Maravi

Retiring 6 top generals is out of the ordinary – Miyanda

Retiring 6 top generals is out of the ordinary – Miyanda
By George Chellah
Wed 21 Apr. 2010, 04:10 CAT

Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda has observed that President Rupiah Banda’s act of retiring six top generals is out of the ordinary

HERITAGE Party (HP) leader Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda has observed that President Rupiah Banda’s act of retiring six top generals is out of the ordinary.

Commenting on President Banda’s recent dismissal of all defence forces commanders and their deputies, Brig Gen Miyanda explained that critics of President Banda’s latest statement have been described as desperate

politicians only interested in State House and their perceived crisis of the removal of six generals as a figment of their imagination.

“Though we should not question every action the President takes, some official actions call for scrutiny due to their impact generally on policy or general governance. The President’s action to retire simultaneously the three service chiefs and their deputies is one such important subject calling for public scrutiny because it is a precedent the country may regret in future,” Brig Gen Miyanda said. “Although the speech was uncharacteristically brief, it was up to the point and I dare say very presidential as the President departed from his usual style of delivering a political harangue at such press briefings.

“Public reaction has been varied but predictably partisan. Some in opposition have condemned the President for acting rashly and covering up a crisis; those supporting the President have defended him on the grounds that he has the powers to retire the officers. It is of course unfair to criticise merely to make or subtract political points for either side. The President’s action deserves serious examination and comment. There is nothing wrong for the President to act when he detects a crisis.

“If the President acted to forestall a crisis that is what he ought to do and he should be commended for acting promptly if indeed there was a crisis. But this act of retiring six top generals is out of the ordinary. The President read out his speech verbatim; the speech was short, hence easy to analyse. It is the speech that reveals the reasons that he did not directly ascribe to the purported retirement of the generals.”

Brig Gen Miyanda stated that the speech confirms that there was something that triggered off his action.

“Prominent indicators from the President’s speech before announcing the retirements included these words and phrases ‘there are our nationals who have campaigned relentlessly for chaos and have continued even as I speak; there are internal enemies whose aim is to destabilize our country’,” Brig Gen Miyanda said. “He then made clear what he was about to do. The reasons for removing the Generals were to forestall destabilisation of the country, to create room for juniors to rise and to motivate them to work harder!

There are contradictions in the President’s speech that may set a bad precedent and that could make administration in the services more difficult. Anyway he announced, ‘I have retired the Generals’,” Brig Gen Miyanda stated. “I dare say that under our laws, the President has no powers to retire serving officers. Retirement is a condition of service in which the President does not play any part but which occurs once the terms and conditions of service are satisfied.

The potent power available to the President is that of granting a prospective officer a Commission; this is a condition precedent to one being allowed to serve in the regular Army and Air Force as an officer. By being granted a commission an officer serves at the President’s pleasure who may cancel the Commission for appropriate grounds; this is very very rare and almost always follows disciplinary action or verified dishonourable conduct. It is one of those inherited customs and practices.

“As for motivation, well trained officers know or ought to know that it is not possible for all officers to ever become Army or Air Commanders; the military organisation pyramid does not make easy such an eventuality. Officers should not believe that now they have more chances of rising simply by the removal of half a dozen from among them! For goodness sake officers are trained to accept the hierarchical system and this ought to remain so. The system is efficacious; few officers expect to become Defence Force Commanders.”

Brig Gen Miyanda stated that President Banda must avoid using retirement as a goad for promotion and job creation, thus making young officers to dream the impossible dream.

“The promotion they may all reasonably look forward to is a progressive rise between the junior ranks of subaltern (from second lieutenant) to full colonel. After that the path to the top of the pyramid becomes predictably constricted, with upward movement to Army or Air Commander almost impossible. This is the reality and the Commander-In-Chief must not be the one to promote and encourage agitation within the ranks,” Brig Gen Miyanda stated.

“I pray that the seed inadvertently planted by the President in his brief speech does not take root among our officers that they have to pressurize for removal of Army or Air Force Commanders in order for them to rise because such a notion would become the harbinger of chaos and restlessness in the services. The better alternative to be actively promoted and acted on by the President would be to increase salaries and improve other perks across the board because all ranks would benefit, rather than a half dozen Generals!

“Perhaps times have changed, but my recollection is that officers, as well as other ranks, are brought up in the understanding and recognition of this hierarchical system. It is part of their discipline and training and it is this that makes them take orders from their superiors across the board, including obedience to the Commander-In-Chief when he acts in the national interest.”

Brig Gen Miyanda stated that it was not necessary for the President to use retirement as bait to those remaining to believe that now they would have promotions galore.

“Removal of the six Generals will not result in any significant vacancies for the hundreds of officers and thousands of other ranks. This is like the NCC making Zambian youths dream that the degree clause will result in job opportunities for them to become President, a one out of twelve million probability!

The President is humbly advised to consider other rational and practical ways to motivate officers and create jobs. Dismissing Generals is definitely not one of them!” said Brig Gen Miyanda.

Labels: ARMED FORCES, GODFREY MIYANDA

posted by MrK @ 3:38 PM