Maravi

George is looking for more problems

COMMENT - " The question is why? Why would people who have been elected to deliver public good have a problem when their electors remind them that they are headed in the wrong direction? A president who has no personal, petty sectional interests to defend will have no problem with criticism because he is supposed to be a servant of the people. "

I think this is a perfect time to start to turn toward local government, and direct funding of local government from central government revenues. That way, the people themselves can keep an eye on how their money is spent.

George is looking for more problems
By Editor
Wed 23 Dec. 2009, 04:01 CAT

George Kunda should not, in any way, cheat himself that he can carve this country for himself and his master.George should not, in any way, deceive himself that this country will be good for him and his master if it’s not good for all of us. And no laws will enable him to run this country like personal property owned by him and Rupiah Banda.

We say this because George and Rupiah seem determined to run this country as if it was a personal fiefdom where all of us should be subservient to their whims and caprices. They are determined to use the political power they have to crush their enemies, real or imaginary, without regard to what impact their evil schemes have on the nation.

The exercise of political power is a necessary tool in any civilised society. There can be no development without good politics. On the other hand, the abuse of political power is a dangerous evil with a capacity to destroy society in all its facets. This is something that George does not seem to care about. This is something that does not seem to inform the decision making processes that Rupiah and George are using to run the country.

There is something that they seem to forget. And this is that if they spent all the time that they are now spending to destroy and fight almost every section of our society, on attending to the many issues that our people are raising, they would go a long way in improving the nation and even their own political fortunes. When one is sinking in water, there is only one way to get out – swim. It does not make sense to start blaming how you found yourself in the water, who pushed you or who did this or that.

It is even more ludicrous to start planning or plotting to destroy those who pushed you in without making efforts to get out. What we are saying is everyday common sense. We are not here dispensing complicated ideological reasoning or wisdom. We are simply stating the obvious. If this is obvious, why is it so difficult for George and his boss Rupiah to follow common sense?

The exercise of power for the benefit of the general public requires a high level of integrity and humility. It also requires the highest levels of commitment to upholding the rule of law. This occupation is not without peril or disaster. Criticisms and attacks will always be there, especially when those who are exercising power begin to do so against public interests. This is what we are seeing with Rupiah and George. They do not want to be servants of the people. Their idea of leadership is totally different.

This is why they cannot take criticism or any form of exposure for the wrong things that they do. To them, criticism amounts to insults; public demands are against their understanding of power.

The question is why? Why would people who have been elected to deliver public good have a problem when their electors remind them that they are headed in the wrong direction? A president who has no personal, petty sectional interests to defend will have no problem with criticism because he is supposed to be a servant of the people.

And giving a personal viewpoint on criticism of the presidency, United States president Theodore Roosevelt observed in an editorial he wrote for the Kansas City Star during World War I which was published on May 7, 1918: “The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole.

Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or anyone else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant about him than about anyone else.”

What Roosevelt said is as applicable to Zambia today as it was to the United States in 1918. Expecting any citizen to sing praises of the likes of Rupiah and George when they are making a mess of things is to demand moral treason. Rupiah and George will only be happy with those people who tell them the lies that they love to hear. Anybody who tries to be objective is an immediate sworn enemy. They are building an empire of lies, manipulation, deceit and illusion.

We are not surprised by the machinations that Rupiah and his minion George continue to push in relation to the media. Their mindset is such that they cannot tolerate an independent media. The only media they want is the one that says what they want to hear, that which never dares to criticise them or expose their evil and iniquitous schemes. And to this end, the state-owned and government-controlled media has served them well. There has never been any meaningful criticism of Rupiah or George in that media – not a single critical editorial comment or letter to the editor has ever been published about them. This is the media they want. And they want to turn the entire media of our country into their propaganda tool. They want to use the political power that they today hold to achieve this end.

What kind of country are we going to have if we do not have a media that exposes the many criminal schemes that are run in the name of government; a media which the people can use to question the decisions and actions of those who govern their country? We don’t have to look very far into our recent history to see how dangerous such a situation would be. We also don’t need to look very far in the world to see what that type of media arrangement can do to a country. Zimbabwe is very close to us, just a stone’s throw away. And today, George and his friends want to take this country to the laws that brought Zimbabwe to its knees, the laws that the people of Zimbabwe are today trying to abandon. What kind of thinking is this?

