Letters - Rupiah Banda
Scared of The PostWritten by Chimfwembe Sampule, Lusaka
It was very disheartening to watch President Rupiah Banda put up a ‘splendid’ show in front of his noisy, hungry and impoverished cadres. At first sight, one would think he is playing Idi Amin in Rise and Fall of Idi Amin. Honestly, how can a mature and right-thinking president utter such nonsense?
This is a man that Dr Kaunda endorsed as Presidential candidate, a kachepa spreading unfounded rumours about Mr M’membe. Why are you so scared of The Post and PF? Very soon you are going to ban multi-partism. What is wrong with praising a person as a good minister? Is it wrong to work hard and be praised? Ba Rupiah this is 2009 and not 1949, please! We are not in the stone age, come on!
http://www.postzambia.com/content/view/5756/64/
Where are his advisors?
Written by James Banda, Livingstone
It is sad to see our Republican President emotionally sack his ministers in such a manner before cheering crowds of MMD cadres.
Democracy requires us to accommodate divergent views and opinions on issues that affect the masses and of national importance. If all of us in Zambia had one mind, we would not have had all these institutions (the press, legal institutions, law enforcement, audit institutions and so on) to provide checks and balances on one another, because if one person said no corruption, everyone would just follow suit.
But the reality is the opposite. We are all different, with different upbringing. Some want quick money at the expense of others while others are content with gradual development with consideration for others.
I wish to remind our President that at one point he will leave that seat, whether he likes it or not, equally Fred M’membe will one day leave The Post whether he likes it or not but they will also account to people and to God for what they have done, be it good or bad. The consequences will then follow afterwards.
You are now the employer and you can fire at will, remember ‘do unto others as you would love them do unto you’. It is not the President’s duty to collect debt. I’m sure he is surrounded by very learned people. Therefore, he should know that in a limited company, all liabilities are limited to that entity and not the shareholders.
We are coming and growing up, if the institutions that be cannot protect our interets as Zambians, we will protect ourselves.
As the MMD declares vigilance on The Post, we will be vigilant on our democracy, freedom and money. Don't you know it’s the inequitable sharing of national cakes that brings conflict? Ask Sudanese, Nigerians (Niger Delta). Viva Zambia, viva The Post.
http://www.postzambia.com/content/view/5776/64/
Rupiah’s regime
Written by Litiya George
It would not be strange if one said that this is the worst regime that the Zambian people have been subjected to since the MMD took over from UNIP.
During the recent presidential campaigns, Rupiah and his colleagues went around the country claiming they were going to carry on from where Levy Mwanawasa had left off. But they have proved clearly to all Zambians that they are actually carving a path worlds apart from what our late president had in mind for this country.
There is no way they can claim to be building on Mwanawasa's legacy which was based on the rule of law because the current one is proving to be lawless.
It is very immoral for a political party to ask or even demand money from the government. What they should know is that MMD is an independent organisation. It is not accredited to the Zambian government for any support. The money that the government has is for the Zambian people. MMD is not Zambia and it will never be.
Instead of channelling their energies towards constructive issues like Zamtel, GMOs and the Kaande saga, they are now venting their anger on innocent people.
Vindictiveness will take the MMD and the country nowhere. There is nothing wrong that The Post has done to them. Actually, The Post is just doing what is expected of it as a media institution. As a media institution, it has the right to inform us on anything of national interest.
http://www.postzambia.com/content/view/5775/64/
Disorder at mines ministry
Written by Andy Sorefoot Banda, Kolwezi, DRC
Kindly allow me space in your newspaper to offer my belated congratulations to Maxwell Mwale and Dr Godfrey Beene on their appointment as minister and permanent secretary, respectively, in the Ministry of Mines and minerals Development. I am aware of the huge task before these two gentlement, especially in view of the current credit crunch.
I have faith in them and have no doubt that they will live up to the challenge.
However, there is need for the two to work very closely with the heads of departments in their ministry. Apart from worrying about the performance of the mining sector purely on the basis of the performance of the mining companies, let us also worry about the performance of the individual departments of the ministry, which leaves much to be desired. How well is this ministry performing in terms of administering the mines and minerals Act? How come it does not have information on its finger tips as to whether a particular mining company is making profits or not? How come applications for renewal of small-scale mining licences submitted more than four months ago are still not processed?
There is definitely something seriously wrong in the mines ministry and the sooner it is sorted out, the better not only for the sector, but the entire national economy because we shall, for a long time to come, depend on the earnings from mineral resource.
http://www.postzambia.com/content/view/5761/64/
Banda’s pride
Written by AC, Ndola
I could not believe what I saw when I watched President Rupiah Banda reduced to the lowest level of cadreism. From my analysis, this marked the beginning of his downfall. As the Bible says, ‘Pride comes before a fall’, because rupiah revealed his true colours.
To begin with, his ascension to the MMD presidency has led to this and I believe the MMD top brass could do nothing to stop him.
I wish Rupiah could be as emotional as he was last Thursday in addressing the many problems this nation is facing and not his personal issues with The Post. By the way, Mr President, did you know that, the president is not the most powerful person but the media because the people are behind a well meaning media? I don’t mean the useless public media we have in this country. No wonder they post losses and people are not moved to pay licences because they'll be paying to watch your Cabinet which is not inspiring.
http://www.postzambia.com/content/view/5760/64/
In Rupiah’s ‘chicken run’
Written by KC, Lusaka
Tuesday, March 03, 2009 12:40:55 PM
Listening to President Rupiah Banda last Thursday made me feel like a chicken in his chicken run.
