The numbers are growing
The numbers are growingWritten by Editor
No honest person will fail to see that there is something questionable, something wrong with Dora Siliya’s conduct over the Zamtel valuation and SELEX radar deals. However, it is a well-known fact that corruption, dishonesty make even wise people blind to the truth, and prevent them from having a fair assessment of issues.
Today, the Zambian media are carrying stories of ten very influential civil society organisations petitioning the Chief Justice to constitute a tribunal and probe the allegations of abuse of office by Dora. We know that Rupiah Banda and George Kunda have defended Dora, claiming what she did was right. Rupiah even accused people questioning Dora’s decisions and actions of talking nonsense. He praised Dora as being smarter than those criticising her.
Dora may be smart but that does not exempt her from observing the law. In fact, there are many people who can be said to be far much smarter than Dora who are in our courts of law today facing corruption and abuse of office charges. Who can deny the fact that Stella Chibanda is a very intelligent woman – a thousand times more intelligent than Dora? But she is in court facing corruption charges.
And who can take away from Faustine Kabwe’s unquestionable intellect, breadth of experience and seamless ability to deliver. But Faustine is in court today for corruption. Richard Sakala, humble though his formal education might be, cannot be dismissed as an unintelligent person.
Richard is a sharp, quick-witted political operator, who is light years away from where Dora is today and anybody in Rupiah’s State House. But again, Richard served a jail sentence for corruption and he is still in court facing more charges of corruption.
So what does Dora’s smartness, as projected by Rupiah, amount to?
As for George, rather than dealing with the problems that Dora has found herself in, he decided to drag The Post into the fray. For George and his friends, they think it is enough to attack The Post to get away from their sins by claiming The Post is biased against them. The Post is not against them, it is not against anyone. The Post is against wrongdoing, it is against abuse of public office and resources – The Post is against corruption.
George has demonstrated a serious inability to distinguish wrong from right or right from wrong. Where there is wrong, George sees right. We will not belabour this point much further because we clearly demonstrated George’s inability to distinguish wrong from right in the way he handled the Kashiwa Bulaya corrupt nolle prosequi. Anyway, George needs to say something, even if it is totally nonsense, to exercise his clearly weak vocal cords.
It is foolish for somebody doing the wrong thing to blame the person who exposes it. The problem has got nothing to do with the expose but has everything to do with wrong. It doesn’t matter who points out the wrongdoing. What matters is the wrongdoing itself. And this is what attention should be focused on. The Post did not create this. This is not a concoction. It is a matter of fact that is backed by a trail of communication, some of it generated by Dora herself.
Ten independent and objective civil society organisations, run by good, intelligent and God-fearing people, have not failed to see the point being raised in this myriad of communication concerning Dora’s deals. And this is why they yesterday petitioned the Chief Justice to probe Dora’s deals.
Those who want to reduce the current problem to the alleged misrepresentation by The Post have a difficult task now. No one has gone to the ten civil society organisations to ask them to do what they are doing. They are merely doing what they exist for. They are there to champion the interests of the people.
And according to their own statement, they represent a huge segment of Zambia’s population both in the urban and rural areas. They have a duty to perform and those who are in government would do well to respect that duty.
The Post is a newspaper with a very specific purpose – to keep the public informed about what is going on around them including the world they live in. We take this duty very seriously. Regardless of the insinuations and attacks, we will continue to strive to inform our people. Our people can only participate in shaping the destiny of their country - indeed their own destiny - if they are well-informed.
In doing all this, we are being told by Dora and those like her that The Post is a danger to this nation. But surely, can Dora truthfully say that our country is worse off because The Post exists? And can Dora equally say that this country is better off because of what she is doing? Can she say that this country would have been better if The Post had not exposed her misdeeds?
These are legitimate questions seeking honest answers. We have no interest in drawing attention to ourselves. We would in fact – if it were possible – aspire for an anonymous place in life.
The ten civil society organisations have reminded us once again that it is important for people to rise and be counted when there are serious national issues. No one is going to make Zambia a better place for us. It’s not Barack Obama; it’s not Gordon Brown or even Hu Jintao. It’s not even Rupiah. But it’s you and us who will make this country a better place for all of us to live in. We all have a common duty to make Zambia a better place for its people, not just for a few who are privileged to hold public office or to be sons, relatives and friends of those occupying public offices. We have to strive to improve our own nation.
If you and us are not eternally vigilant, we will continue to complain about living in a backward country, in perpetual poverty until the grave redeems us.
We have leaders who have no shame about telling lies on very fundamental issues. If some good Zambians did not let us have the SELEX documents, Dora, George and Rupiah would get away with telling us that they have done nothing wrong.
Look at Dora, with a straight face she appeared before the media and told the nation that the radar procurement tender had not been stopped. She went on to say that the tender had not yet been awarded as the process was ongoing. This is a person who knows that we know that Zambia National Tender Board had awarded a tender for the radar equipment to Thales Air Systems. Dora knows that she wrote to stop the tender and yet she can stand and say she did not do it. This is when we even have the documents and have published extracts. We hate to imagine what else is going on. If people can lie when all the documents are available, what would happen if they were not there? They will continue to lie with straight faces.
Clearly, there is nothing malicious from all those who are calling for a tribunal to probe Dora’s deals. The reaction to these calls by Rupiah, George and Dora seems to mirror what is said in Proverbs 29:9: “When an intelligent man brings a lawsuit against a fool, the fool only laughs and becomes loud and abusive.”
If you are honest, truly honest, you cannot be corrupted and behave in the way Rupiah, George and Dora are behaving. If you are unassuming and have a clear understanding of the worth of people and of yourself, you won’t be corrupted and behave the way Rupiah, George and Dora are behaving.
It is very important to realise that leadership is very vital to the future of our nation. But in the end, putting aside all the theories and concepts, good leadership will be achieved, not by the formality of structures, but by the integrity of the participant and by the willingness of the individuals to work together and be inspired by a larger vision.
A French proverb says “there is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience”. And with all these lies they are telling, there is no way Rupiah, George and Dora can live with a clear conscience. They are clearly troubled human beings. Dishonesty only causes trouble. It is said that “honest people will lead a full, happy life. But if you are in a hurry to get rich, you are going to be punished” (Proverbs 28:20).
It is better one rather falls with honour than succeeds by fraud. Honest towards yourself. Looking into your mirror, anytime all the time will guide you.
It is inspiring to see the way our people have positively responded to this issue. And we urge them to work with civil society and help stamp out corruption in our government’s dealings. Everyone has a role to play in this.
There is need for each one of us to take a stand. It is said that those who stand for nothing fall for anything. Fear will not develop our country. In fact, fear is the tool used by those who want to abuse our people, those who want to abuse public trust and office. They intimidate and silence everybody while they are busy looting. By the time those they have intimidated, those they have scared, those they have frozen into fear wake up from their slumber, they will have taken everything of value.
The tribunal is coming. This should not be left to William Harrington and the ten civil society organisations that have petitioned the Chief Justice. All of us should find a way to participate in this, in any way we can and know how. Those of us who are prepared to stand for what is right should not be intimidated - the numbers are growing. Zambia is our country for all of us to enjoy, and not just Rupiah, his sons, friends and relatives.
Labels: DORA SILIYA, PRIVATISATION, ZAMTEL
posted by MrK @ 7:41 AM
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