independent legal systems to fight corruption. That’s why our people should not relent in fighting this scourge.

Once more, we wish ambassador Saudubray all the best in his future endeavours hoping that he has learnt so many lessons from his experiences in Zambia in the same way we have learnt lessons from both his positive and negative attributes. We hope our people can emulate ambassador Saudubray in the fight against corruption and make a difference for our beautiful country.

Labels: DECENTRALIZATION, EDITORIAL, SAUDUBRAY

posted by MrK @ 10:18 AM