As owner of the run, Rupiah either buys me chicken feed or does not at all when the global financial crisis hits him hard at household level. He can decide whether I enter the chicken run in the evening or spend a night outside the enclosure. Worse off, if I were a cock, no crowling at midnight would be allowed. If the master wants, I will be on the menu the following day - in the pot - on fire in no time.
A lot is at stake in this country, which he says “enjoys good relations with the international community”. Yes, that community that presided over fictitious elections and sanctified them. That community that brings huge amounts of their taxpayers’ money called ‘aid’ in this supposedly poor country, which money benefits a few elite and slogan-chanting cadres, pretending that the money has been put to good use and governance is improving,…and bring more the following year. This, in my view, contributes to Rupiah and his friends’ complacence and arrogance. It did the same to one Frederick Chiluba. Perhaps we can revisit this matter later.
Yes, a country with people that are hurting and bleeding silently at the many injustices they suffer at the hands of a few elite. A country of chickens gone to sleep hungry; they scrounge or peck on grains and insect. If we were dogs, maybe we could be pets of some of these elite and would eat ‘imported’ food bought from leading stores and hotels. That is how I felt as I watched Rupiah howl at us.
Prove to me and other milder critics that we too are human not some inferior creatures somewhere.
Mr Banda, we certainly deserve more from you at your age - wisdom and leadership. And wisdom comes from God. And if you’re that God-fearing man, who interacts with the self-professed God-fearing people, like Kaunda and Chiluba, whom God at one time appointed or chose to rule Zambia, please let it show!
And as a leader, know that you are ‘bigger’ than individuals. For example, Fred and Mutembo and other Zambians are mere babies who need to be carried on the leader’s shoulders, as he shows them the way. Aren’t these the middle class of this country who will shape the future of those twins of yours born in old age? Come on, we need your intelligence too, and since you’re an economist with good economic advisors, we need economic direction and not that paranoia we witnessed on Thursday.
For heaven’s sake, you’re not rearing chickens at a farm. You’re leading a country of 12 million plus people! And as President of a country at this time, you must learn to be above pettiness. You must be focussed and at the cutting edge of politics, economics and science. And to borrow your own words, we underline the word ‘peculiar’. Zambians equally do not require peculiar souls in State House, so peculiar as to fail to realise that State House is an office for Zambians and by Zambians and not just a house where cadres sing misplaced songs for you? Oh no, where is the cultural intelligence? Woe to those grannies and papas that abuse rich Bemba traditional songs meant for the institution of marriage.
Awe Africa twali sebana. Lesa engala tumfwa, twalila pafula!
http://www.postzambia.com/content/view/5757/64/
The President on Zambian investors
Written by Concerned citizen
Tuesday, March 03, 2009 12:39:07 PM
It is very difficult to understand what Rupiah Banda is up to. A few weeks ago, he was trying to persuade Zambians working and doing business abroad to come back and invest in their own country.
Today, he is the one trying to punish people that have invested in the country. He and his friends refused to help Zambian Airways simply because they took interest by talking about national issues.
What makes him think that the people he is inviting to come and invest in Zambia will remain silent even after seeing the injustices and sufferings brought about by him and his corrupt friends. They are working in countries that have better presidents and would not want to live and work under threats if they voiced out their concerns. Our President should remember that what will attract investors is not what he says, but what he is doing.
http://www.postzambia.com/content/view/5758/64/
‘Grace under pressure’
Written by Fr Smart Chinyanwa, Washington DC
This is the title of a book written by a group of priests a few years ago. The book was written after a survey conducted involving young Catholic priests in the United States of America. It is a collection of stories of the great heroism that accompanies these ordinary men as they struggle to ‘keep their eyes on the ball’ during these trying and difficult times. But not only do they manage to remain focused in the face of so many ‘storms’ they do it joyfully and serenely; hence the title ‘Grace Under Pressure’.
In a world that has become a pressure chamber, of sorts, the ability to remain calm, civil and graceful while dealing with the day-to-day issues of leadership has become a hallmark of great leaders. It is that quality the philosopher Aristotle calls “great-souledness” A few weeks ago, the newly-elected President of the US, Barack Obama, was under fire from the media here over some of his cabinet picks who had to withdraw their nominations for one reason or the other. And what was his defence? ‘I screwed up!’ He told the whole world. Before his address to Congress last Tuesday, some speculated that he would take a swipe at his opponents; well, they couldn’t have been more wrong. “But I also know that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment,” was what he said. This is grace under pressure - great souledness, greatness of heart.
When President Rupiah Banda was still our Vice-President, one thing that I admired about him, compared to some who held that office before him was his calmness. I mean, the man just did his job! I know now he is President, the pressures are even greater, but, truth be told, I miss the cool and calm Rupiah Banda. The manner in which the President announced the firing of Shakafuswa and Chibombamilimo made very sad reading. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying the two gentlemen should not have been fired - I am not qualified to make such an assessment. Rather it is the manner, the way the whole thing was done that left me feeling sad. The photo of the president that accompanied the article showed an angry man, a very angry man at that!
And the revelations about Magande? Need I say more? If I had that rare chance to visit State House and speak one-to-one with the President, I would tell him; “Mr President, these are difficult times for ordinary Zambians. We wish you well because our destinies are linked to your success as our President. We are anxious about where our next meal will come from, sending children to school, paying our rentals. And, Mr President, in the midst of all the storms, we look up to you for inspiration and confidence. Be the great leader you can be: when some expect you to shout and rant, remain calm; when cadres scream ‘bloody murder’, calmly but strongly remind them you have a country to run. Grace under pressure, great-souledness, greatness of heart is my prayer for you, Mr President.”
Labels: FDI, MAGANDE, NEOLIBERALISM
posted by MrK @ 12:37 PM
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