The truth will march on triumphantly

The truth will march on triumphantly
By The Post
Fri 04 June 2010, 18:20 CAT

For close to 20 years, I have written many editorial comments on various subjects.
But there is something special to me about today’s editorial comment. As I write this editorial comment this Thursday, I do so with the full expectation and knowledge that having been convicted for contempt of court yesterday, I will be given a custodial sentence tomorrow. I understand exactly what is happening and why it is happening.

Like every human being, I value my comfort, liberty and peace. But this does not stop me from being prepared to sacrifice my own comfort to advance the cause for the betterment of the lives of our people. Journalism is my chosen profession and through the pen, I will continue to fight what I see to be the injustices that bedevil our society today.

We have a great country. The good Lord has blessed it with abundant resources and a people who are good at heart. Our people deserve better than they get. Our governance system is skewed against the interests of the majority of our people who live in abject poverty and in many cases total deprivation. There is a silent majority of our people who know that things should not be this way and hope for a better tomorrow.

This tomorrow will not come if we all choose comfort over the need to struggle to improve our nation, to improve the lives of our people. Each one of us who is sincere is able to make a contribution. It does not need to be a huge contribution or even a heroic contribution, but just a contribution to the welfare of those around us is all we need.

No one in his right mind would like to be locked up in our prisons for any length of time. But if this is what it takes for me to contribute to the welfare of my fellow countrymen and women, so be it. In a strange way I accept it with relish.

It is not the first time that I am going to be locked up because of doing the work that I have chosen. Anyway, there are no lions in prison; only other human beings who for many complex reasons, including unemployment and the breakdown of social order in our country due to a failure of leadership, have ended up incarcerated. Knowing what I do, I will be among them tomorrow which is Friday.

As I write this Thursday, I have reviewed and reflected on whether The Post could have done things differently in relation to the Chansa Kabwela case. Yes, only an insolent opinionated arrogant person does not take time to reflect on their past actions, particularly if those actions have led to the kind of consequences that the Chansa Kabwela case has had.

The editors of this newspaper, my hardworking colleagues, faced a difficult challenge when they received those pictures of a woman giving birth on a pavement in the UTH grounds without the aid of doctors or nurses due to the strike that was then taking place. In the meantime, Rupiah Banda and his government were carrying on as if all was well. Rupiah could even afford to travel abroad to have his knee checked when the people he claims elected him could not receive basic medical services.

Those pictures epitomised the crisis that then engulfed the country. The Post and Chansa in particular did the right thing to bring that matter to the attention of the Vice-President and the minister for health. The Post did not publish those pictures. They were not publishable but the government needed to know what was happening.

The comedy of errors in judgment that followed was amazing. Rupiah decided that what The Post had done amounted to distributing pornography. I will never understand what was pornographic about a woman being forced to give birth on a pavement in the UTH grounds.

The fact that Chalwe Mchenga, the Director of Public Prosecutions, decided to prosecute such a matter is nothing short of shameful. As Professor Muna Ndulo observed, the court was the last hope for any decency in this matter. Indeed the court redeemed the situation by acquitting Chansa.

Still, the state would like to punish somebody for Rupiah’s mistakes. And it seems I am their perfect candidate. But that does not bother me. I know that our people are more discerning than Rupiah and his minions would like to give them credit for.

They can see through this charade. But it won’t take them anywhere. We are determined to continue to work for our people as we have done all these years. We do not do what we do to be praised by anyone, let alone liked.

We do it because we believe it is the right thing. If doing the right thing takes us to jail, so be it. We will not stop to speak our minds and let our people know what is happening in our country. What is going to jail when others have paid a higher price to help their countries? Our own comfort is not the most important thing in this world.

There are things that are worth every sacrifice that we can make. Letting our people know the truth is one of those things for which every sacrifice which can be made should be made. It is only as our people know the truth about their country, their leaders, their resources that they can make informed decisions and contribute to the development of their country.

Those in power understand that once our people know exactly what they do in their name, they will not be able to abuse them anymore. This is why a free media is a threat to some people and they will do everything to crush it. This is why The Post is a threat to them and they will do everything to crush it. But I have no doubt in my mind that for as long as The Post continue to report the truth and inform our people, no amount of intimidation or harassment can defeat it. The truth will march on triumphantly.

To those that might feel discouraged by what is happening, I have a few words. No struggle worth fighting is without setbacks. The conviction of The Post and myself may be an irritating setback, but it is not a defeat. Those of us who believe in what we do will continue to do it until we are vindicated because we shall be vindicated; of this we have no doubt. It may take one day, two days or twenty years, but we shall be vindicated because ours is a just struggle.

We bear no hatred or resentment for those that seek to crush us. But we shall continue to fight the excesses in which they engage. That is our contribution to our nation. Even if they succeeded in crushing us, we know that there are many other Zambians capable of making a contribution. No one is indispensable, not even ourselves.