Maravi

Why is Shikapwasha telling lies about us?

Why is Shikapwasha telling lies about us?
Written by Editor

“This government has performed well and all what the opposition has been telling you are lies, including those that are paid by The Post to come and speak on your radio station. They have all been telling lies,” this is what Ronnie Shikapwasha said last Friday on Sky FM Radio.

They have been able to conjure up a thousand conjectures. They have tried to discredit us, to spread doubt about us, and we have waited patiently because it has been necessary to wait.

This differentiates us from them. We know how to wait; we know how to be patient; we never despair. They live in perpetual despair, in perpetual anguish, in perpetual lying, in the most ridiculous and infantile way.

When you read or listen to the things said by some of these government officials, Rupiah Banda’s ministers, and indeed Rupiah himself, you ask yourself: but how is it possible this gentleman or lady is not in a stable instead of belonging to what they call government, the executive? Some of them come out with absolute nonsense. And they have made a tremendous habit of lying, they cannot live without lying. They live in fear.

If we publish one thing, which is what we have consistently been publishing, they see fierce, terrible things, a plan behind all this!

How ridiculous! What fear they live in! And you have to wonder: Do they believe this? Do they believe everything they say? Or do they need to believe everything they say? Or can’t they live without believing everything they say? Would they say everything they don’t believe?

It’s difficult to say. This would be a matter for doctors and psychologists. What do they have in their brain? What fear is it that makes them see everything as a manoeuvre, a fierce, frightening, terrible plan? They don’t know that there is no better tactic, no better strategy than to fight with clean hands, to fight with the truth.

Because these are the only weapons that inspire confidence, that inspire faith, that inspire security, that inspire dignity and morale. And these are the weapons we have been using over the last 18 years to advance the noble causes of our people and to defend their dignity and honour.

Lies are weapons that help no serious person, and no serious person ever needs to resort to a lie. Their weapon is reason, morality, truth, the ability to defend an idea, a proposal, a position.

In short, the moral spectacle of Rupiah and his minions is truly lamentable.

Why should we pay people to go and tell lies about anyone on Sky FM Radio? For what? Moreover, we don’t have that type of money to waste and even if we had it, that would certainly not to be the best way to use that money. Shikapwasha is clearly lying. And he knows it very well that he is lying. We challenge Shikapwasha to produce one person who was paid money by The Post to go and tell lies on Sky FM Radio. We are very sure that he would not be able to produce one because there has never been such a person paid by The Post to go and tell lies on Sky FM Radio. What basis can there be for all this slander campaign against The Post by Rupiah and his minions? Naturally, we are accustomed to this, and it just rolls off our backs, because we are used to their baseness. How can they survive without telling lies? How can they explain all the crimes they commit against the Zambian people every day, if not with lies and calumny, trying to discredit those who oppose, expose and denounce them and their heinous deeds?



We are sure that the masses of our people will obey their instincts and will not be swayed by the volume and intensity of that campaign they are waging against The Post.

And this is the government that wants to regulate the media because it believes the media is not operating professionally. But the government itself conducts business in the most unprofessional way. Its ministers tell lies without restraint. And we can show the many lies Rupiah has told about us. We can also show the many lies his ministers like Shikapwasha have told about us. Rupiah has accused us of being queer, morbid and all sorts of things which even if God came down today and asked Rupiah to show proof of his claim or charge, he would not be able to do so before the Almighty God. This same Rupiah has accused us of pocketing over US $30 million from state institutions through Zambian Airways. But even if the Lord Jesus Christ was to come down today and ask Rupiah for evidence on this score, Rupiah would not be able to produce any because not a single cent or dime was pocketed by us from any institution or any individual through Zambian Airways or any other entity. We have also heard George Kunda throw all sorts of innuendos against us, hiding behind the protection of parliamentary privileges. But Kunda cannot make those innuendos outside parliament and in a direct manner because he knows the consequences of his lies, of his malice and he knows very well that there is none of those things he says that he can prove in any way. It’s all lies, malice and cheap propaganda. We also heard Dora Siliya tell lies about us in parliament claiming that we had applied for a licence to operate a cell phone network and she denied us one and that was the source of our hatred for her. Dora was saying this knowing very well that there was no licence that she denied us because there were no applications that were ever processed by anyone in that regard; it was all lies about us.

Shikapwasha today is claiming that we have been paying people to go and tell lies on Sky FM and this is the man at the forefront of trying to draw up statutory regulations for the media when he himself cannot restrain himself from telling lies, from malice, from unjustified vindictiveness and vanity! We cannot call others to virtues which we ourselves do not make an effort to practice. And for this reason, we ask our politicians, especially those in government, to be exemplary in their lives.

