Maravi

Fr Mpasa cautions govt against intolerance

Fr Mpasa cautions govt against intolerance
Written by Ernest Chanda
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 6:39:58 PM

MANSA Diocese Vicar-General Fr Mambwe Mpasa has cautioned the government against being too intolerant to divergent views. In an interview from Mansa yesterday, Fr Mpasa said the culture of intolerance was a serious danger to any leadership.

"This habit of being intolerant to opposing views will not take us anywhere. An intolerant government is a danger to itself and to the people.

In Bemba we say amano uli weka tayashingauke koshi [individual wisdom cannot match collective wisdom]. It is important to listen to divergent views. This is not only healthy for leaders but for their followers as well," Fr Mpasa said.

"Leaders are people's servants and should at all times listen to their employers, in this case the citizens. If you have leaders who are intolerant then it is a recipe for failure. One day they will just find themselves stranded and crashing because they will have no direction. The reason is that they had not accommodated divergent views from the beginning."

He urged those in authority to instead channel their energies and resources towards tackling national problems.

"If you are a good listener as a leader even your leadership is bound to yield good results. In fact, most of the people who make it in leadership are those who listen to those they lead. Intolerance from leaders is therefore dangerous to themselves and to the nation. Instead of developing a nation, intolerant leaders get busy fighting individuals and organisations, and that is a sheer waste of time and resources," Fr Mpasa said.

"As citizens of this country, we have a right to speak about our welfare and no one should stop us. Besides, it is wrong to assume that leaders know it all, no. If anything, we know more than what they think they know. Let them know that their power comes from people and there can never be a servant who is above his master."

And Fr Mpasa cautioned government against harassing the media, saying information brought health to every human being.

"It is not good to harass the media. They are the fourth arm of government after the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. Human life is in the ear; the more you hear helpful information, the more you live. Generally human beings exist by communicating to each other, so any suppression of that is a serious infringement on their inherent right to communicate," said Fr Mpasa.

"And harassment of the media is bad for democracy. Leaders should concentrate their efforts on solving national problems rather than fighting innocent citizens. National resources should be spent on fighting evils being exposed by the media instead of fighting those exposing these evils."

Labels: GOVERNANCE, MAMBWE MPASA

posted by MrK @ 5:40 PM