Maravi

Kapita must resign

Kapita must resign
By Editor
Saturday February 23, 2008 [03:00]

THE illness of Ben Kapita, our Minister of Agriculture, is something very hard to accept. And it is understandable why President Levy Mwanawasa has problems dropping him from his Cabinet on account of his illness. Kapita, for whom we have great personal affection, has formidable qualities, a powerful intelligence, immense capacity to work and honesty in his dealings. But these will mean nothing if we continue to keep him in office when his health cannot permit him to work and deliver according to his qualities.

We know it is hard to understand and accept things like these, but sometimes painful things like these happen. It is all part of life, which we have to learn to accept.

We need to be brave about things like these. If not, we will be making a lot of irrational decisions that may tomorrow prove costly to the nation as a whole. The future doesn’t belong to the faint-hearted; it belongs to the brave.

We should care about others all the time. We don’t think this is a soft sentiment, we don’t think it is wet. We think that caring about others is the essence of strength.

And we believe that because we know that strength without care is savage, brutal and selfish. Strength with care is compassion – the practical action that is needed to help people lift themselves to their full stature. That is real care – it is not soft or weak. It is tough and strong.

But where do we get that strength to provide that care? Do we wait for some stroke of good fortune, some benign giant, some socially conscious Samson to come along and pick up the weak or the afflicted, the sick or the crippled? Of course we don’t.

We cooperate, we collect together, we coordinate so that everyone can contribute and everyone can benefit, everyone has responsibilities, everyone has rights.

That is how we should put care into action. That is how we can help make those who are ill recover, the weak strong, that is how we can help make the sick whole. We do it together. It is called collective strength, collective care. And its whole purpose is human dignity and love.

If we look at things this way, we will not force Kapita to continue working as Minister of Agriculture. Being a minister of government should not be seen as a favour to Kapita. It should not be seen as a job he should hang onto at whatever cost and whatever state of health he is in just to survive, to earn a living or for us as a nation to care for him and pay for his medical bills.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done and being a Cabinet minister should be seen as a more important position one occupies in our country now rather than it has been in the past. We say this because a Cabinet minister should be seen as a trustee of a dream. We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today.

We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now, in the unfolding life and history. We must work unceasingly to lift this nation to a higher destiny and a new plateau of compassion.

The work of our Cabinet ministers is functional, and not ceremonial. This means that one has to be physically and mentally fit to be able to fulfil his duties as a Cabinet minister. And for this reason, we don’t think Kapita is fit to continue as a Cabinet minister.

It would have been fair for Kapita to resign his position in government and allow his friend to freely replace him. It puts Levy in an awkward position to drop Kapita when he himself has not indicated that he is not capable of continuing as minister.

Although Levy says there is nothing that stops him from appointing two Cabinet ministers to one Cabinet portfolio, it cannot be denied that this is not a rational thing to do; he is simply forced by irrational circumstances to do it.

It is time our leaders came to accept that political positions are not pastime undertakings; they are not on a jolly ride. The government is the instrument by which our people cooperate together in order to achieve the common good.

Therefore, being a minister of government is a very serious and important undertaking because an authority is needed to guide the energies of all of us towards the common good. And Cabinet is of great importance for promoting development and community among all.

Yes, Levy as President of the Republic has the right to make final decisions but the people themselves have the right and duty to share in that authority.

We should start to regard Cabinet positions as a vocation, a way of building up society for the common good, as an opportunity to serve the people and not as a job for one’s personal security.

But one needs to have genuine and selfless interest in the future of our country to look at things in this way. And most of our politicians have no real interest in the future Zambia; instead, the present Zambia owes them.

And this may explain the tragedy of our politicians, their inability to value public service rationally and objectively and do everything possible to try and bring happiness to our people without demanding eternal gratitude, hence the besetting temptation of our politics to concern itself with the immediate present at the expense of the future.

Zambia is in trouble today not because her people have failed, but because her leaders have failed. What Zambia needs are leaders to match the greatness of her people.

There is no justifiable reason for Levy to waste taxpayers’ money on two Cabinet ministers for the Ministry of Agriculture. Kapita is ill and there is no need to keep him as a minister. It is either he resigns or he is dropped on account of ill health.

There is nothing inhuman about this; there is nothing cruel about it. If Kapita will still need medical attention, he can still be assisted in all sorts of ways. Let us not play around with Cabinet positions or government functions and public funds. Our people have a lot of things they need attended to.

Let us look into our hearts, and let us look down in the faces of our children. Is there anything in the world that should stand in their way? None of these political considerations means anything when one looks down into the faces of our children. In their faces should be our hope, our love and our courage to take difficult decisions with courage.

With love and compassion we call on Kapita to resign his Cabinet position in national interest. If this is not possible for Kapita to do, we call on Levy to drop him.

It doesn’t make sense at all for Kapita to continue as a Cabinet minister and later on for us to have two Cabinet ministers for the Ministry of Agriculture. Let us learn to conduct the affairs of our people in a rational, thrift, efficient and effective way.

Labels: BEN KAPITA

posted by MrK @ 5:36 AM