Maravi

Experience

Experience
By Editor
Tuesday October 14, 2008 [04:00]

Rupiah Banda is selling himself as a man of experience. No one can deny that experience is valuable. But what matters is what type of experience. And it is necessary for the Zambian people to pay a lot of attention to what Rupiah and other presidential candidates are saying or are promising.

We know that two years ago, they paid a lot of attention to what Michael Sata, Hakainde Hichilema and Brig Gen Godfrey Miyanda were saying and promising to do if they voted for them. The only new person on the political scene is Rupiah.

Despite being the oldest of all our presidential candidates, this is the first time Rupiah is contesting the presidency of this country. The highest political office Rupiah has sought is that of member of parliament. Rupiah is not Vice-President of the Republic of Zambia by virtue of any direct election but as a result of a favour from Levy.

In terms of experience when it comes to contesting presidential elections, Rupiah is the least experienced of the four. Rupiah is a novice where presidential elections are concerned.

And when Rupiah talks about experience, there is need to try and scrutinise what type of experience he is talking about. Holding a certain public office does give one some experience, but what really matters at the end of the day is what one did in that office.

There is need to scrutinise Rupiah’s record, what he did or achieved wherever he has been. Again, we are not introducing anything new. We are merely following up on something Rupiah himself has introduced about himself – his boasting about being a man of experience.

And in examining Rupiah’s record and experience, we should pay a lot of attention to issues of honesty and integrity.

Honesty and integrity are important qualities which each leader must have. But what do we mean by honesty? To us, honesty means acting or behaving truthfully in all that one says and does.

We believe that no one can be an effective, efficient and orderly leader if he is known to be a liar or a dishonest person. Nobody respects and is ready to obey a dishonest person, a person who does not uphold the generally accepted principles of society. A leader should be reliable.

We find Rupiah to be extremely wanting on these issues. Rupiah doesn’t have a record of honesty. His appears to be one of dishonesty, of deceit and manipulation. And his experience doesn’t seem to be one of being a performer, he simply warmed the chairs of the offices he occupied and used those offices for other things.

Zambia has been declared a Christian nation. And this being the case, we should be guided in all that we do by Christian principles. Of all the people, Christians should be in the forefront in the implementation of sound leadership principles.

This is so because first, every Christian has been given the task or commission “to go therefore and make disciples of all people” (Mt 28:19). In other words, every Christian has a task of leading others to Christ. This requires leadership qualities.

Indeed, the Bible encourages Christians to aspire or desire to be leaders for “…whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task” (1 Tm 3:1); provided of course it is done for the proper motive of serving God and those who are being led.

Indeed, the Bible is a complete source book for leadership principles. Throughout the Bible, there are examples of good leaders and leadership principles. Think of the leadership principles demonstrated by people like Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, David, Solomon, Daniel, Nehemiah, Paul and above all, Jesus Christ Himself.

Every Christian should be well versed in the principles of the Bible, including leadership principles. When this is followed, this nation we have declared a Christian nation will be better off.

There is no sphere of life where Christian leadership would not be desired. Governments would be better off if staffed by sincere Christian leaders just as Egypt benefitted during Joseph’s era at the time of widespread drought or the way Babylon benefitted when Daniel was in a leadership position.

Another reason Christians should be well versed in the principles of effective and wise leadership is that Christians are involved in choosing leaders, both church leaders and government leaders.

Knowledge of sound leadership principles facilitates the choice of appropriate leaders both in church and in governments. So, even if you have no intention of becoming a leader, you can contribute positively by choosing responsible people if you are acquainted with the principles of leadership.

Without this knowledge, you are limited in your capacity to identify good leaders. Think of how much more likely it would be to have worthy people in responsible government positions if all Christians voted wisely.
A liar, one who bribes others, a tribalist cannot be said to be a wise leader.

A wise leader should have strong concern for people in general. A leader should realise that in the final analysis, everything that is done should be aimed at benefitting the people. A leader who is concerned about the people helps them for their own sake and does not bribe them to vote for him.

Rupiah has not proved himself to be an honest leader. He has told lies. Rupiah has bribed.
Rupiah talks about fighting corruption but at the same time is practising the same vice. The leader should practice what he preaches.

If a leader tells the people he leads to follow principles which he does not follow, sooner or later, the time will come when the people he leads stop respecting him as a leader; most of them may stop doing what he preaches and instead start doing what he does. In this situation, the saying that “habits are caught rather than taught” is most applicable. It is said that “you can’t lead anyone else further than you have gone yourself”.

With all his lies, bribery and tribalism, where does Rupiah’s vision for this country lie? We say this because “the very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet”.

A leader has to stand for something. What does Rupiah stand for? It is said that those who stand for nothing fall for anything.

These are very important issues we are raising and we exhort everyone to meditate on these issues truthfully and with broadmindedness, listening to everything that is being said, without thinking that we are the owners of the absolute truth.

We know that raising issues of this nature discomforts Rupiah and his supporters. It is said a lady should never be asked about her age. Some politicians might be considered like those who do not like to be reminded of their age. It is not out of vanity, no.

It is simply upsetting not to be able to continue raising these issues and unknowingly for a much longer period of time. They have little time to turn back the pages of history and recall the past.

The march of history is adamant. We have had so many setbacks. However, that shouldn’t stop us from raising issues of this nature just because there is need to be in good terms with the powerful. Our battle is not only a battle for survival, it is not just surviving for the sake of surviving, no. It is a battle to take part in the betterment of the governance of our country, nation.

We want a better future nation. And the Zambia of tomorrow is built on the threshold of today, on what we do today. We think that the idea of the future nation is the most important and most noble idea that a progressive citizen can harbour. Revolutionaries have always fought for the future.

And to fight for the future does not mean not to avoid doing every day what must be done for the present. It is a sacred duty to do all that can be done within each person’s reach.

We must nurture values. There is no alternative; authentic values are those practised in the greatest freedom. Zambians will not put their destiny in the hands of crooks; the preservation instinct, the condition of thinking human beings make this impossible.

Rupiah and his sponsors are shaping a country of which they themselves are scared – a country reeking with corruption and intolerance in every pore.

If one wants to see how corrupt this band is, all one needs to do is to look at the way they are running their campaign. Money is everything to them; principles and values mean nothing.

What we have said here – born from the experience of our struggles, from the experience we have lived through, from sleepless eyes that try to see the evolution of events – are our convictions about what type of leadership is needed for our country to move forward.

We do not ask anyone to agree with what we are saying, but we do ask all to think about them. We will tirelessly insist on the need for our people to open their eyes to these realities and never think of exchanging principles for interest or convenience.

New ideas to prepare our people for the future are needed and we must start struggling right now. Beginning today, we must start building awareness – a new awareness. It is not that the nation lacks awareness today; but such a new and complex era as this one requires principles more than ever. It requires a lot more awareness, and that awareness will be built, by adding together, we might say, the awareness of what is happening and the awareness of what is going to happen.

It has to be built by adding together more than just one political thought and the best ethical and humane ideas of more than one religion, of all authentic religions – we are not thinking of sects, which of course are created for political ends and for the purpose of creating confusion and division – the sum total of the preaching of many political thinkers, of many schools and of many religions.

These are the challenges we face and these are the challenges we must overcome if we have to harbour any hope of progress in what appears to be a sombre future.

Labels: RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 8:20 AM