Apologising

Apologising
Written by Editor

IT is clearly a better world when we take responsibility for our wrongdoings and seek to make amends with a genuine apology.Apologies take the heat out of conflict, aid resolution and - crucially - provide opportunities for forgiveness.

How often, when we have been treated badly by a friend do we need nothing more than to hear “I am sorry”? From a human being, of course, rather than the automated voice when you are stuck on hold.

Of course, the way we deliver our apologies matters a lot because in the end, unless the injured party accepts our apology, very little will change; it is in the response of the offended or injured party that the glory lies. We may be sorry, but unless the injured party accepts our apology, it will be of limited value. As Alexander Pope reminded us, to err is human, to forgive is divine.

We have had to confront on a number of occasions in our work the need to apologise for getting our facts wrong in a story. We have apologised, without hesitation, even when doing so seemed unfavourable to us. We have been confronted by the need to apologise because of simple mistakes but we have also had to do it in some very sensitive situations. The difficulty or lack of it has not changed our approach - when we get a fact wrong and end up injuring somebody, we apologise.

For us apologising is not simply a matter of tact but of principle, it is an ethical issue. We would not be professional if we do not recognise the rights of other people, if we did not have respect or regard for the reputations of others.

As a newspaper, we have always taken an uncompromising stand on the question of right and wrong in public service. To do this, we are forced to denounce wrongs on a number of occasions in the most explicit and clear fashion that is appropriate in the circumstances. With this kind of approach, one would expect that it would be very difficult to apologise when we get our facts wrong.

This is much more so for a newspaper whose enemies are always trying to show that it is not accurate, truthful, fair and objective in its reporting, analysis and comments. Apologising, admitting errors, mistakes in such circumstances would appear to be giving credence to their claims. But we still do it and will continue to do it because there is no other sensible way out of wrongs, out of mistakes, out of errors one has committed other than to accept them, apologise and correct them.

This is what drives us all the time. We are not tortured by the embarrassment that may accompany the admission of errors, wrongs or mistakes and indeed apologising for them.

We apologise as quickly as we do when we make mistakes because we recognise that we are not perfect. Even as human beings, our capacity to hear or see things correctly is not always accurate. How many times have we heard another person say something which is different from what they have actually said? And this is why it is said that to err is human.

We have experienced the benefits of apologising. Apologising ensures that the discourse that we engage in remains relevant and about things that are accurate. To perpetuate a mistake or an inaccurate statement or claim is to embrace lies and become permanently wedded to them. The virtue that we are advocating is an important one. We have had to learn it and are still learning. We can't say we have perfected it but at least we can say we embrace it firmly and we endeavour to practice it.

From our experience, we can wholeheartedly say that Patriotic Front vice-president Guy Scott's observations about the way Rupiah Banda has dealt with us deserves favourable consideration. It is now clear to anyone who cares to be honest that Rupiah was deliberately wrong when he accused us of pocketing US$30 million through Zambian Airways from state institutions.

Rupiah may claim that he was misled, but the vigour with which he accepted the notions that were being fed to him shows that he was a very active participant in the character assassination that was being executed on us by his government. For some time now, investigations have been going on to try and find how the editor of this newspaper or some other officers of Zambian Airways took millions of dollars out of the company.

And if Rupiah and his friends are honest, they have seen by now that nobody took any money. The impression they gave to the public was wrong. This puts Rupiah in a very awkward position. But he has nobody to blame. Rupiah, for reasons that are only clear to himself, has raised the stakes too high and his agents are working round the clock to distribute all sorts of propaganda trying to prove or justify something that cannot be proved or justified.

Watching the international politics today, we can give some examples of presidents who have made mistakes and apologised publicly and gone on to serve their people well and in an honest manner. Recently, US President Barack Obama apologised for mistakes that he made in making appointments to his new administration. This is as it should be. No one is perfect.

Although we agree with Scott that an apology is necessary, we do not think in Rupiah's case it is possible. We say this because apologies come from honest people who realise they made a mistake and are remorseful about it. What Rupiah has done or is doing against us is not a product of oversight, it is a deliberate and conscious decision to fix us. And this decision was made during the election campaign.

They made it very clear that after winning the elections they will sort us out, they will ensure that we close and pay for our sins. The only thing that remained for them to do was to look for pretext to use to perpetrate their villain on us. Luckily enough, we have only made mistakes but we have not committed any crimes. And today they are having serious difficulties finding crimes of theft, money laundering, racketeering to hang on our necks and use that to send us to Calvary.

People who do things of this nature don't see the need for apologies. They have no sense of remorse in them. They are not interested in justice or truth. Their only discernible interest or preoccupation now is to bring us on our knees, to crush The Post.

Remorsefulness, apologising are the conditions for forgiveness but we do not expect this from Rupiah. This will be expecting too much. It is remorse and the seeking of forgiveness, which constitutes truth and promotes justice. Rupiah is not seeking any of those things. He is not interested in the truth of how the affairs of Zambian Airways were conducted and what our roles in it were. All that Rupiah is interested in is to find a boulder that he can tie around our necks and throw us in Lake Kariba. If, as it is happening, nothing is found against us, Rupiah is sad, is not happy. And this is what is causing problems for him, those around him and those he has sent to help him nail us to the cross. But whatever he does, he will not find peace and comfort in such schemes. We say this because that type of peace is the fruit of that right ordering of things with which the divine founder has invested human society and which must be actualised by people thirsting after an ever more perfect reign of justice.

Although we appreciate Scott's concern for truth and justice, we don't think it will come in this way, through asking Rupiah to apologise. Rupiah does not have what it takes to do so in this matter.