Patriotism and reversal of fortunes

Patriotism and reversal of fortunes
Written by Editor

TRULY history is not always in the forward line direction. There are sometimes gigantic leaps backwards. It cannot be denied that some small progress - not big - was recorded towards the end of the Levy Mwanawasa government.

And it is important to realise that the progress we recorded as a nation was not a product of Levy's effort and wisdom alone. It was actually much more a result of the efforts exerted by progressive civil society organisations. There was an intense struggle waged by civil society on many fronts under the Levy regime.

It was civil society, and not Levy, that initiated the issue of prosecuting Frederick Chiluba for corruption. And many of the positive things that happened during that period can to a great extent be attributed to the efforts and struggles of a progressive civil society. During that period, we saw the best coming out of the Law Association of Zambia, NGOCC and the churches.

Today we are witnessing a reversal and this can be seen in the confusion and lack of resoluteness on the part of the Law Association of Zambia and the contradictions and opportunism that had started to invade and contaminate some of our very important civil society organisations. But our people are waking up to the realities and these civil society organisations are starting to take more progressive positions on national issues.

And it is this change in attitude that has made it possible for our civil society organisations to come together and wage a campaign against the clearly questionable acquittal of Chiluba and the criminal withdrawal by the government of an appeal against this judgment.

And what this teaches us is that human beings should never draw away from the honest goals they seek and let themselves be influenced by expediencies of the moment, by opportunism.

This also reminds us of what Rupiah Banda said the other day about how he was impressed by Cubans' patriotism and love for their country. It's true that although Cubans are first and foremost internationalists, they have never ceased to be patriots. And this explains why today their country and its people is admired by all, including Rupiah.

This is because their homeland today embodies the highest virtues of a nation - the highest virtues of a noble, patriotic, heroic people - and of internationalism when it has become the promoter and defender of the noblest values of justice, fairness and humaneness. They have very great esteem - not for the land, their patriotism isn't love for the land - and love for their own people.

Their patriotism, to borrow from Jose Marti: "Love of homeland, mother, isn't ridiculous love of the land or of the grass under our plants; it is invincible hatred of those who oppress it, eternal animosity towards those who attack it."

Clearly, for Cubans to be patriotic is easy because they have got a leadership that is honest, that struggles for nothing personal other than the interests of the people and of humanity in general. We know that when Rupiah talks about patriotism he is simply talking about the support and respect of the Cuban people for their leaders. Yes, it is true the Cuban political leadership enjoys immense prestige and respect from the Cuban people because it is true; it is an honest leadership that never lies to the people, that never attempts to manipulate the people, that never steals from the people. It is difficult for the people to support the Rupiah type of leadership because it is not honest - it is corrupt. With all that is known about Chiluba, can really one expect the people to support such leadership? Everything - respect, loyalty, support - is only possible among people who are honest with themselves and others. The political leaders who fail to see this will have to answer to history for it.

We have been going forward and backwards too much often. It has been too much a case of one step forward, two steps backwards. We must choose a clear, honest, intelligent approach to the way we govern our country and our affairs - not head for Calvary. We have been struggling uphill for long enough. We have suffered not only the torment of Calvary but also that of Sisyphus, who had to keep pushing a boulder up a hill and every time he was about to reach the top, it would roll back down and he would have to start all over again. Our situation is worse than Calvary because Calvary was climbed quickly; we have been climbing our hill for a long time, and we keep on having to start all over. Calvary is preferable to Sisyphus' torment, and if we have had our Calvary, we should also have a resurrection. What we want is to find a real solution to this problem of poor governance, corrupt political leadership. We can't continue of this path forever. Thus before people realise it, their hard-won uhuru spawns one corrupt tyranny one after another, prying on the original commitment of the masses. All the leaders become demi-gods of wrath. All critics inside and outside the party or government are crushed. To agree with everything the leaders say is divine but to disagree is a crime. Here is the truth about our leaders. Even the most corrupt and bloodthirsty tyranny, a lazo, will require all the press to kneel down and praise their glorious leadership and ignore their heinous deeds.

The patriotism that we are today admiring in the Cubans cannot be achieved except on the basis of principles, on the basis of ideas, on the basis of ethics. It's the only way and it is the only way people can be made to make the most supreme sacrifices for their country. We say this because throughout history, one sees men and women die for honour, values that they can hold dear. Somebody inculcated those values in them. We say, inculcate the best values from the human point of view, from the point of view of justice, fairness, humaneness and fraternity. Principles are the best political weapon.

The Cubans are patriotic, are optimistic because they know what their destiny is: a very hard but very heroic and glorious one. That nation shall never be defeated because it has already defeated the root of many evils. And by this we mean ignorance. We believe ignorance is the root of many evils. Knowledge must be the fundamental ally of nations that aspire, despite all their tragedies and problems, to become truly emancipated, to build a better world. But what do we see here? We see a president stealing; we see another one coming in to engage in similar corruption and allow the first one who the people had cornered for stealing to go scot-free; we see all sorts of abuses of power when the exercise of people must be constant practice of self - limitation and modest; we see unbridled intolerance towards a critical media and others who hold different opinions from those in power. We are also seeing a decline every day in the levels of honest and integrity not only on the part of the President but on the part of many public officers. We see the Director of Public Prosecutions telling lies about there not being good grounds for appealing Chiluba's acquittal and even claiming that the public prosecutors had no powers to appeal without seeking fresh authority from him. We see liars and abusers of public office everywhere. How can this be the basis for increased public trust in politicians and other public officers? There are pre-requisites to some of these things.

A lot of work is needed by all Zambians of goodwill to put their country back on track. Levy took Zambia to some higher height, Rupiah has brought it down in a record time.

And Given Lubinda is right when he says that some of the funding we received from the international community with good governance conditionalities attached to them under the Levy regime will not be easy to sustain.

We have certainly fallen short on those benchmarks and we may lose that financial support. We therefore think that this new awakening by civil society organisations is urgently needed if we are to harbour any hope of seeing a reversal of fortunes.