'Tell no lies'

'Tell no lies'
Written by Editor

IT may not be pleasant to see the truth, but we can assure everyone that the alternative is worse. It seems our politicians, especially those in government, never learn that dishonesty can be worse than the underlying conduct. Our hope is that one day, our leaders and our people will realise and remember that for all the disquiet that can come from the revelation of the truth, life without it would be much worse. When the truth is suppressed, many things suffer.

Most of the problems Rupiah Banda is facing today could be solved by honesty and truthfulness. Rupiah seems to have come back to Lusaka with an outdated view of politics where propaganda, lies, deceit, manipulation is everything. He seems to subscribe to the philosophy that believes that politics is a dirty game and that the end justifies the means. This is the outstanding characteristic of Rupiah's governance style.

This kind of leadership is not new. In fact, it is tried and tested and the consequences are quite predictable. And Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda is right when he says that once a party in power takes a self-serving position in resolving national issues, or puts elections as a major factor in its decision making, no outcome would benefit the public at large because it is a well-known thing that selfishness and plain lust for political power leads to manipulation and deceit in governing and eventually, to corruption.

There has to be recognition in our politics and governance that there is no choice between being honest, principled and unelectable; and electable and unprincipled, dishonesty. Our politicians should realise that soon they will have to win elections on the basis of honesty, truthfulness and because of what they believe. People will soon want a rest from politics of lies, deceit, unbridled manipulation and outright fraud.

It is unfortunate that Rupiah seems to have surrounded himself with people who are either not prepared to tell him the truth and therefore keep quiet and others who are so determined to tell him lies that they are not constrained by the senselessness of some of the things they are peddling. But this is really a question of giving to Rupiah what he wants. If they knew that Rupiah doesn't entertain lies, dishonesty and deceit, they would have serious difficulties feeding him on that diet. Rupiah is told lies because that's what he wants to hear and that's what those around him know he wants to listen to. For instance, in our case, Rupiah is not interested in the truth. If anyone went on television or radio and broadcast truthful statements about us, crediting us with all that we deserve, all that accurately and correctly define us, Rupiah would not be happy. What is pleasing Rupiah today are the lies that he hears about us, that are propagated against us. Those who peddle lies about us are even rewarded with appointments in his government, no matter how empty and inexperienced they may be. It actually pays to peddle lies about us and to pretend to be our enemies. People tell lies about us and others because Rupiah rewards them for being liars.

But of what benefit have all these lies been to Rupiah? If Rupiah had sought the truth about us and about everything in this country, a lot of things would be very different for him today, would be more favourable for him.

It is clear that there is no consequence for telling Rupiah lies especially if those lies are targeted at Rupiah's enemies, actual or imagined. This explains why Rupiah is beginning to run a government propelled not by any ideology or coherent thinking, but by countless conspiracy theories channelled through anonymous circulars. This is how Rupiah wants to run the country. But let us not be mistaken: the best President in the world, the best government in the world cannot achieve much on lies, dishonesty, deceit, manipulation. Only truth, honesty and a principled approach to governance and life can move us forward.

If Rupiah was honest with himself and others, the problems he is facing today would be much easier to deal with because where there is truth, there is trust and believability. There are very few Zambians today who don't know or don't think that Rupiah is a liar who should not be trusted. As a result of this, even when the man is telling the truth, no one will believe him or will be moved by it.

He has become like that boy herding cattle and claiming that foxes have attacked his herd when this is not true; and the whole village comes running down to save him and the animals just to find there is nothing. He repeats this a couple of times but one day the foxes land and he calls but nobody responds. This is the situation Rupiah is in. He has told too many lies. Today, he is known for nothing but lies.

A leader needs trust from his people. This is not a right. It is something that is earned. Our country needs to be taken back to honest politics. Let us try in a new time and in a new way to restore this concept of politics. We ask our politicians to teach themselves and others that honesty adds more of that which is positive to our politics and lies take away from it. Those who seek to improve the lives of their people cannot seek to do so with lies.

No serious community, nation has been built on the threshold of lies. Indeed a leader, who like Rupiah encourages lies, sets himself up for a big fall. What is to stop the people that are used to sharing lies with their leader from lying to him when it matters most? This is the problem Rupiah has created for himself. He has shown a tolerance for lies - probably because he himself is a liar - which is going to consume him and in turn injure the nation.

We are not saying this because we hate Rupiah. We are saying it because it is important, it is harmful to our country and our people. A nation cannot be managed through lies and deceit. A nation that is led on lies can never be an efficient, effective and orderly one.

As we said in the beginning, truth is not always pleasant but it is always the best. We hope Rupiah takes time to reflect on his problems, assuming he realises he has problems. If Rupiah reflects, he will have to agree with us that if he dealt with the matters that are facing the nation today honestly and truthfully, some of the problems could have been solved.

For instance, if there was no dishonesty in handling the situations involving communications and transport minister Dora Siliya, RP Capital and Selex, Rupiah would not have been embroiled in the embarrassments he is now in. Rupiah went on television to denounce those who were questioning Dora's dealings, defending her as a very smart woman, smarter than those who are questioning her and that she did nothing wrong. He even went on to say her actions were sanctioned by the Solicitor General. But all this has been proved to be a lie, a falsehood. This leaves Rupiah in an embarrassing situation - that's if he has a sense of shame. This is what lies do to individuals, governments and nations.

If Rupiah had taken a more honest approach on this issue, a lot of time and money could have been saved and nobody would have called for a tribunal. There are many examples we can give of the negative effects of Rupiah's lies, dishonesty on governance.

It is not possible to run a country without being prepared to face the truth. It would not surprise us if there is no one in Rupiah's Cabinet who is prepared to face him with uncomfortable truths. We say this because it seems Rupiah is running his Cabinet on the basis of fear, intimidation and even reprisals.

Rupiah is doing everything possible to silence criticism in his government, the ruling MMD and the nation at large. But let us not forget that to silence criticism is to silence freedom in the nation. And this is very dangerous. Such an environment is fertile ground for excess, tyranny and diabolical abuses of power.

Rupiah must quickly accept that criticism is a necessary part of meaningful politics or else he will land himself in such gigantic problems he will not know what hit him. Criticism fosters an environment where truth can be faced and dealt with. In the absence of criticism, it is difficult for many people to conduct themselves in a measured way.

In conclusion, we would like to remind Rupiah and all our people of a saying of that Guinea Bissau revolutionary Amilcar Cabral: "Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories..."