Maravi

Miyanda’s call for decency in politics

Miyanda’s call for decency in politics
By Editor
Mon 14 Dec. 2009, 04:01 CAT

BRIGADIER General Godfrey Miyanda may not be one of our most popular politicians but he is certainly one of our politicians who attempts to think deeply, to meditate over issues.

Brig Gen Miyanda’s call for the creation of a platform of decency in politics deserves serious meditation from all our politicians, their supporters and indeed from all the people of Zambia. Politics is a very important undertaking that should not in any way be trivialised or relegated to trivialities chosen precisely because they salve the consciences of the powerful and conceal the plight of the powerless.

It is not good for our politics to be dominated or characterised by issues that are not factual, empty accusations and outright lies. We agree with Brig Gen Miyanda when he says “Let’s not send lies in the public domain in the hope that, that will send sympathy”. Brig Gen Miyanda is making a very important proposition here because our politics are increasingly becoming dominated by lies. And the lies start with the man occupying the highest position in the politics of our country – the head of state and government, the President of the Republic. And here we are talking about Rupiah Banda.

Rupiah’s politics fall short of what Brig Gen Miyanda is asking for – decency in politics. Rupiah tells lies on literally everything. He seems to have serious difficulties delivering a speech without carrying in it a single lie. And all the time Rupiah is just deriding his political opponents calling them all sorts of names. The nation knows very well what Rupiah has been saying about Michael Sata, the names he has been calling Sata. Rupiah has referred to Sata as a snake with read eyes and tongue. He has called Sata a son of Satan. Rupiah has also called Hakainde Hichilema all sorts of names and has told all sorts of lies about him.

We can also call Rupiah a liar because he has lied about us. Rupiah has accused us publicly of having pocketed US$ 30 million from state institutions through Zambian Airways. Rupiah has publicly insulted us many times. He has accused us of being morbid, queer and all sorts of things – things he has no jolt of evidence about, things he cannot in any way prove. And yet this is the man at the helm of our country’s politics.

And not very long ago, a few weeks ago Rupiah claimed that the lawyers who were trying to send Chiluba to prison had been paid US$ 13 million. And the lawyer, not lawyers, Rupiah was talking about is no other than Mutembo Nchito. And there is no record anywhere that can show Mutembo as having been paid US$ 13 million for prosecuting Chiluba. Mutembo is the only lawyer whose job has been to try and send Chiluba to prison; he is the only lawyer who was prosecuting Chiluba on criminal charges. And this is the lawyer Rupiah was claiming the government has paid US$ 13 million.

Rupiah had every opportunity to get the correct figures that Mutembo and other lawyers who were engaged by the Task Force in this country and abroad were paid. Out of malice, out of dishonesty, and out of a desire to deceive and manipulate the Zambian people to support his decision to ensure that Chiluba’s questionable acquittal remained that way, Rupiah started telling lies not only about what happened in the Chiluba case, but also about innocent citizens.

So what Brig Gen Miyanda is saying is true and needs to be corrected if our country is to move forward politically, economically and otherwise. Politics is a very noble profession that has attracted crooks, liars and all sorts of dishonest elements to it. And in the end it has been made to appear as if it is one of the most dishonourable careers one can undertake.

Politics is not a dirty game, as they say, but is a genuine way of being at the service of others for the integral development of the country. And therefore, the participation of citizens in the political life should be guided by authentic values and virtues of respect for human dignity, human rights, common good, social justice, solidarity, integral development, special concern for others and non-violence in resolving conflicts. To achieve this, lies and all other indecent political practices have to be eradicated from our politics.

Our politics need people with credibility, integrity and honesty. The presence of such people in our political arena can bring the much needed values and virtues to our political process. It shouldn’t be forgotten that politics should be there to serve the personal and social vocation of humanity according to the areas of competency of each one of us. Political involvement demands commitment to the service of others.

We value the democratic system in as much as it ensures the participation of citizens in making political choices, guarantees to the governed the possibility of electing and holding accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate. In politics, people come together with different interests to work for the common good. And all citizens are therefore called to participate actively in the politics of our country. Citizens with good values and standards like the Brig Gen Miyanda is advocating can make a difference if they get fully involved in the political affairs of our country.

To guarantee decency in our politics, all are called to maturity, tolerance and responsibility. Decency in politics is the fruit of honest, truth and solidarity.