We have a lot of examples in the world today and even in our country of laws that are promulgated to target specific individuals having many unintended disastrous consequences. When George and Rupiah talk about media regulation, everybody knows that they want to gag and strangulate this newspaper and do everything to get rid of specific individuals.

There is one example that we always give which perfectly illustrates what we are trying to say. When Frederick Chiluba decided to punish a man he accused of having an affair with his wife, the late Archie Marlie Mactribuoy, he created a law which made theft of motor vehicle a non-bailable offence. He dragged his entire government into passing such a draconian law for personal reasons. Not too long after that, some of the very people who helped him to craft such a law were caught up and sent to jail without bail.

In 1996, Chiluba pushed through a constitution that was intended to bar Dr Kenneth Kaunda from standing as president. Chiluba was to spend a few years in court trying to prove that he himself was Zambian. To this day, Chiluba’s parentage is questionable. The man who claimed to be Chiluba’s father and looked just like him was of Congolese origin. The law that was meant to attack Dr Kaunda exposed Chiluba to the pain of denying somebody who in all material respects looked like his father.
Today, George may be feeling powerful and in control. But control over political power is not permanent. Soon, George will need an independent media; he will face the Zambian people as a powerless and helpless citizen. And such a day is not very far away, it’s very near.

Before Rupiah, no president or government haunted this newspaper as much as Chiluba did. He did everything to try and destroy this newspaper, but a day came when he needed the same newspaper that he hated to give voice to his frustrations. This newspaper became the only meaningful vehicle for Chiluba’s views to be communicated to the Zambian people and the world at large. The state-owned media which Chiluba once used to think was his, belonged to him, was suddenly not there to do his bidding. Things had changed and new people were in control of the state and of the human beings who managed the state-owned media.

Today, George and his friends may feel the same; they may think or deceive themselves that they own the state-owned media. But it won’t be long before they realise their mistake. They are setting a trap for others, for us, but it won’t be long before they are caught in their own trap. And we ask them to mark these humble words of ours. We are not making any threat to anyone; we are merely stating the realities of life, the experiences we have endured and accordingly advising them to avoid falling into the same pit that others before them have fallen in. We have seen three governments come and go before theirs. And this government will also go like the ones before it. We are not claiming to be wiser than anyone, we are merely stating the history we have witnessed; the history we have seen and to some extent, have been actors in.

The path that George is taking is dangerous not only for the nation but also for himself personally and his boss. The fight that he wants to start over media regulation is too big for him and for this government. We say this because this will not be a small or petty political squabble between them and a few of us. It will be a fight that will go beyond the borders of our country.

Over this one, they are seriously mistaken if they think it will be just a matter between us and them and a few disgruntled elements who support us. They can come up with statutory regulation of the media as per George’s desire but they will never live to enjoy what they think will be the benefits of such legislation because the whole progressive world will be on them and against them. Sometimes it’s better to be clear about things and avoid pushing oneself into a lion’s den. George should listen and respect the views of those technocrats that are trying to help them to do the right thing. The hired mercenaries they are using to mislead themselves and do wrong things will not be there to fight for them or with them when this thing backfires.

Rupiah’s government has enough problems, politically and otherwise, and it is senseless in the light of all these problems for George to add on new and unnecessary ones like this one of statutory media regulation that he has decided to push through Parliament soon. They are opening too many battlefronts for themselves when they do not have the troops or the capacity to fight. But there is a reason for this: George never fights, so he doesn’t know what fighting means. George starts problems and he leaves his boss to clean up the mess. And so far, he has been getting away with it.

But soon, he will have one fight too many on his hands to be able to run away. Even before the Chalwe Mchenga mess he has created is dealt with, George is looking for more problems. What type of person is this? What’s wrong with this guy? Are all his faculties functioning properly? Doesn’t he know that the exercise of power must be the constant practice of self-limitation and modesty?

Labels: GEORGE KUNDA, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 4:28 AM