Maravi

Rupiah miscalculated on Chiluba

Rupiah miscalculated on Chiluba
Written by Editor

Public service is about sacrifice. Those who volunteer to serve others in this noble endeavour must expect to pay a price. This may frighten some of our people who honestly wish to serve fellow Zambians in one way or the other. But this ought not to be the case. Good public service is very rewarding. It must be satisfying for anyone who has served his people honestly to look back and see the difference they have made. There must be pleasure to be derived from a realisation that one’s service has made a difference in the lives of ordinary people.

Our people look forward to the day when they will have leaders who care deeply about them and spare no effort to ensure that their needs are met. This may sound utopian and unattainable but it is not. Expecting our leaders to care deeply about whether or not we get medical care or whether or not we get an education is not utopian.

This is what normal politics should be about. Politics should be a civilised way of managing society and addressing the conflict that is inevitable when more than one person are found in a place. Human beings will not always agree about how things should be managed in the community where they find themselves. This is why it is necessary to have a system of dialogue that addresses this issue squarely.

This is one of the functions of politics. This is the job that those who enter public service through politics agree to do. They are there to ensure that the expectations and needs of the people are addressed. This might sound simplistic. But this is what we are failing to do in our country. The politics that are being practiced today do not seem to benefit our people. The politicians are a law unto themselves. They do what they want and more often than not get away with it.

We all know what we want. And we know what we don’t want. But there does not seem to exist a system to address the people’s aspirations. The people who have accepted the responsibility of being public servants do not believe that they should be accountable to the people. Most of our so-called leaders have no sense of accountability or obligation to their people. One does not get any sense that they are passionate about service delivery. For them being a leader is an end in itself. We have leaders who are not prepared to lead. There is no meaningful example that they set for our people to follow. This is the tragedy of our time.

The situation is more disastrous for those who occupy the office of president. They decide once they become presidents that they are the beginning and the end of all things. Their wisdom and judgments are beyond question. It is amazing that people who are presumably elected to improve lives of our people have only one preoccupation. For them it is fighting for re-election from the first day that they take office. For most of these presidents, there is no principle they are not prepared to violate if such violation will enhance their chances of being re-elected. The politics are therefore amoral and in most cases immoral. This is the mode of politics in which Rupiah Banda is cast. He is not a public servant and he does not care about what the people think. Rupiah is not there to ensure that children who are not going to school start going to school and that their parents who may be jobless have a better chance of finding employment. This is not the kind of politics Rupiah wants to practice. His politics are about staying in power, which is about how much money he can raise for the next elections.

Rupiah’s politics are opportunistic and no different from the Chiluba brand of politics. This is why he has no difficulty forging a political alliance with Chiluba. Rupiah thinks that Chiluba will improve his sagging and perilously precarious political fortunes. In doing what he is doing, Rupiah is refusing or incapable of learning from history; even our recent history.

In early 2001, Chiluba’s scheme to run for a third term of office which he had been plotting from as far back as 1998 with the help of the Italian friends that he had brought to run medical stores and act as his middlemen in the dirty oil deals that he was scheming, became frenzied. Not many of our people where speaking in opposition. Chiluba unleashed party cadres on his colleagues and anybody who was against his third term bid. Chiluba made a mistake of taking our people for granted. He believed his own lie that he was a master dribbler who could work his way out of any situation. Chiluba’s arrogance and reckless determination to pursue any illegitimate third term of office unleashed a force that he didn’t realise existed. Our people starting with very few lonely voices stood up and said no! Our people refused to allow a clique of crooks to destroy their country.

Some lonely voices paid the price for standing up against Chiluba before many of our people where prepared to join in the fight. We shouldn’t forget that Mapatizya UPND member of parliament Ackson Sejani was sacked for no other reason except that he did not agree with Chiluba’s nonsense. He paid the price. He walked a lonely path. But it was not long before crowds of our people were shouting and chanting slogans refusing the nonsense that Chiluba stood for. Edwin Hatembo who was then a deputy minister in Chiluba’s government was also dropped for the same reasons. During this period, Chiluba felt invincible.

Dipak Patel, that gallant, evergreen fighter for what is right, was a lone voice in parliament. He kept challenging his honourable colleagues to state their position on the abominable circus that Chiluba was brewing.

From these humble beginnings, an all embracing movement to champion the defence of the constitution was born. The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ), Non-Governmental Coordinating Council (NGOCC), the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC), the Christian Council of Zambia (CCZ) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) spearheaded a movement that was to be later called the Oasis Forum. Many of our people participated in various ways to stop the rot that Chiluba was determined to unleash on our people.

Chiluba spared no effort in trying to push his third term bid. It was during this period that the now well-known euphemism for corruption called the brown envelope was popularised. Those cadres who were lucky enough to get to State House knew that they would come back with the now famous brown envelope full of cash. These cadres were prepared to do whatever they were sent to do.

With all the cash that Chiluba was prepared to throw at our people, the forces of good triumphed. Chiluba was forced to retreat in humiliation but not annihilated.

Chiluba came back with a new trick in his bag. It is this lesson that Rupiah would do well to observe carefully. Tricks may appear fruitful but they often end in disaster. Chiluba brought the late Levy Mwanawasa back onto the political scene to evade justice. He thought that Levy would help him and protect him from the temerity of his criminal actions. We know today that Chiluba was wrong; Levy did not protect him. Why are we saying all this?

It is very clear that Rupiah and his minions think that Chiluba is the panacea for their beleaguered political existence. This is why Rupiah has no shame to parade himself with Chiluba whenever he has an opportunity. Rupiah thinks Chiluba will help him become popular. Rupiah is not alone in this delusion. Rupiah’s henchman from Livingstone Daniel Munkombwe believes Chiluba is a political asset.

In the same way that Chiluba believed that Levy would protect him from facing criminal justice, Rupiah believes that Chiluba will help him gain political popularity. Rupiah thinks the Zambian people and particularly the Bemba-speaking peoples of our country will love him for fratenising with a known thief. Chiluba never stole for Bembas but for his selfish interests. Why should they be expected to defend his thefts?

Chiluba’s judgment of Levy turned out disastrously wrong. Levy never defended him. In the same way, Rupiah’s assessment of the Zambian people is wrong; it is a disaster. He has misread our people. Our people will not love Rupiah because he is siding with thieves. They will make him pay.

We are not surprised that the people of Kasama last week called Chiluba what he is, a lazo, a thief. This is the popularity that Chiluba is bringing to Rupiah. Rupiah and his minions can bus people into Mansa and think that they would hoodwink the people of Luapula, they are cheating themselves.

As for Rupiah, there is no way to gain the trust of our people except by prioritizing their needs and their aspirations. Being a true public servant is what will deliver service to our people. This requires honesty and integrity. But from the time that Rupiah started his campaign for president to this day he has not given us any cause to believe that he wants to run a clean government. With Chiluba as a role model for what a damn good president is supposed to be, what can we expect from Rupiah? Chiluba won’t help Rupiah.

Labels: CHILUBA, GOVERNANCE

posted by MrK @ 7:36 AM