Maravi

Threats won’t do

Threats won’t do
Written by Editor

It is very dangerous to be governed by very unpopular regimes.When people in power are unpopular, they often resort to very undemocratic ways of governing. The first thing they try to trample upon is people’s political freedoms, rights or liberties.
Fragile politicians in power are very sensitive to criticism, opposition, protests or demonstrations. They try very hard to suppress any dissent.

It cannot be denied that Rupiah Banda is running a very unpopular government with very little public support in the key areas, in the most politically active parts of the country.

We are not therefore surprised that since Rupiah became President, his regime has been very intolerant to opposition, especially to demonstrations or protests. Every attempt, since the elections, to hold protests have been stopped. Yet the law is very clear on this issue. But it is being ignored and people’s rights to assemble and protest are being violated with impunity.

George Mpombo says that people planning to demonstrate against high mealie-meal prices and other essential foods in the country will be met head on with full force. Why should this be so?

Mpombo says they will apply the full force of the law against the demonstrators to ensure peace in the country. But why not apply it in such a manner as to ensure that the constitutional rights of citizens to assemble and peacefully protest are protected with the full force of the law?

It seems the only time a demonstration or protest will be accepted or tolerated under Rupiah’s regime is only when it is in support of his decisions or actions. It seems they will never be a demonstration against the government in this country as long as Rupiah is President. This is what their behaviour on this issue amounts to. Wrong or right, citizens have the right to assemble and protest.

Even if they don’t understand the issues properly, they still have the right to protest and make a fool of themselves. And their opponents will have every right to mock them, laugh at them and rub in their foolishness. All what is needed is for these protests to be peaceful. And the state has every right and duty to ensure that the protests are peaceful. If things get out of control, those responsible for the disturbance of peace should be arrested and prosecuted.

Mpombo says that some political party leaders have shown high levels of ignorance on the high mealie-meal prices because the high prices of food were a worldwide issue. Truly, some opposition leaders may be ignorant about the global happenings that have affected the prices of food in Zambia. But they may not be the only ones because just over a month ago, Mpombo and his friends were promising a reduction in the prices of mealie-meal. In some cases, they were blaming the millers for trying to taint the reputation of Rupiah’s government by hiking prices unnecessarily or unjustifiably.

They never saw the price hikes as part of a global phenomenon. Why did they fail to see it? Is it because they are ignorant like their friends in the opposition? Or is it simply because they are liars who try to lie about everything? Was it simply an attempt to continue their lie about their election promise to reduce the price of mealie-meal? It seems it’s only Mpombo and his friends who are allowed to be ignorant and get away with it, opposition leaders and their supporters have to always be right to enjoy any of their political freedoms and rights!

The global rise in the prices of foodstuffs didn’t start just after the elections or just now. There were demonstrations in many parts of the Third World over the rising food prices. We saw serious demonstrations in Haiti and in some African countries.

Clearly, Rupiah and his friends have not been honest on these issues. They have told the Zambian people lies. Recently, finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane assured the nation that Zambia will not be affected by the ongoing global financial crisis. Was he lying? If he was not lying, what is Mpombo talking about?

It is clear that Rupiah and his friends have not been honest about these issues, they have told lies about these issues. And this being the case, the people of this country have every right to protest the high mealie-meal prices against the background of their lies.

Yes, there is a worldwide rise in food prices but that doesn’t mean the Zambian people and their representatives in government should do nothing about it. What the Zambian people want to know is what the government is doing about these issues. Proclaiming impotence is not satisfactory, is unacceptable. Other governments in the world are taking measures to mitigate the effects of this crisis. And the fertiliser support programme Mpombo is talking about cannot be said to be an immediate response to this crisis because it wasn’t started this year; it is something that has been carried over. Again, is this a lie or ignorance on the part of Mpombo?

It is interesting that Mpombo is saying the opposition should come together with the government to find a solution to the problem of high food prices. Does he really mean it? If he does, what measures has the government put in place to ensure this? Can he tell the nation what initiatives the government has made to realise this coming together?

The truth is, there is nothing. The truth is they have been telling the people of Zambia lies that the global financial crisis will not affect them. And this is why they have not taken any initiatives to try and deal with the situation. How can they try to find solutions to a problem they said will not be there? This is the problem with lies – they have short legs!

Mpombo goes on further to say that the matters of elections are now in the courts of law and was wondering why the opposition was trying to fight the government in all directions. The opposition is not trying to fight the government in all directions. What the opposition is trying to do is to simply perform its role of opposition in all directions. And that role or duty of the opposition does not begin and end with elections. The opposition is not only opposition during elections, it is opposition throughout the period it is not in government. Any politician or political party that is not part of the governing party, or has such an alliance with them, is in opposition. And this opposition is permanent, it is not confined only to election time. Mpombo says the purported demonstrations were totally unjustifiable and what was needed was to sit and talk like Rupiah said instead of destabilising the country.

Unjustifiable to who? The opposition doesn’t need to justify their need for demonstrations to Rupiah or Mpombo before they can carry them out. This is something they should decide themselves. The only legal requirement from them is that they should do so without violence, without disturbing the peace.

But today, Mpombo is telling us Rupiah’s government and ministers will be telling Zambians when it is justifiable or unjustifiable for them to protest against anything. When it is justifiable, Rupiah will sanction the protests. And when it is unjustifiable, Mpombo will be told to stop it and use the full force of the law to do so if there is any defiance of his orders. This is the most stupid statement we have ever heard over this issue over the last 17 years of multiparty politics in Zambia. And if Mpombo says the opposition is ignorant on these issues, then he is something worse than that – something unprintable.

There is no need for Mpombo to issue all these threats against those who are seeking or planning to protest the high mealie-meal prices. As long as they are peaceful, they will be doing so within the law and in line with their constitutional rights. And there is no need to threaten them with state violence. But how can fragile and unpopular elements like these govern if not through threats, violence and tyranny?

Their problem is not about the protests being unjustified. What they are afraid of, what they are worried about is these protests undermining their very fragile and extremely delicate hold on power.

But what they should know is that threats don’t work. If they have got credibility with the people they are governing, let them go out and explain these high mealie-meal prices and the people will understand them and will ignore any protest. But the truth is they lack credibility and no one will listen to them. Even if they called a rally today to come and explain the high mealie-meal prices, nobody will attend it. But if the opposition calls a rally to come and explain the high mealie-meal prices, the number of people attending will be very high. This is the truth they must face and accept.

And this is why those who are trying to construct a new constitution for this country should ensure that whatever electoral system we come up with, it should not allow for a minority government, for an unpopular group or individuals to take over power because that will always be a recipe for tyranny. And we can all see it clearly now what it means to have unpopular elements in office.

There is need for those trying to write us a new constitution to pay a lot of attention to how the forces of democratic governance and a civil society interact as a continuing and dynamic process in our new multiparty democracy. We shouldn’t forget the old saying that freedom and order are constantly in tension with one another in society and that order without freedom leads to totalitarianism. And that freedom without order leads to anarchy, but that societies recover quicker and more healthily from too much freedom than they do from totalitarianism.

We urge those who are planning protests over the high mealie-meal prices to do so without being scared by Mpombo’s threats. But they should do so peacefully. If Mpombo and his friends attempt to stand in their way, let them seek the intervention of the courts of law. We say this because if this behaviour is allowed, our freedoms and liberties would have been surrendered to Rupiah and Mpombo. But is this the right thing to do?

Labels: DEMONSTRATION, GEORGE MPOMBO, INFLATION, MEALIE-MEAL

posted by MrK @ 5:52 AM