Maravi

A nation in hopelessness

A nation in hopelessness
By Editor
Fri 09 Apr. 2010, 04:00 CAT

There is nothing more defeating in life than hopelessness. It is hope that makes us wake up in the morning. It is also hope that gives us the strength to face the challenges that every day throws at us.

It is difficult to imagine how one can live without hope or an expectation that things will get better. But hope does not materialise in a vacuum. It is born out of a clear understanding of the circumstances that we face and the chances of us being able to surmount those circumstances. Hope which is helpful must be born out of an honest analysis of the circumstances that surround us.

When there are problems, the first step in building hope of having those problems resolved must be an honest and sincere acknowledgement of the problem.

Such an acknowledgement will force us to start weighing the alternatives and possibilities that exist. It is this exercise that will most likely lead to the development of solutions and hence hope.

Hope is an important ingredient in life. By the same token, hopelessness is a serious assault on one’s ability to live a meaningful life. This is true at an individual level, but it is also a very true and important principle in a nation. A hopeless nation, one which has no better expectations for tomorrow is a doomed nation. This is why we should never give in to hopelessness, to a belief that our lot is to wallow in meaninglessness and lack of direction.

A loss of hope quickly leads to a loss of dignity and a loss of dignity , will degenerate to self-destruction. As true as this is for an individual, it is also true for the nation.

We all know that our country has been going through many difficulties. We have suffered, from a critical failure of leadership. The people that we have put in office to show the way and lead us to the realisation of our full potential have failed us. People who should be working for the common good have chosen to work for their personal and family aggrandizement. This irresponsibility has condemned a lot of our people to a perpetual state of hopelessness. This is what happens when leaders abdicate their responsibility to lead and allow the country to drift.

We have said before that it would have been better if our country was on autopilot. We say this because the autopilot machine on a plane is able to steer the aircraft in the right direction. What we have is not a government running on autopilot, it is a government in free-fall. In fact, if it was a fighter jet, one would be excused for suspecting that the pilots had ejected and were allowing the plane to fall. This is what we see in the way Rupiah Banda and his minions are running this country. They are not truly interested in giving hope to our people that things will get better. In their elitist detachment from the people, they have no clue what it is to identify with the people and win their confidence.

Their strategies for retaining power have no connection to serving the people. They want to retain power for its own sake and therefore instead of fostering hope, they engender despondence. This is what explains the arrogance with which they deal with national issues.

We continue to be amazed by Rupiah’s relative and Minister for Home Affairs Lameck Mangani who, as minister responsible for internal security, has continued to threaten perceived political enemies with trumped-up criminal charges. He is so intoxicated with power that he doesn’t realise just how ridiculous he looks when he continually threatens this one or that one with police action for imaginary criminal wrongdoing.

Our people are faced with real crimes on a day to day basis which are not always attended to because of lack of resources and yet all Mangani can do is use the platform that his ministerial job gives him to threaten political opponents.

Indeed, the MMD as a ruling party is sending very clear signals that it will do everything within its power to cling to power. Democracy and its dictates seem to be an inconvenience to MMD and Rupiah.

We are not surprised that even lowly-placed MMD functionaries are threatening that they will retain the Mufumbwe and Milanzi constituencies whether in peace or in chaos.

There are so many issues in our country today that require serious attention from a head of state. When Rupiah announced that he would be addressing a press conference, many people thought he would be coming to deal with substantive issues and help to address some of the hopelessness that is in our country. But that was expecting too much. Rupiah is not one to disappoint when it comes to meaningless public engagements. He always delivers. And he did the same on Wednesday. Since Rupiah has not addressed the nation to discuss any important issues in a long time, not least his holiday in China and many other issues, one would have expected that Rupiah would take the time to inform the people who pay his salary and have allowed him to use the beloved Presidential jet, about what he has been up to. There are many issues in the nation that require explanation. But Rupiah chose to reduce himself to a level of master-of-ceremonies. He chose to make announcements that could have been made through a statement.

We are not saying that the removal of all defence chiefs is not an important matter deserving Presidential attention. But what is troubling is that Rupiah’s press conference was devoid of any meaningful and coherent policy pronouncements. If anything, his conduct was contradictory and embarrassing for a head of state. By his actions yesterday, Rupiah raised more questions and did not offer any answers to the many challenges that we face as a country.

In one breath, Rupiah told the nation that he was retiring the service chiefs because they were serving on contract as opposed to permanent and pensionable basis because they had reached retirement age. But the same Rupiah has recalled Brigadier General Andrew Sakala from retirement, promoted him to Major General during the press conference in the morning and promoted him further to Lt General later in afternoon at the swearing-in ceremony.

The question is, if you want to retire people from the armed forces, why bring back Lt General Sakala? This is a legitimate question that Rupiah needs to address honestly. We hope that these appointments have nothing to do with procurements of military equipment. We will not be surprised if in a few days we start hearing that the defence forces are in the process of procuring military hardware. We say this because Rupiah’s interest in procurement is something which is now well understood and it is something that is likely to land him in trouble.

The changes that Rupiah announced do not give our people much reason for hope that Rupiah means well for them. If anything, it tells them that this is a President who is all about giving jobs to friends and relatives. Rupiah wants to control government contracts to support the tenderpreneurs that surround him, including his rapacious sons whose appetite for government business is boundless.

Labels: MMD, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 3:16 PM