Maravi

Rupiah, caught in a noose of bribery

Rupiah, caught in a noose of bribery
By Editor
Wednesday October 08, 2008 [04:00]

It is not that easy to get out of a lie. Those who try to live by lies, deceit and dishonesty are only setting embarrassing traps for themselves. A lie is not different from a spider web. When one tells lies, he is weaving a web for himself, one in which he will be caught and entangled. Rupiah Banda and his sponsors seem to be catching themselves, seem to be entangling themselves in their web of lies and deceit.

The best way out for them is to admit wrongdoing because when they admit it, they may still be used by their opponents against them but in a different way, in a less devastating way. It is said that “admit when you are wrong, and you will avoid embarrassment” (Sirach 20:3).

What the MMD have to come to terms with is that they are not selling a presidential candidate with a clean record. Rupiah is not a Kenneth Kaunda or a Levy Mwanawasa where issues of corruption are concerned. Rupiah has a record of corruption that cannot be denied by his sponsors, not even by Dr Kaunda himself. We say this with confidence because we know Dr Kaunda to be a man of very high integrity and honesty. He can support Rupiah today as a presidential candidate, but that support is certainly not because he believes Rupiah is not a corrupt man. He knows Rupiah is corrupt. His support for Rupiah must be based on other considerations. We accept the fact that in politics things are decided on many factors and considerations.

The more Rupiah’s sponsors try to deny or explain away his misdeeds, the more people will come up to testify against him.
Rupiah must accept to live with the consequences of his past actions and poor judgement (Proverbs 18:20).

Rupiah’s 1991 electoral bribery story cannot be denied in the stupid and foolish way Michael Mabenga is trying to do. We say this because this is a story with so many witnesses. Claudius Sakala and his wife are dead, but there are many other people who are still alive and who can testify to what happened as Charles Manda is today doing.
Mabenga is claiming that Rupiah did not bribe Sakala with K20,000 because he had a request from Sakala for assistance. He claimed Sakala had a funeral and needed money which his own party, the MMD, could not provide and it had to take Rupiah of UNIP to assist. It is not necessary to go into a critical analysis of Mabenga’s lie, silly attempt to cover up Rupiah’s corruption. Manda’s story exposes the deceit that Mabenga is trying to sell to the Zambian people.

Truly, lies have short legs, they can’t run too far before they are caught.
But it seems dishonest people have serious difficulties parting company with lies and corrupt practices.

Let’s face it, if only Rupiah and his sponsors would tell the truth, our job would be very easy and peaceful because instead of concentrating on their dishonesty, we would be talking about their views on the environment, agriculture, mining, tourism, education, health, fiscal policies, foreign policy and so on and so forth.

We think there ought to be a law that would actually punish politicians like Rupiah and his friends who tell lies on the stump. Dishonest politicians should not be allowed to continue deceiving and misleading the people without being stopped or punished in any way. Dishonest politicians are actually obtaining votes from voters by false pretences. They are using fraudulent means to win votes. And by ‘fraudulent means’ we mean misrepresentations of material facts that are intended to lead voters to vote for them when if the truth was told, the voters would vote otherwise.

We are calling for honesty in politics because in a democracy, the authority of government derives solely from the consent of the governed, the voters. And the principle mechanism for translating that consent into governmental authority is the holding of honest elections, free and fair elections. It is not possible to hold honest elections, free and fair elections whose results truly reflect the wishes of the people if lies and deceptions are allowed to dominate election campaigns unabated.

And it seems the Electoral Commission of Zambia is increasingly becoming overwhelmed by reports of electoral dishonesty and abuses. We are seeing the use and abuse of government resources, especially automobiles, without anyone being able to stop this. And being unable to stop this practice, the Electoral Commission seems to be helpless and is resorting to justifications and mitigations. Instead of condemning abuses, the Electoral Commission is looking for reasons to justify them. It is understandable the magnitude is too big for them to handle, they are overwhelmed and it has become practically impossible for them to talk about it, to condemn it in a direct manner.

As for the use of government vehicles, the Supreme Court made it very clear in the case in which Sikota Wina had petitioned the election of this same corrupt Mabenga who is today defending Rupiah’s corruption: “The use of government transport and facilities for political purposes is prohibited by the Electoral Act and that authorities such as school authorities, cannot authorise that which is prohibited by law.”
The Supreme Court has set clear parameters under which politicians should operate when it comes to the use of public resources for elections.

We know that there are privileges of incumbency, but the string shouldn’t be pulled too far. Mobilising government transport to ferry supporters of Rupiah is certainly an abuse that cannot be justified under the privileges of incumbency. Taking three government aircraft to ferry supporters of Rupiah who are not even government officials is certainly an abuse.

Those in power may enjoy the advantages of incumbency, but the rules and conduct of the election contest must be fair. Simply permitting the opposition access to the ballot is not enough. The government resources being put at the disposal of Rupiah are disproportionate.

No one is questioning Rupiah’s use of government transport and other resources for himself as Vice-President although it is a well-known fact that the trips he is making around the country are not truly for performing government business per se but for campaigning for himself as a presidential candidate. But what is questionable is the use of additional government aircraft and other forms of transport to carry his supporters like Sakwiba Sikota.

But as for Rupiah’s dishonesty, his corruption and bribery, there is no other way out for him other than the honest one – admitting the wrong and apologising. Rupiah bribed Sakala. He cannot deny this and no political gymnastics will get him out of this bribery scandal. The more he tries to deny it, the tighter the noose around his neck becomes. We are advised that “if you trick an honest person into doing evil, you will fall into your own trap…” (Proverbs 28:10).

And we are told that “those who are good travel a road that avoids evil; so watch where you are going – it may save your life” (Proverbs 16:17).

As for the Zambian voters, it should now be clear to them what type of people Rupiah and his sponsors are. These seem to be men who commit crimes or do wrong things and on top of that, tell lies about what they did. Can such men be trusted to be village headmen, to be custodians of a people’s destiny?

Mwata Kazembe has provided a perfect answer to this question: politicians who are engaging in electoral corruption and malpractices should be arrested. But what about those with immunities like Rupiah? Maybe it’s only your vote that can punish them!

Labels: RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 11:42 AM