Hopelessness

Hopelessness
Written by Editor

It is said that if one is familiar with the beginning, the end will not give him problems. This means that if one plans the task very well at the beginning, the chances of successful completion will be greater. This is what Rupiah Banda and his friends do not seem to realise.

When a vacancy occurred at State House, Rupiah saw himself as the ideal candidate to fill that gap. His friends and supporters quickly sang that Rupiah was in the most advantaged position to fill the vacancy at State House. A lot of our people questioned what plans Rupiah had for Zambia. Instead of providing concrete answers, Rupiah and his friends said they would continue with Levy Mwanawasa’s legacy, although they did not tell the country what this legacy was.

The moment Rupiah got to State House, he appeared to be more eager to undo almost everything that Levy did. The so-called Levy’s legacy was pelted with stones. Today, the fight against corruption that endeared Levy’s administration with the international donor community has been thrown to the wind.

Rupiah’s desire to fight corruption is lukewarm, if not cold. Instead of sending a clear message on how he intended to continue Levy’s zeal to fight corruption, Rupiah’s first act was to embrace Frederick Chiluba and his wife Regina. Today, Rupiah is wining and dining with people like Chiluba who are supposed to be exculpating themselves on corruption charges.

In saying this, we are not in any way suggesting that Rupiah should not wine and dine with Chiluba. In saying this, we are trying to question what moral courage Rupiah can marshal to ensure that Chiluba is subjected to the rule of law without compromise. No wonder some suspects are choosing to mitigate to Rupiah instead of waiting for their day in court.

It is such occurrences that have compelled the international donors to withhold their support from critical institutions like the Ministry of Health. Our civil servants and teachers have been striking for several weeks now without any indication of concern from the government. In fact, some officials in government think this is a normal occurrence because whenever there are negotiations between the government and unions, misunderstandings and differences are inevitable, so strike actions were not strange.

It is very clear that from what the country is going through, there appears to be no direction from Rupiah and his friends. It cannot be denied that things are not as they should be in our country. There is a lot of despair among our people. And Rupiah does not seem to see this despair among our people. As far as he is concerned, everything is alright and those questioning his actions or inactions merely want to see the collapse of his government.

To Rupiah and his sycophants, all is well and it is time to start preparing or campaigning for the 2011 elections. That is why Rupiah sees nothing wrong to be away from home for as long as one week in the midst of strike action by civil servants and teachers.

Instead of addressing the many problems this country is facing, Rupiah seems to be enjoying the self-sponsored calls from various provinces and quarters for him to stand as presidential candidate in 2011. The question is, if Rupiah and his sycophants can move themselves into a campaign mode at this time, when will they have the time to address the country’s economic and political challenges?

If Rupiah cannot deliver on his promises now, on what basis will he ask Zambians to re-elect him in 2011? Rupiah should remember the saying that he who leaves behind the truth returns to it. Someone who has done well in an area will be welcomed back when he or she returns.

Rupiah should be reminded that a single cloth cannot hold two children. It is always better to do one thing at a time. Zambians expect Rupiah and his administration to serve them. They do not expect Rupiah and his sycophants to serve themselves at the expense of the country.

Rupiah, who publicly declared that he would be a transitory president up to 2011, started to scheme on how he will continue the presidency beyond 2011 as soon as he was elected in October last year. Today, this is what is pre-occupying his mind. He is more concerned about finding a formula that will keep him in State House for eight years and not a formula that is going to reduce our people’s sufferings.

And like they say, the thing that eats one is in what he wears. Indeed, trouble is often caused by those closest to someone. When one listens to Rupiah’s ministers and officials, it is not difficult to understand why things have fallen apart in the country. These ministers do not see the crisis in the country. That is why it took almost a month for Rupiah to waffle something on the strikes.

Rupiah has to change his style of leadership if things are to change for the better in the country. At the moment, Rupiah’s leadership is failing to give confidence to our people. There is a lot of hopelessness among our people.