Maravi

Money and Rupiah

Money and Rupiah
Written by Editor

Rupiah Banda is supposed to be leading the nation in observing the laws of this country. But instead, he is leading the nation in violating the laws of our country. Rupiah knows very well that making donations, whether on behalf of the government or the MMD or indeed on his own behalf in the run-up to an election or to a by-election, is against the law, is contrary to the electoral code.

Rupiah has been advised against such practices before. The Attorney General last year advised against such practices following Rupiah’s donations of sugar and mealie-meal in Katete during the presidential election campaigns. It seems Rupiah does not want to heed advice on this score.

He has continued to make donations, to dish out money during election campaigns. And it seems the Electoral Commission is helpless and can just watch Rupiah violate the Electoral Code with impunity and as he wishes.

The money Rupiah has been dishing out in Kasama Central is clearly intended to sway the voters in that constituency to vote for his candidate, the MMD candidate. It is not intended for the development of the constituency or area. It is not possible for the president or anyone else for that matter to develop Kasama Central in that manner.

Clearly, Rupiah’s donations are not intended for development, they are simply a corrupt act. Government projects cannot be implemented in such an irrational, ineffective, inefficient and disorderly manner.

What Rupiah is doing is bad because it is not only undermining development efforts, it is not only corrupting poor souls, it is also undermining our whole electoral process. Elections are the central institution of democratic, representative government. In a democracy, the authority of the government, of representatives of the people derives solely from the consent of the governed, of the voters. The principle mechanism for translating that consent into governmental or representative authority is the holding of free and fair elections or by-elections. And elections where the result is determined by the magnitude of one’s donations, by the quantity of money one dishes out to the voters cannot be said to be democratic, free and fair. Simply permitting the opposition access to the ballot is not enough. Elections or by-elections in which those in power, those in control of government resources are abusing them, dishing them out, using them to bribe voters cannot be said to be democratic, free and fair. The party in power may enjoy the advantages of incumbency, but the rules and conduct of the election contest must be fair and in accordance with the laws of the land.

What Rupiah is doing is dangerous because it will eventually undermine our people’s confidence in our electoral process; citizens will not be confident that the results are accurate and that the government or representation does, indeed, rest upon their consent.

Dishing out money, making questionable donations is not the only problem Rupiah has with the conduct of his campaigns. There is also the problem of his language and attitude.

Rupiah’s language is bad and does not inspire confidence. Instead of campaigning on issues, explaining to the people what his government or his party has done for the people or intends to do for them, Rupiah has been busy calling his opponents mad people, big sacks of mealie-meal and all sorts of unfair and unjustified names.

And when all this has been happening, the moralists who often jump to his defence when he is attacked in a similar manner have been quiet.

But no one has the monopoly of bad language. The same words Rupiah is using against his opponents can be used back at him with probably more venom. And in a trade of insults with his opposition opponents, Rupiah will have more to lose.

We hope Zambians are realising that there is much more to leadership, and that they will choose their next set of leaders carefully so that there is no repeat of the same mistake. This is the worst Zambia has ever sunk. Rupiah has brought nothing to the leadership of this country. If anything, he has taken out more from it. This is the worst president this country has had. Even his criminal friend Frederick Chiluba was far much better than him in relative terms.

There is need for us as a nation to realise that leadership is very vital to the future of our country. But in the end, putting aside all the theories and concepts, good leadership will be achieved, not by the formality of structures, but by the integrity of the participant and by the willingness of the individuals to work together and be inspired by a larger vision.

As Gene Mauch once observed, you can’t lead anyone else further than you have gone yourself. This is true of Rupiah. The leadership we are expecting of him is far beyond him; a man can only give what he has and no more. And this is true of what Howard Thurman once said: “Follow the grain in your own wood.”

It is said that the responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. Clearly, the first task of a leader is to keep hope alive. But what hope can be kept alive by Rupiah’s conduct, by his abuses and misdeeds?

And example is not the main thing in influencing others, in leading others, it is the only thing. Harry Truman was very right when he said: “Men make history, and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders see the opportunity to change things for the better.”

And to this, Nelson Mandela has added: “When the leaders have the honesty to criticise their own mistakes and their own organisation, then they can criticise others.” It’s pleasing to note that there are some people within the leadership and membership of the MMD - George Mpombo, Ng’andu Magande, Simasiku Namakando – who have already started doing this.

Our leaders are not in the habit of listening to the truth or wise counsel. It is said that a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. Napoleon Bonaparte once said that “a leader is a dealer in hope”. We are not getting any of that from Rupiah. What type of leader is this man? And who is he leading? And where is he leading those he is leading to? There is nothing much inside that man.

Quality begins on the inside and then works its way out. If there is nothing inside Rupiah, nothing good will come out of him. As Charles de Gaulle once said, nothing will be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so. Rupiah is not determined to do good and be great. He seems much more determined to do wrong and be nothing at the end of the day. Rupiah seriously lacks reason and judgment and there is no leader who can do well without these qualities. All that he does every day is to abuse the powers of his office. The highest proof of virtue is to possess boundless power without abusing it.

A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not. And power is the ability to do good things for others and not to continually scheme to rape, manipulate, deceive the community, the nation. The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet. Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision.

Ethics must begin at the top of an organisation, of the nation. It is a leadership issue and the president must set the example. If it is the president who is every day doing wrong things, violating laws, manipulating things, where will the nation end? Moral courage and character go hand in hand. A man of real character is consistently courageous, being imbued with basic integrity and a firm sense of principle. It is said that leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions. It would be better to lose an election, a by-election with honour than win it with fraud.

As Oliver Holmes once observed, “The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.” Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change. They motivate and inspire others to go into the right direction and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there. We cannot get this type of leadership, a leadership that squares up to this, from Rupiah. Character is very important.

Let’s try to understand the character of our leaders, Rupiah’s character. We say this because of all the properties which belong to honourable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.

And Rupiah’s character is highly questionable: he has preached tribalism and regionalism; he has been involved in electoral corruption, bribery; he has told lies about ordinary and humble citizens; he has defended criminals who have robbed the nation and helped them to go scot-free when the nation is seeking justice. This is the man we have for our President, for our leader!

What a shame! What a joke! What a danger! What a disaster! And where does it leave the future of our country?

Labels: ATTORNEY GENERAL, CORRUPTION, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 3:24 AM