Maravi

Rupiah's salary increments

Rupiah's salary increments
By loliwe
Sunday September 21, 2008 [04:00]

It seems the only thing that moves some of our politicians to do good, to respond favourably to the demands of the people is a threat of losing power, of losing an election. Before the bill to increase the emoluments of our politicians and other constitutional office bearers was taken to Parliament, it was tabled before Cabinet under the chairmanship of Vice-President Rupiah Banda. And before this bill was taken to Parliament, we published a story of Cabinet’s intention to increase such salaries.

The public reaction was very clear. The only people who supported the increment were the Cabinet ministers. Information minister and chief government spokesman Mike Mulongoti accused people who were opposed to these salary increments of engaging in politics of poverty and he said: “These people are just engaging in politics of poverty. I don’t think we have to be party to that.

The world has changed, things have changed in the world. So I don’t think it is right that we must continue to glue to politics of poverty.”
This was not a bill that was introduced by a backbencher. It was introduced by a Cabinet presided over by Rupiah himself. So one can safely say this was Rupiah’s bill.

But today Rupiah is saying he will not sign this bill, his own bill. In some way he is trying to distance himself from his own deed, his own creation.

Rupiah saw nothing wrong with those salary increments. Why? Is it because he was a beneficiary and was blinded by personal benefit? Or was it because he is totally out of touch with reality, with the feelings of the people?

And why has it taken him so long to see that the Zambian people are opposed to this increment? Is it because the salary increment has become a hot election issue? Actually, Rupiah has not said there is something wrong with this salary increment.

He doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with it. All that he sees and acknowledges is the fact that public concern has been raised over this issue. He seems to understand that if he goes ahead and implements this increment, he may lose the election.

This is the only thing that seems to concern him. And it seems to have nothing to do with whether or not this increment is wrong.

Over a month ago, we carried an editorial comment in which we stated: “The coming together of opposition political parties, together with civil society, to challenge cabinet’s decision to increase the salaries of politicians if implemented well will serve as a warning to those in government that gone are the days when public resources were shared without opposition.

We would like all our politicians to earn good salaries, but this should be in line with the general performance of our economy and other things happening in the country. Looked at in this way, it is clear that these increased salaries were ill-conceived and ill-timed. And those in government should blame themselves for the embarrassing opposition they are facing over this issue. It will be impossible for them to marshal public support in their favour.

They will give themselves this salary increment at the back of serious national opposition. It may seem too late for them to withdraw the bill. But it will be fatal for Rupiah Banda to sign the bill. The best advice we can give is that they should mull over things and consider the feelings of the people. This will be the wrong time for them to face nation-wide strikes and campaigns against their increased salaries.

This is the wrong time for them to be made to appear so greedy and selfish. Timing is important in everything. And the austerity required by our circumstances and as a result of our government’s very limited resources needs to be equally shared among all.

When those in political leadership have high salaries and are living in luxury, that destroys their capacity to speak in a forthright manner and tell people to tighten their belts and forego certain services which the government has a duty to provide.” This is what we said in part over a month ago.

It has taken Rupiah over a month to come to this conclusion. This should speak volumes about the man’s sense of judgement. He has arrived at the decision not to sign this bill after a lot of money has been spent in printing bills and in parliamentary debates. This bill went through all the three readings.

And each member of parliament is paid K500,000 per sitting. So this bill has already cost the taxpayer a lot of money which could have been used to buy desks for our school children who sit on the floor. It could have been used to buy medicines for our clinics and hospitals.

It could have been used to do so many other things that our people need, especially the poor. But this is not the end; Rupiah is still sending this bill back to Parliament where more time and money will be spent on it again.

Anyway, questioning this expenditure, we will be told it’s not our money, nindalama za boma and Rupiah is the boma, as his supporters are calling him.

This is not being thrift in the conduct of public affairs. Thrift should be the guiding principle in our government expenditure. Wasting public funds should be a crime. The principle of diligence and frugality should be observed in everything.

It is clear that we can’t run away from the issue of character if we want to construct a leadership that will be able to move this country forward. Character is a very important issue in leadership and cannot be separated from other important issues in an election campaign.

The way Rupiah has handled this issue of salaries does not inspire confidence in his character as a leader. He is not being honest at all over this issue. And that’s why he is trying to take a middle-of-the-road position. Rupiah should state clearly whether he supports these increments or not.

The voters want to know in a categorical manner what will happen to this bill if he wins the election: is he going to sign if the bill comes back without any amendments? Is Rupiah going to increase salaries or not if he wins? Let him tell the people the truth.

This is the question the voters should ask. The truth is Rupiah is not opposed to this salary increment. He sanctioned it, he approved it in Cabinet and wants it. That is the truth. But the reality is that it has now become a hot campaign issue and he wants to suspend it, to buy time until the elections are over.

This is not the type of character we should tolerate in people who seek to lead this country. We need honest and categorical people. And Rupiah seems to be falling short on this score.

Labels: CABINET, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 5:10 AM