A government in crisis

A government in crisis
Written by Editor

One cannot call others to virtues that he or she is not prepared to live by. Hypocrisy is giving the impression that one is something, or does something which is not the case. Hypocrites tell others to do what they say and not what they do.

Every leader, in whatever organisation or formation, needs to watch against the danger of hypocrisy. The best way to lead is to do as the word itself suggests – lead, be in front. It is not possible to be a principled leader by leading from behind. A principled leader leads by example. A good leader is careful to ensure that whatever they do helps them in the course of their leadership.

He or she is always questioning themselves, checking to see whether what they are doing is consistent and helpful to the cause that they lead.

This kind of leadership far from being an exercise in self-aggrandisement is about sacrifice. In many instances, such leadership demands denying oneself things that you might legitimately be entitled to.

We see examples of this kind of leadership in many everyday circumstances. Sometimes we do not even recognise it as leadership because such leadership can be so self-effacing.

Our mothers, and many of our womenfolk exercise this kind of leadership in a quiet but effective way. They raise families in many instances by denying themselves many legitimate pleasures of life to make it possible for their children to have a better life. We wish things were different, and we hope that one day they will. But what we are saying is reflective of what actually happens.

Anyone who has ever studied any amount of human psychology will agree with us that although many of our womenfolk exercise a lot of sacrifice in the leadership that they provide in the home setting, their leadership is very effective. There are few organisations that are run as efficiently as a home run by a humble mother trying to meet the needs of her family with very limited resources. There is almost no limit to the ingenuity that they employ to ensure that their children are provided for.

This is true leadership. Humble leadership, sacrificial leadership.

We know that we will be expecting too much of Rupiah Banda and his friends to ask them to give us the leadership that we have just described above. We have come to accept that we cannot expect Rupiah and his friends to know anything about leading from the front. Asking them to be humble leaders, to be caring and humane is asking for too much according to them. When we remind them that they are running an uninspiring government full of opinionated characters, they say we are insulting them. But this is the truth. Rupiah and his friends have proved to the nation in a very short time that they did not come to work for the people. They came to work for themselves. In fact, if they had a way, the party and its government would be called Rupiah & Sons. They have come into town to look after themselves. We can’t expect them to listen to the cries of the people. They did not come to feed the people, to make sure that their needs are met. The best description that we have heard of what Rupiah stands for is what old man Daniel Munkombwe said; ‘This is politics of benefits.’

Against this background, we are not surprised that there is deafening silence from the senior leadership in government about the growing crisis of the strikes and industrial actions in the country. Many hospitals and clinics, we are not talking about mobile hospitals, have been paralysed due to industrial action and yet Rupiah and his friends do not seem concerned at all.

For a very long time, our government has had many challenges in delivering medical services to our people. Our brothers and sisters who work in this sector have endured quite a lot. It would help if Rupiah and his friends dealt with them with sensitivity and respect.

Very few problems between any two people cannot be solved when both parties approach an issue and one another with sincerity and respect. But this is something that Rupiah is going to find very difficult in his presidency. He is failing to approach our people with sincerity and respect on almost all the issues that we are having to deal with as a nation.

How is Rupiah going to tell the health workers that he cannot meet their demands when the government is busy pushing and defending senseless projects such as the US $53 million container hospitals that they want to buy from China. How can they convince the health workers that they do not have the money when at the first opportunity they seem prepared to waste whatever little money the Zambian people have?

It will be difficult for Rupiah to ask the health workers to act sacrificially when he does not behave like a President who is ready to sacrifice anything in preference of the people.

As we stated earlier, good leadership knows how to sacrifice for the people it leads. Good leadership knows how to inspire. A humble leader inspires loyalty. A pompous and self-aggrandising leader may inspire fear but he cannot elicit true loyalty.

Since Rupiah was elected, he has done very little to show our people that he is truly interested in their welfare. And because of this, his every move causes suspicion.

As a President, Rupiah is entitled to travel and go away as often as he may like. But at a time when our people and country are facing many problems, Rupiah should have tried to exercise restraint.

How can he tell the health workers and other government employees who are striking that there is no money when he is always in the air spending what little money the government may have. It was only last month when Rupiah took a huge delegation, including his own grown-up children to Zimbabwe in what turned out to be a family outing to his birthplace in Gwanda. A delegation of almost 50 people to Zimbabwe!

What about his family jaunt to Mfuwe last December? All these things are playing out in full view of the public. Rupiah seems to be spending more time enjoying himself than working for the Zambian people. How is he going to ask the Zambian people to sacrifice when he does not seem ready to sacrifice anything?

Unless Rupiah changes the way he is carrying himself and begin to concentrate on honest measures that are going to inspire confidence in our people, the problems that we are seeing with the public sector strikes are just the beginning of many problems to come. Rupiah’s government is a government in crisis. Unfortunately for him, it is a self-made crisis born out of a refusal to lead by example.