Maravi

Struggle for the souls and future of Zambia

Struggle for the souls and future of Zambia
By Editor
Friday August 29, 2008 [04:00]

There is a presidential by-election ahead of us. And the ruling MMD is gripped by a campaign for the selection of a candidate to be fielded in this presidential by-election. This selection process is starting to lose its bearings. Tribalism, regionalism and all sorts of vices are starting to creep in. Let us not allow the sympathies of the world which we have won so fast to be equally rapidly lost by becoming entangled in the jungle of skirmishes for power. Let us not allow the desire to serve oneself, to bloom once again under the fair mask of the desire to serve the common good.

As we stated in our editorial comment of yesterday, we should guard against the danger of divisive politics, of regionalism, tribalism as we get deeper into the campaigns for this presidential by-election. We must give up the pernicious habit of supporting and of identifying only with those from the same region as ourselves.

It is really not important now which politician or group will prevail in the MMD selections and the presidential by-election itself. The most important thing is that the winner will be the best of them, in the moral, civic, political and professional sense. The future policies and prestige of our country will depend on the personalities we select and elect.

The campaigns that stretch before us now are a struggle for the souls and the future of Zambia. And we shouldn’t forget that all of us, above everything else, are the trustees of a dream, of a legacy.

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today; the future will not be built in the future, it will be built on the threshold of today, of the decisions and actions we make today.

We are confronted with a fierce urgency of now, in the unfolding life and history. There is such a thing as being too late. We must work unceasingly to lift this nation to a higher destiny, to a new plateau.

Let us put the unity of our people first and ahead of any divisive politics. So, we would like to ask all our politicians, whatever their personal interests or concerns, to guard against divisiveness and all its ugly consequences.

What we have achieved when all our people united just must not now be lost in suspicion, distrust, selfishness and politics.

No section of the community has all the virtues, neither does any have all the vices. We are quite sure that most people try to do their jobs as best as they can, even if the result is not always entirely successful. He who has never failed to reach perfection has a right to be the harshest critic.

Let us not forget where we are coming from. Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. Our lives teach us who we are.

Let us teach ourselves and others that politics should be an expression of a desire to contribute to the happiness of the community, rather than of a need to cheat or rape the community.

Let us teach ourselves and others that politics can be not only the art of the possible, especially if this means the art of speculation, calculation, intrigue, secret deals, and pragmatic manoeuvering, but that it can even be the art of the impossible, namely, the art of improving ourselves.

If an issue is morally right, it will eventually be political. It may be political and never be right.

The forthcoming presidential by-election is not, and should not be, about Rupiah Banda or Ng’andu Magande, but about what is best for the future of our country.

In deciding which individual to support and select, we should try to look beyond the expediencies of the moment and consider the interests of the country, especially of our young people, our children. When you go home in the evening, look at them, look in their eyes, and ask yourself what type of Zambia will guarantee them a future. Ask yourself which of the people vying for the presidency of our country offers them a bigger promise.

We should ask ourselves the question: If I died today, who among these politicians, between Magande and Banda, would I like to be the administrator of the affairs of my country on behalf of my children?

There is need to look at what Magande and Banda have done in their lives, their records of public service need to be scrutinised. There is need to look at their performance and conduct wherever they have worked and lived.

Their social conduct, levels of honesty, ability, dedication and concern for the welfare of all need to be looked at, analysed and evaluated. Let us look at what Magande has done or not done over the last seven and half years of working as Minister of Finance and National Planning and his contribution to the realisation of the Levy Mwanawasa legacy that we are all saying should be continued.

Let us do the same for Banda and see what his contribution over the last two and half years of working with Levy as Vice-President has been to his legacy – the legacy we all want to continue.

We need to critically look at what constitutes the Levy legacy and how each of these individuals has contributed to it. We are told, and believe that, the Levy legacy is characterised primarily by two factors: honest and prudent economic management and the fight against corruption. The issue again should be to see how these two individuals weigh on these scores.

The one who weighs more is likely to give us a better chance of continuing the Levy legacy. Of course, there are other factors to consider depending on how one looks at things.

But whatever criteria we use, honesty, integrity and incorruptibility should always be fundamental factors to consider in deciding who succeeds Levy. It is important also to consider who between the two or who among all the candidates is more principled.

Each one of them should not want to win because the other is, or others are, despised, but because they are understood, supported and trusted.

There is no choice between being principled and unelectable; and electable and unprincipled. We have tortured ourselves with this foolishness for too long. Magande or Banda should win because of what they believe.

We shouldn’t fear change. Change is an important part of life. But we should not change to forget our principles, and simply because we want to be elected, to win, but to fulfill them. Not to lose our identity but to keep our relevance. Change is an important part of gaining the nation’s trust.

Let us try to show our people that politics is not some byzantine game played out over the screeds of paper but a real and meaningful part of their lives.

Let us try our best to build a nation with pride in itself. A thriving community, rich in economic prosperity, secure in social justice, confident in political change. A land in which our children can bring up their children with a future to look forward to. This should be our hope, our mission or goal in politics, in the selections and elections we make. This should be our criterion in all that we do.

It gets dark sometimes, but the morning comes. Don’t you surrender. Suffering breeds character. Character breeds faith. In the end faith will not disappoint.

Labels: MAGANDE, MMD, PRESIDENCY, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 3:56 AM