Nyamasoya type of leadership won’t do

Nyamasoya type of leadership won’t do
Written by Editor

It is said that tough times never last, but tough people do.We have a serious economic crisis in the country in general and on the Copperbelt in particular. But the political leadership of this country is acting as if all is normal, as if all is alright.

Today we have carried a statement from the general secretary of the Mine Workers Union of Zambia saying:

“We write to bring to the attention of government and the relevant authorities that the rising spate of mining operations’ closures and retrenchments is reaching alarming levels and needs urgent and concerted actions to stem job losses and finding practical measures to weather the storm.

In the recent days, the union has been in receipt of countless notices of several mine operations being put on ‘care and maintenance’, suspension of operations and in some cases, closure, thus throwing many of our members in the streets to face unemployment, loss of income, hunger and abject poverty.

The union has received notices that 800 KCM employees will be pruned; 500 Chambeshi Metals employees will be put on recess due to the suspension of operations of mainly the smelter and other operations; Prosec LCM site is offloading 500 employees while the Mufulira site employing 400 miners has been closed; JVC Mufulira site with 107 employees has received notice to cease operations and JVC Nkana is likely to shed over 200 employees; and MCM is targeting 4,000 permanent and contract employees in measures aimed at saving operational costs and sustaining operations.

In registering our concerns, we would like to call upon government and all key stakeholders to take bold and fast-tracked emergency measures to ameliorate and cushion the impact on workers, first with rising mealie-meal prices and other essential commodities. In an emergency like the one we face today, we should not shy away from even suspending the National Constitutional Conference and other medium term and long-term projects to mobilise resources for maize importation and supporting the domestic economy and currency – the kwacha – if we have to weather the storm.”

These are the concerns, worries and feelings of union leaders. This is what our union leaders are telling us. What are the concerns, worries, feelings of our political leaders? What are our political leaders telling us about this crisis?

It is said that one of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognise a problem before it becomes an emergency. This crisis could be seen coming. But Rupiah Banda’s government kept on telling the nation not to worry because the country was not going to be affected by what is happening in the world, the global financial crisis wreaking havoc everywhere. This is what they were telling the nation.

And now that the country is affected by what they were saying would not affect it, they seem to be at sea; they are confused and don’t seem to know what to say. And if the country decides to follow Rupiah, it will sink. And rather than be like that woman who they say kept looking – who the Bible says – kept looking towards that lake, towards that city which had sunk, and was changed into a pillar of salt, we should refuse to be devoured by this crisis.

Crises should generate new ideas. We cannot resign ourselves to fate and continue hoping that someone else will find a solution to the serious problems our people face today as a result of this crisis and other accumulated problems. Nobody should think that things are going to be easy. We must be prepared to meet difficulties. We have difficulties now, and we will have even greater ones in the future, even if we do things the right way – and we should do them the right way even if it calls for our greatest efforts. We have to cope with the objective problems of the international situation. But this calls for leadership that squares up to that. And we have never misled ourselves in any way that Rupiah squares up to situations like these. In the first place, Rupiah is not President of our country today because of any outstanding abilities or leadership qualities but simply because of extraordinary circumstances.

It is very easy for anyone to be a boss, to be a ‘leader’ when the going is easy. But true leadership is only seen when the going is tough. We agree with Moses Muteteka that Rupiah has not shown leadership over this crisis. All he has done is to wash his hands in the Pontius Pilate style and proclaim there is nothing he can do about this crisis. As far as Rupiah is concerned, this seems to be a live and let die situation. He has thrown his hands in the air in despair. What type of a leader is this?

When people questioned him for saying he was happy to sign the bill increasing his own salary and those of his fellow politicians and other top government officials, they were denounced as being petty. But what is Rupiah today or tomorrow going to tell the people of Zambia when they come to him telling him they can’t afford his expensive mealie-meal because their salaries have not been increased like his? What is he going to tell them when they come to him and tell him that they can’t afford to feed themselves and their families because they have lost their jobs or contracts with the mines? Again, this is why it is said that one of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognise a problem before it becomes an emergency.

Nobody can deny that Rupiah moved into State House without risking anything. But it is said that to win without risk is to triumph without glory.

But soon, Rupiah and his sponsors will realise what Napoleon Hill meant when he said “the best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses”.

Zambians were probably right when they likened Rupiah’s leadership to Nyamasoya.

The anxieties being raised by our miners and their leaders deserve serious responses from the government. All serious leaders in the world are looking for ways to respond to this crisis and protect their people from total ruin.

This crisis is not only affecting workers; it is also affecting our businessmen, especially the contractors and suppliers to the mines. All these people are looking up to government to find a way to mitigate their problems. No serious government in the world has left the effects of this crisis to be sorted out by the vagrancies of the market. Governments are taking measures to cushion the effects of this crisis on their people and their businesses. All that Rupiah could do was to increase his own salary. It seems he is very used to reaping where he has not sown. This is the most docile government this country has ever known, a government that tries to address serious problems by saying nothing and doing nothing. Anyway, these are not leaders. They are just a bunch of opportunists out to help themselves from the generous salaries that the Zambian tax payer can offer or rather can be forced to pay them. Leaders lead, leaders care about the welfare of the people they lead.

And this is why those who want to carry out peaceful demonstrations to bring to the attention of the nation, of the government their plight should not be stopped from doing so. We say this because if they don’t do it for themselves, nobody will do it for them. The first act of Rupiah’s government was not to address the problems of the people but to give himself and his friends a salary increment. What type of selfishness is this? What type of shortsightedness is this?

With this type of greed and shortsightedness, we will not be surprised to start hearing so many cases of corruption involving these elements and those close to them. Soon, they will be sharing government contracts among themselves, their families and associates. They will be the suppliers of all government services and goods. And with this crisis, soon they will take advantage of things to enrich themselves. This we are sure they will do. It’s just a matter of time before we start hearing stories similar to that of the Carlington maize deal.

It’s time Rupiah heeded Simon Zukas’ advice to pull up his socks or he will leave State House a very sad and broken man. It was easy to manipulate or scheme his way into power but it won’t be easy – especially in these very difficult circumstances – to stay there the same way. Rupiah has to earn his salary. The Zambian taxpayers will not pay him for doing nothing. The problems that the country is facing need to be tackled, solutions need to be found to mitigate the suffering of our people. And there is nothing strange in demanding this because all serious leaders in the world are doing so and their people are demanding that of them. If it means Rupiah playing some alchemist, let him do so. The Zambian people will not listen to excuses of global this, global that because such problems will always be there and the only countries that will cope are those with serious, intelligent and hardworking leadership.