You cannot teach an old dog new tricks

You cannot teach an old dog new tricks
By The Post
Tue 11 May 2010, 04:00 CAT

NO amount of intimidation and repression can turn an otherwise unpopular leader into a popular one. A leader who selects repression as a preferred method of engagement with the people is headed for certain disaster.

This is something that Rupiah Banda and those that surround him should understand and factor into their planning. It is now very clear that Rupiah is going to try and rely on repression to secure his second term in office. If anyone was in doubt, what happened in Mufumbwe should serve as a useful warning on the kind of leadership that Rupiah is providing.

Any honest person will have to admit that the violence in Mufumbwe was orchestrated, perpetrated and protected by the government. And the reason there was so much violence in Mufumbwe is not difficult to discern.

The MMD were losing and that is why they unleashed the evil forces of violence on an otherwise peaceful part of our country. They allowed themselves to become so desperate that they were prepared to do anything. It is shameful that the Inspector General of Police stood by while the law was being broken. Francis Kabonde did not behave like an Inspector General of Police whose job is to maintain law and order.

He behaved like an MMD senior cadre whose job was to protect the thugs that they had bussed into Mufumbwe to wreak havoc upon the hapless people of Mufumbwe. It does not make sense that so many days after the close of that campaign and election no MMD cadres have been arrested in connection with the violence that took place.

The MMD, for its part, has been trying to show that they were the victims of violence and yet everybody knows that they were the perpetrators. Rupiah and his minions seem to believe that pretending to be people of peace would help them hoodwink the people into liking them and supporting their interests. But our people are not fools.

They can see through this. They know what is happening. The MMD and its thugs had declared war on the people of Mufumbwe and were determined to bully them into voting for their candidate. To them, violence was a justifiable method, given their desperation.

To Rupiah and his minions, intimidation and repression is not reserved for people in places like Mufumbwe; they unleash it on anyone who does not support what they stand for. This is what explains the now all too clear strategy of threatening anyone who speaks against them with an arrest for one offence or the other.

It therefore does not come as a surprise that former vice-president Enoch Kavindele is now the subject of similar threats after he observed that the MMD was to blame for the violence that took place in Mufumbwe.

Instead of addressing the serious allegation levelled against them, the government and its agents has resorted to its preferred method of dealing with anyone who criticises their wrongdoing which is intimidation, defamation, lies and calumny.

It is surprising that today Mike Mulongoti can try to use an allegation that Kavindele bounced a cheque as a reason he should not comment on the Mufumbwe violence. What kind of nonsense is this? Such shamelessness will not help the MMD.

The MMD has made some shameful strategic choices for which they are going to pay. A party exists to provide leadership to our people and not to steal from them directly or indirectly by protecting those who steal from the people. But this is what MMD have chosen to do; to side with those who have stolen from our people.

And in the case of Mufumbwe, the party which is supposed to be responsible for ensuring that our people are protected and enjoy security has become the molester of our people. By unleashing violence on the people, the MMD has abdicated its responsibility. This has been done by the MMD, not Kavindele or anybody else. They have made their bed now; they should lie in it.

Trying to intimidate the likes of Kavindele and other Zambians who are condemning the violence that Rupiah’s government unleashed in Mufumbwe will not help them. Rupiah’s government has become wedded to violence and other repressive vices.

This explains why a person like William Banda, whose record of violence in the UNIP days is well documented, has become a rising star in the eyes of Rupiah. William is now more important than Rupiah’s Cabinet. He is a rapid response to all of Rupiah’s problems.

What Rupiah is forgetting is that the only way he is going to be liked by our people is to do the right things. Unleashing violence against them is certainly not a way of endearing himself to our people. This is a resort for people who fail to reason. Our people are not asking anyone to give them heaven because no one can give them heaven.

All our people want is a government that is true to them and stands for their best interests. This seems very difficult for Rupiah to deliver. We say this because a government can only stand for the interests of the people if it is selfless. This implies that such a government should hate corruption and anything that compromises public interest.

But so far, what Rupiah has shown us is that he is very comfortable with the corrupt. He himself does not seem to have a very good record. He is a kind of politician for whom the end justifies the means. If corruption helps him to win an election, he will be corrupt. And now it seems that if violence will help to turn an election, he will use violence.

This is the only reason one can have for his condoning of the unprofessional manner in which Kabonde conducted himself in Mufumbwe. This also explains why his government’s only reaction to Kavindele’s criticism of their violent incursion into Mufumbwe is defamation and calumny.

It is said that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. Maybe this is the problem that we have with Rupiah. He is so stuck in a one party state mentality that he does not accept that others can have rights that are independent of his.

As far as he is concerned, as head of state, he occupies a position that cannot be and should not be challenged by anyone. Anyone criticising his actions and the actions of his government commits an offence and in their minds, deserves to be crushed.

This is why they resort to intimidation and repression. They cannot see that their conduct is contrary to the dictates of democracy. It is difficult to see that Rupiah can be taught any new tricks in much the same way that an old dog cannot be taught new tricks.