Manipulation of the poor

Manipulation of the poor
By The Post
Mon 22 Feb. 2010, 04:00 CAT

THE daily deeds of our politicians must produce an actual Zambian reality that will reinforce our people’s belief in justice, strengthen their confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all their hopes for a glorious life for all.

And as we have stated before, the individual does best in a strong and decent community of people with principles and standards and common ends and values.

There is need for our politicians to reach out and touch our people, show them that politics is not a dirty game, a game of lies, deceit, manipulation and corruption but a real and meaningful part of their lives.

Manipulating people by capitalising on their ignorance, high illiteracy levels and poverty is evil. But we see this happen every time there are elections or by-elections.

Our poor and ignorant fellow citizens are lied to, deceived and manipulated in all sorts of ways to give unscrupulous politicians their support, their votes.

The aspirations of the poor clash with their lack of understanding and desperation. Every so often they are made to vote for people they don’t know, for candidates they don’t understand. They are tricked in all sorts of ways to vote for crooks.

They are divided into petty political parties that bring no guidance to the nation to support unscrupulous and greedy politicians.

We agree with Fr Mambwe Mpasa, the Vicar General of Mansa Diocese, when he says: “There is just this general tendency among politicians to take advantage of the poverty situation in the country and manipulate people.

We all know that there is poverty in the country, there are also high levels of ignorance resulting from illiteracy. And our leaders have taken advantage of this; they have manipulated innocent people by making them trade their vote with a packet of sugar. This is an evil act on the part of politicians. We treat them like our masters when in fact we are the masters.”

Politics should not be based on lies, deceit and manipulation because it is something very noble; it is a genuine way of being at the service of others for the integral development of the country.

And it is for this reason that participation in politics need to be guided by very noble values and sentiments of respect for human dignity, human rights, common good, social justice, solidarity, integral development, special concern for the poor. Politics need people with credibility.

It is therefore important that every citizen of this country makes full and proper use of their right to vote when the time comes and vote wisely and only for people who are known for their honesty, ability, dedication and concern for the welfare of all.
It is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow people to lose their dignity, their political choices as a result of poverty, illiteracy and ignorance in general.

Manipulating the poor, deceiving the poor is betraying Christ. And a nation that has decreed itself Christian cannot condone politics that are based on nothing but lies, deceit and manipulation.

We should ask ourselves: what kind of society are we trying to build in this country that declares itself to be Christian but allows unscrupulous politicians to bribe voters with sugar and mealie-meal, fertilisers and seed and indeed money to get their votes?

We saw this happen in Eastern Province with Rupiah Banda distributing sugar and mealie-meal to poor people so that they could vote for him.

We see this in almost all our by-elections but we still tolerate it and those with deep pockets carry the day. What type of society are we trying to build in this country?

A society of wolves, hyenas, jackals! Or is it a society of Christians, upright men and women! Can a Christian nation be built on such a foundation – a foundation of lies, deceit, manipulation, greed and vanity.

We know that this is not possible because liars, manipulators have never deserved the respect of anybody or been successful anywhere.

As we have stated before, manipulators are like little sailboats that go with the wind and the waves. Manipulation is synonymous with opportunism.

Manipulation does not have substance; it doesn’t have roots. It is impossible to build anything lasting on a foundation of lies, manipulation because this is only possible where there is honesty and integrity.

Our politicians should know that this country will not be good for them to live in unless it is a good place for the poor to live in.

Their lies and manipulation are at the heart of our country’s problems and failures. Zambia is not making much progress not because her people have failed, but because her politicians have failed.

And what Zambia needs to move forward is honesty, principled and hardworking leaders to match the needs of her people. The ultimate progress of our country will lie in the quality of the leadership we construct.

It is clear to all that our politicians are more comfortable with the population that is poor and ignorant because they are easy to deceive and manipulate. For this reason they are not in a rush to eradicate poverty and ignorance because they survive on it.

But we have hope in our fellow citizens that soon they will wake up to these realities and refuse to be abused.

So it is dangerous for those in power to try and consolidate their stay on the basis of mediocrity, deceit, lies and manipulation.

Soon our people will see through them and refuse to be led by them and they will choose new people to lead them where they deserve to be led.

Clearly, if our politicians want to remain relevant they have to act up to different standards and treat their people with concern and respect.

It is understandable that dishonest politics should dominate in a country where the President gets involved in electoral corruption, bribery and has joined hands with a former president who is a thief.

There must be a certain degree of honour in the politics of our country just as there must be a certain amount of light. When there are men without honour, there are always others who bear in themselves the honour of many men.

They are the men who rebel with great force against those who steal the people’s dignity, that is to say, against those who steal human honour itself.

We say this because in every society there are men of base instincts. The crooks, thieves, liars, deceitful elements, manipulators who go about in the guise of decent politicians, Christians, but they are monsters.

If they are offered a drink from a river of blood, they will not be satisfied until they drink the river dry. At their hands the best and noblest citizens are harassed, marginalised, humiliated and sometimes even killed.

Unless we stop such characters from dominating the politics of our country, we shall pay the price that must be paid by those who allow evil, vanity, greed and selfishness to rule their country.