Probably George Mpombo has got a point when he accuses Shikapwasha of being a Judas Iscariot: “My advice to Shikapwasha…this man each time he opens his mouth, he is issuing hollow and shallow statements on important issues. He has allowed himself to be used as a political zombie, no direction and he is just mouthing things that are not meaningful at all. Shikapwasha is just very hollow, very shallow; he will continue to be used as a megaphone.” This is what Mpombo, who worked very closely with Shikapwasha in Levy Mwanawasa’s government and in Rupiah’s regime, is saying about him. Maybe Mpombo has a point that we shouldn’t lose sight of. There is indeed need for our politicians to respect themselves and to be exemplary in their daily lives.

The Post doesn’t work with mercenaries. We do not defend our causes, our work, ourselves with mercenaries, we do so with men and women of the people.

It seems what they cannot forgive is that after all these 18 years of trying to crush us, we are still here, what they cannot forgive us for is our dignity, our integrity, our bravery, our spirit of sacrifice and the strength of our outlook.

We are not trembling, we are not scared by their threats and hostile actions, their traps to catch us. On the contrary, we turn those threats and hostile actions into a force. And it will be foolish for anyone to underestimate our ability, our dignity and courage. If they think they are going to settle the differences they have with us through such an approach, they are mistaken! If they think they are going to intimidate us, scare us, bring us to our knees by dint of threats, political and legal actions, they are mistaken! This is what we have always been telling them and this is what we want to say to them today.

Our ideas are very clear, our convictions are very deep, our decisions are very resolute: we are not seeking for trouble from any quarter; all that we are seeking is the best for our country, for our people. And we are very sure of our ideas and of our cause. We have a lot of dignity and are very sure of ourselves. Others may be used to trembling before them, before their threats and harassment, but not us. Never!

We are not tortured by issues of money like them. We don’t need to hire mercenaries even when we have a bit of money. To us, there are many things that matter more than money. A sense of justice, dignity, self-respect, respect for others, love for your fellow men and women also have a great deal to do with happiness, as have moral principles; the feeling of being free, equal, and respected and of taking part in the battle for progress of one’s country and of our world, the world we live in; and working like beavers, shoulder to shoulder with the rest of one’s people.

There are men and women from all walks of life who have sold out to the powerful, been hired by the powerful, or surrendered to the powerful, but we serve notice on them – and they should know, after 18 years, that we mean what we say. Our newspaper, our staff will never hire themselves out, sell out. We will confront every difficulty; pressure or any kind of attack.

To us, lies have no value. What is of value is truth. And as Nelson Mandela correctly observed: “No matter how hard its adversary - falsehood - may try to overwhelm it, truth refuses to yield.”

We also know that those who live by lies and manipulation are not going to go far, are headed nowhere. We say this because manipulators have never deserved anybody’s respect or been successful anywhere. Manipulation doesn’t have substance; it doesn’t have roots. We think that everything – respect, relationships, serious analysis and understanding – is possible among people who are honest with themselves and with others.

But we fear that their hatred for The Post, their desperation to crush The Post or extinguish it may lead them to committing atrocities. In their desperation to try and silence us, to try and discredit us, to try and humiliate us, to try and crucify us may lead them to committing very serious crimes for which they will have to answer. But whatever they do to us, they should not forget that where there is a crucifixion, there is a resurrection. They can crucify us but our resurrection will come. And we are very certain of that.

Their lies against us, their propaganda against us, will not do because we have a track record; the Zambian people know who we are, where we are coming from and what we stand for. It is them who don’t have a discernible track record. And unlike them, we are very limited in what we can do because we can only operate within the parameters of truth, of principles and standards, while they can engage in all sorts of lies, calumny, deceit, crookedness, outright corruption and still get away with it as they are doing today. We can’t get away with any of these things that they are engaged in. Truth is our only weapon and shield. And any honest government will have no problems with us because although we believe that there should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil man or woman, whether politician or business person, every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life with merciless severity, we also believe that this is only of value if it is absolutely truthful. We believe that the liar is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander, he may be worse than most thieves. It puts a premium upon knavery untruthfully to attack an honest man or woman, or even with hysterical exaggeration to assail a bad man with untruth. The soul of every scoundrel is gladdened whenever an honest man or woman is assailed, or even when a scoundrel is untruthfully assailed.

Clearly, what Shikapwasha is saying is nonsense. It is not possible for us to pay people to go and tell lies on Sky FM Radio. We don’t depend on mercenaries. What has helped us is solidarity. Whereas they can’t survive without hiring mercenaries to speak for them, we rely on solidarity. And solidarity is a basic fact of human existence. It is said that no person is an island, cut off from others and self-sufficient: “I am because we are, and we are because I am.”

Labels: RADIO SKY FM, RONNIE SHIKAPWASHA, THE POST

posted by MrK @ 6:52 AM