Maravi

Defending the sovereignty of thieves and plunderers

Defending the sovereignty of thieves and plunderers
By The Post
Mon 28 June 2010, 08:00 CAT

WHEN a government starts to fight its cooperating partners in a petty way, you know it is a very troubled government, a government in crisis. This is true of Rupiah Banda’s government. On Friday it was Rupiah needlessly attacking donors, accusing them of interfering in the internal affairs of Zambia – a sovereign country.

Not to be outdone and to show the usual bootlicking loyalty that Rupiah seems to appreciate so much, George Kunda on Saturday decided to launch his own unnecessary attack on the donors.

As one friend of ours likes to say, it would appear that patriotism is the last refuge for scoundrels. No one in his right mind will argue against a government’s honest desire to defend the sovereignty and independence of a nation.

As we have stated before, we greatly value the independence and sovereignty of our country and will always remain indebted to the selfless and noble men and women who sacrificed their lives, their youth and all that goes with it to give us an independent and sovereign homeland – Republic of Zambia.

But there is something wrong with the way that Rupiah and his sidekick, George have decided to recklessly attack donors over matters that do not seem to have anything to do with the independence and sovereignty of our country. Again we ask the question: what sovereignty and independence is protected by defending looting and plunder of national resources?

Clearly, the independence and sovereignty that Rupiah and George are talking about is not one for the people of this country, is not one for the dignity of our homeland. It is one for the independence and sovereignty, if one can call it that, of plunderers, thieves and crooks of all hues.

This is what they are defending. And one can see it in the way they are defending Frederick Chiluba and his tandem of thieves. The arguments Rupiah and George are using are the same ones Chiluba and his thieving friends have been using to absolve themselves from their corruption, their abuses and misdeeds. Truly, Rupiah and George are really good friends of Chiluba and other plunderers; they speak the same language.

It is nonsense to complain about interference from donors when they ask for accountability over the use of their own taxpayers’ money that they have given for specific purposes to our people. If our leaders have no sense of accountability over their use of public funds, other nations operate differently in that they have to account for every penny, cent or dime that comes from their taxpayers.

If Rupiah and his minions thought that accounting for donor money is beneath our dignity as an independent and sovereign state, they should not go around seeking international assistance from other governments and international institutions because that will always call for accountability.

It is strange that a government which claims to represent the people and their interests, can complain when their counterparts demand that their donations and other forms of funding should reach the people they were intended for. What is colonialist about this?

They should be ashamed that foreign governments are demanding that they be accountable to their own people – something they claim to have been elected to do anyway. It is alright for them to go round claiming credit for projects that have been funded by donors but there’s a problem in them accepting accountability in the management of the same projects.

Not very long ago, they were busy trying to put up propaganda of how well they were doing in the road sector without even telling the Zambian people that the road projects they were showing them, they were bragging about were funded by donors. They are not even ashamed to claim credit, to reap where they have not sown, where they have not personally invested anything.

The anger and irritation that Rupiah and George are showing has nothing to do with the dignity of our country. It has everything to do with the lack of dignity in our country and in the way they have conducted the affairs of government.

The donors are not the ones who wrote the audit report on what is happening in the road sector. It was written by the Auditor General’s office. This is a department of the Zambian government bureaucracy. Since when did the office of the Auditor General become an imperialist arm of the donors?

Is Anna Chifungula, our Auditor General, a representative of the donors? More important than even the donors, Rupiah and his minions should know that our people are watching the nonsense that they are condoning. Our people know the shoddy road jobs that have gobbled millions of dollars with no equivalent benefit. Our people also know the contractors who are perennially given contracts despite doing poor jobs for very obvious reasons – corruption.

By protesting against the donor demands for accountability, Rupiah and his minions are telling our people that it is okay for public funds to be misapplied and stolen. Anyway, it seems there is something much deeper about all this road sector issue because the level of sensitivity that it seems to enlist from Rupiah and his government is very high.

The question is why? If they have done nothing wrong and all the funds can be accounted for; supposing that the Auditor General got it totally wrong, why the excitement and anger against the donors? They should simply provide transparent responses to all the issues that have been raised. But we all know that only those who have nothing to hide are happy to be transparent. The guilty, as it is said, are afraid.

But fear should not cause Rupiah and his minions to lose their heads. These reckless attacks on the donors will not gain them anything. Anyway, we have all heard the saying that those the gods want to destroy, first they drive mad! It is madness to fight everybody and anybody who raises issue on a matter of general public interest. But this is how Rupiah has been going about everything. He’s fighting everybody.

In the beginning it was us. Their venom was unleashed on us in tonnes for simply exposing their abuses, the corruption of their league. What didn’t they smear us with? All their filth was thrown at us.

To this day, they continue to insinuate and accuse us of all sorts of things. Whilst attacking donors in Mufulira on Saturday, George found the space to throw innuendoes at us, claiming while we are writing about their corruption, we secretly borrowed US$ 3 million which we had no intentions of paying back. And that with such scandals we think we are clean.

Of course, they have reduced the amount from US$ 30 million to US$ 3 million that we have pocketed. There’s nowhere where we have borrowed US$ 3 million secretly. And which bank lends money secretly in this country? George knows he is telling lies but to him any filth that he can throw at us is justifiable because this is the only kind of politics that is left for them.

How else can they defend all these corrupt things they are doing if not with lies, deceit, manipulation and calumny? If in any way we are involved in any corrupt activities, what stops them from arresting and prosecuting us the way they have done on other issues that do not involve corruption allegations?

Attacking us is not enough for them. They have also turned their guns on the Catholic Church. They are running deliberate campaigns to malign the Catholic Church at every opportunity.

What is the crime of this Church? We know no other crime that this Church has committed against them other than calling them to account for their use of public office and resources; speaking for the people. Anyone who calls them to account is an enemy who will be accused of all sorts of things. But how does attacking the Catholic Church help them? Even they themselves know that this is madness but they are still doing it.

Now it has taken them to the donors. The bells that have been tolling for us and the Catholic Church are today tolling for the donors. What crime have the donors committed? The same crime the Catholic Church and ourselves are being taken to Calvary for is what the donors are also guilty of – asking them to account for their use of international assistance funds!

This list will not end here. If they are not stopped, the bells tolling for us, the Catholic Church and the donors will tomorrow toll for the whole country.

Labels: ANNA CHIFUNGULA, AUDITOR GENERAL, CORRUPTION, DONORS, GEORGE KUNDA, ROADS

posted by MrK @ 3:39 PM