There is no future development without decency in our politics. And our political leaders cannot succeed in calling us to virtues which they themselves do not make an effort to practice. For instance, it doesn’t make sense for Rupiah to be complaining about lies and malice from his political opponents when he himself is everyday telling lies about them and he is everyday insulting them. There is need for Rupiah to take great steps toward honesty in his dealings with others. Rupiah cannot certainly call for politics that are only fair to him, politics in which he is not insulted or unfairly accused of this and that when he himself is everyday insulting others, unfairly calling them this and that, telling lies about them. It is said that justice begins at home and Rupiah himself must be the first to give witness.

We therefore ask Rupiah and other political leaders in our country to respect themselves and be exemplary in their daily lives. The appeal for fair treatment should be heard from all and extended to all.

It is for this reason that we have always urged our fellow citizens to vote wisely and only for people who are known for their honesty, ability, dedication, and concern for the welfare of all.

The participation of good citizens in the political life of their country is to be guided by good values and virtues. What our people are seeking is genuine democracy in which the political leaders at all levels are servants of the electorate and not its masters.

A platform of decency in politics that Brig Gen Miyanda is calling for can only be created when we have intelligent, honest and humble political leaders who see politics as a vocation to serve the people; politicians who are aware that politics is an area for promoting justice, fairness, humanness, development and community among all. If our country is to move forward, honest and decency are demanded from all our politicians. We say this because politics is a very important instrument by which people cooperate together to achieve the common good. A political authority is needed to guide the energies of all towards the common good. And for this reason, politics need people with high credibility.

Brig Gen Miyanda has made another important observation: “After an election is over, the competitors are not enemies, they are citizens, don’t shut down their companies, don’t use your power to find fake offences, charges against these people so that their companies can be shut down, you are shutting down fellow Zambians. Fight political battles differently but let the economy run…”

Truly, political competitors don’t necessarily have to like each other, but they must tolerate one another and acknowledge that each has a legitimate and important role to play. Moreover, the ground rules of our nation must encourage tolerance and civility in the way we deal with each other.

No matter who wins an election, all must agree to cooperate in solving the common problems of our nation. The losers should not have their lips twisted, they shouldn’t be fixed by those in power or have their businesses closed.

These things Brig Gen Miyanda is talking about are real. The Zambian people still remember the pronouncements Rupiah and his friends where making last year. They made it very clear that when they come to power some of us, The Post, will be sorted out, will be closed. Truly, they have gone ahead to try and do these things Brig Gen Miyanda is talking about. They are abusing state institutions under their control to sort us out, to fix us. Look at the way they have used the police, the Drug Enforcement Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission to harass us, to try and humiliate us over the affairs of Zambian Airways.

Everybody can today see that the US$ 30 million Rupiah was accusing us of having stolen through Zambian Airways was nothing but a reckless political scheme to try and crush us. To date, not a single cent has been found to have been pocketed by us but yet the police were being directed to hold press briefings and announce that they were making progress on their investigations of our alleged transgressions. And this invariably happened when they were under political pressure and was used as a scheme to try and divert public attention from their own wrongs, misdeeds and crimes.

They have also abused the judicial process by coming up with trumped up criminal charges of pornography and other things to try and fix us. The Zambian people still remember very well how Rupiah went on ranting about our involvement in pornography and tasked the police to arrest and prosecute us. And accordingly our news editor Chansa Kabwela was arrested and prosecuted. But our courts of law, contrary to Rupiah’s claim, found that Chansa and The Post were not in any way involved in pornography and accordingly the case ended to their embarrassment; that is if they have any sense of shame or embarrassment.

But we are not the only ones. There are others also being harassed by Rupiah and his friends in a similar way. And the question we can only ask is the one asked by Brig Gen Miyanda: “Now, how do we do that?” But we cannot give the same answer Brig Gen Miyanda has given: “I don’t know the answer because under KK this thing was there, victimisation of people who are not with you. In our time under Chiluba this thing was there, under the late president Levy Mwanawasa, this thing was there.

I can’t analyse the current one because he has just come in office. But I’m sure if we dig deep we are going to discover that there are people who are complaining that they are being victimised because they belong to other organisations.” We say we will not take this approach to this problem because this will be defeatism. And no matter how enomous the difficulties, no matter how complex the problem, there can be no room for throwing our arms in the air and say “there is nothing we can do”.

This would be to renounce all hope and resign ourselves to defeat. We have no alternative but to struggle for a more just, fair and humane nation, trusting in the great moral and intellectual capacity of our people and in their instincts for self-preservation, if we wish to harbour any hope for survival. Only with a tremendous effort and the moral and intellectual support of all can we face a future that objectively appears desperate and sombre.

Labels: ETHICS, GODFREY MIYANDA, POLITICS

posted by MrK @ 5:52 PM