Maravi

Mutati, that’s what is expected of you, your colleagues

Mutati, that’s what is expected of you, your colleagues
By The Editor
Thu 17 June 2010, 08:00 CAT

Admit when you are wrong, and you avoid embarrassment. This is exactly what Felix Mutati did on Tuesday. Felix regretted his statement that Zambians would not understand the government’s sale of Zamtel from the RP Capital valuation report and asked that they listen to the “rational explanations from the government”.

Felix went on to assert: “I will never underestimate the intelligence of the people of Zambia…I draw my mandate from the people of Zambia. The people of Zambia have tremendous capability to understand and analyse issues and I will never underestimate that capability.”

Taught by mistakes and setbacks, we expect Felix to become wiser and handle our affairs better. It is hard for any person to avoid mistakes, but one should make as few as possible. Once a mistake is made, it should be corrected, and the more quickly and thoroughly, the better.

What Felix has done is not common among Zambian politicians of today. After realizing that he had made a mistake, the common thing Felix would have done is to deny the story and claim that he was misquoted, he never said what was reported.

But Felix chose the honest route and admitted his mistakes, expressing regret for what he said. This is the type of leaders Zambia needs – leaders who realise that the exercise of power must be the constant practice of self-limitation and modesty. Stubbornness, when you are wrong, will simply get you into more trouble at the end. A stubborn person will burdened down with troubles.

It may be humiliating for Felix to apologise, to regret what he said. But as gold is tested by fire, human character is tested in the furnace of humiliation. And by that simple rare action – rare in the sense of the general behavior of our politicians – Felix has demonstrated great character, character that is desirable in a leader. A man may be very important, very famous, but when he is wrong, a sensible person will detect it.

We can only hope our political leaders will learn something from Felix’s humility and make this a leadership norm. The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in whatever happens in our country.

The masses are the real masters, while our politicians are often childish and ignorant, and without this understanding, it is impossible for them to acquire even the most rudimentary knowledge. The masses have boundless creative power.

Our political leaders should never pretend to know what they don’t know, they should not feel ashamed to ask learn from people below, the ordinary people and they should listen carefully to the views of the people.

Be a pupil before you become a teacher; learn from the people at the lower levels before you issue orders. What the people at the lower levels say may or may not be correct; after hearing it, you must analyse it. You must heed the correct views and act upon them.

Listen also to the mistaken views from below; it is wrong not to listen to them at all. Such views, however, are not to be acted upon but to be criticized.

Pay attention to the views of those who differ with you. We have come together from every corner of the country and should be good at listening to each other, and not only to those who hold the same views as we but also with those who hold different views.

Guard against arrogance. For anyone in a leading position, this is a matter of principle and an important condition for good leadership. Even those who have made no serious mistakes and have achieved very great successes in their work should not be arrogant.

This is the only way our politicians can link themselves to the masses. To link oneself with the masses, one must act in accordance with the need and wishes of the masses.

All work done for the masses – be it the privatisation of Zamtel or the engagement of RP Capital to value Zamtel’s assets – must start from their needs and not from the desire of any individual, however well-intentioned. It often happens that objectively the masses need a certain change, but subjectively they are not yet conscious of the need, not yet willing or determined to make the change. In such cases, they should wait patiently.

They should not make the change until, through their work, most of the masses have become conscious of the need and are willing and determined to carry it out. Otherwise they shall isolate themselves from the masses as we are starting to see in the privatisation of Zamtel. Unless they are conscious and willing, any kind of work that requires their participation will turn out to be a mere formality and will fail.

There are two principles here: one is the actual needs of the masses rather than what their political leaders fancy they need, and the other is the wishes of the masses, who must make up their own minds instead of their political leaders making up their minds for them.

There is need for our politicians to learn to love the people and listen attentively to the voice of the masses; to identify themselves with the masses wherever they go and, instead of standing above them, to immerse themselves among them; and, according to their present level, to awaken them or raise their political consciousness.

If our politicians insist on doing what they want, on selling public assets as they please against the will of the people, they will certainly fail. This arrogance is wrong in any type of government work, because in overstepping the level of political consciousness of the masses and violating the principle of voluntary public support for their decisions, it reflects the disease of impetuosity.

Our politicians, especially those in government, must not assume that the masses have no understanding of what they themselves do not understand. It often happens that the masses outstrip them and are eager to advance a step and that nevertheless they themselves fail to act as leaders of the masses and tail behind certain backward elements, reflecting their views and, moreover, mistaking them for those of the broad masses.

Our politicians must learn to have faith in the masses. Having faith in the masses is a cardinal principle. If they doubt this principle, they shall accomplish nothing.

It is an arduous task to ensure a better life for the 12 million people of Zambia and to build our economically backward country into a prosperous nation with a high level of culture.

And it is precisely in order to be able to shoulder this task more competently and work better together with all their people, regardless of the political affiliation, who are actuated by high ideals and determined to institute changes to the way public affairs are managed and that they must constantly rid themselves of whatever is wrong.

There is need for more and more people to participate in directly shaping the destiny of their country. We say this because more people mean a greater ferment of ideas, more enthusiasm and more energy.

Contradictions will always be there in the political life of our people. But the question is: how should right be distinguished from wrong in one’s words and actions? On the basis of the principles of our Constitution and the will of the overwhelming majority of our people.

And the only way to settle controversial issues among the people is by the democratic method, the method of discussion, of criticism, of persuasion and education, and not by the method of coercion or repression. We must undoubtedly criticize wrong ideas of every description.

It certainly would not be right to refrain from criticism, look on while wrong ideas spread unchecked and allow them to monopolise the field. Mistakes must be criticized and poisonous weeds fought wherever they crop up. However, such criticism should not be dogmatic. What is needed is convincing arguments.

To criticize people’s shortcomings is necessary, but in doing so we must truly take the stand of the people and speak out of wholehearted eagerness to protect and educate.

Contradiction and struggle are universal and absolute, but the methods of resolving contradictions, that is, the forms of struggle, differ according to the differences in the nature of the contradictions. Some contradictions are characterized by open antagonism, while others are not.

In accordance with the concrete development of things, some contradictions which were originally non-antagonistic develop into antagonistic ones, while others which were originally antagonistic develop into non-antagonistic ones.

In ordinary circumstances, contradictions among the people are not antagonistic. But if they are not handled properly, or if we relax our vigilance and lower our guard, antagonism may arise.

This brings us to where we had started – Felix’s humility and willingness to apologise for the statement he made on RP Capital’s valuation of Zamtel assets that has not gone well with the masses of our people. Antagonisms can be avoided by humility on the part of our leaders.

And such humility is only possible if one truly understands and appreciated that the masses are the masters and the prime movers of things. Felix seems to have articulated this very well and probably hence his regrets for offending the people.
If all our politicians take this route that has been charted by Felix, humble a s it may appear, we will have a much better society and a more responsive leadership that enjoys the confidence and support of the people. And with such a leadership, we can move mountains.

Labels: FELIX MUTATI, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, PRIVATISATION, ZAMTEL

posted by MrK @ 4:40 PM