We are not responsible for their problems

We are not responsible for their problems
By The Post
Sun 25 July 2010, 04:20 CAT

WHEN problems come, it is important to face them in an honest and truthful manner devoid of any posturing or pretence. If there’s anything that connects us as human beings, without any exception, is that at one time or another we all face problems and setbacks, we all face dilemmas and sometimes we don’t know whether we are going or we are coming.

But problems are not always a negative thing. They too have their uses. Adversity builds character. But this is not in all cases. Character is built in those who make a very deliberate effort to learn from their circumstances. There are few problems in this world that we cannot turn into personal triumphs if we have the iron will, the honesty and sincerity and the necessary skill.

To learn from problems, one has to very deliberately inquire how they have come about. Such an exercise will lead us on a path of discovery. It might be that problems have come about as a result of something that we have done or indeed something that somebody else has done.

It is for this reason that we study what has been done, what was said yesterday. And the purpose of analysing all this is not to deride anyone or indeed human action itself, nor to weep over it or to hate it, but to understand it – and then to learn from it as we contemplate our future.

It is the dictate of all this to bring to the fore the kind of leaders who seize the moment, who cohere the wishes and aspirations of the masses of our people. And more often than not, an epoch creates and nurtures the individuals which are associated with its twists and turns.

There’s no need to duck problems, to mask them because that will never clear them away. And how many problems is one going to mask everyday? We ask this question because problems arise everyday.

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb and indeed there is need to come down. Many of us will have to pass through the valley of many, many problems again and again before the reach the mountaintops of our desires.

And none of us can be described as having virtues or qualities that raise him or her above others – none of us can solve all these problems that arise in our communities, in our nation by himself or herself. Collective effort will always be required. Zambia knows no single genius, there can only be a collective genius.

Problems are like pain in many ways. Although pain of any kind is undesirable, it is needful. Indeed pain is protective. If we fail to know pain we would probably destroy ourselves. We would see no need of consulting a doctor when our body is degenerating if there was no pain.

Pain therefore is our fence of protection in much the same way that problems can be the rain that waters our growth.
But to benefit from problems one has to be prepared to be honest and to be sincere. You have to be prepared to face yourself as you are not as you wish you were.

This is humbling as requires a sumptuous dose of humility to be of any use. We say this because the ways in which we will achieve our goals is always bound by context, changing with circumstances even while remaining steadfast to our vision.

We must be very clear where we are headed and why we are headed there. That understanding alone will do a great deal to help us appreciate the problems that we face on the way. But one of the qualities that is unhelpful when one is going through problems is self-pity and the refusal to accept responsibility for the challenges that the problems throw at us.

This is even more important in those who aspire to lead others. They must be ready all the time to take responsibility for the problems that their actions and inaction have caused. Blaming others, although a temporary anaesthetic against one’s struggles, cannot take away the problem. There is only one way that problems can go away. It is by dealing with them.

This is something that our friends in the PF and UPND pact need to reflect on very carefully and truthfully. The political formation that they have made has made certain promises to our people which have to be delivered. But that will not happen on the shifting sands of evasions, illusions, half-truths and opportunism.

Yesterday UPND president Hakainde Hichilema said something that forced us to once again stop and reflect. In not so many words, he blamed us for the problems that they are facing in the pact. The question is why?

We all have our responsibilities to our people. Each of us has a duty and a role to play in this collective that we call our country. Hakainde has chosen the political path. That is a good thing. He should do that to the best of his ability and with absolute honest, honour and integrity.

And posterity will judge him accordingly. For our part we have chosen journalism as a means of contributing to the building of a more just, fair and humane homeland. We also strive to discharge the responsibilities of our chosen profession to the best of our ability, with integrity and honour.

And sometimes we are ready to do more than our fair share of the job and be the burden bearers for our people. We say this because we do not always carry pleasant messages to our people.

And as human beings we have the tendency of shooting the messenger because of the messages he bears, as the saying goes. But it is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant messages and experiences. This is the best that we can say to Hakainde.

Blaming The Post of being biased or this or that will not take away the real problems that exist, that he may have contributed to and whose resolution is dependant on what he does, not The Post.

Let’s assume for a second that his accusation of The Post being biased is correct, how does that sort out his problem? Is Hakainde negotiating for the presidency of the pact with The Post? Does The Post have any candidates to field in the next year’s elections or indeed in any by-election that may occur before that?

Is The Post a party to their pact? Is there any member of staff of The Post who sits in their meetings to decide who should field a candidate here or there? Is it The Post that caused their problems over the Luena adoption? Is it The Post that told the PF and the UPND to compete against each other in Kaoma central and Chadiza in violation of their pact agreement?

We understand that politicians are always looking for favourable coverage from the media. And sometimes they even want to manipulate the media so that it can be subservient to their agendas. When the media does what they want, its okay – it’s not biased.

If we are biased, as Hakainde has repeatedly alleged, why not go to other media that are not biased and shame us? We can understand Hakainde’s anxiety about the pact breaking and next year’s elections. The outcome of next year’s elections may deal a heavy blow on Hakainde’s political career.

If the pact breaks, Hakainde’s political party will truly shrink to a Bantustan. For Hakainde, this pact is everything because if it fails both himself and his party will be reduced to almost nothing politically.

The pact has given him and his party a new breath of life. He has benefited more from the pact than his partners. And he knows very well that without the pact, his political career has to be scaled down to probably that of a councillor in Monze.

Without the pact, Hakainde has no political future to talk about and hence the desperation. But he shouldn’t take out his frustration on us because he will be very sorry. There’s no need to pretend or to posture about this. Those with more to gain or more to lose need to put in more effort and care.

Posturing and blaming other people who have nothing to do with their pact will only help to accelerate the pace of their failure and not the strengthening of their much needed pact. With or without the pact, Zambia will continue to exist. What may not continue to exist is Hakainde’s dream to be president and his party to be in government.

The outcome of next year’s elections will have very little effect on our careers as journalists – whoever wins or loses, we will still be there practicing our journalism. Whether the pact succeeds or fails, we will still be there to practice our journalism. So we can’t be as desperate as they are.

We have a duty to the public to inform them correctly and truthfully. If our reports are incorrect or are not truthful, we have a duty to correct them or make them truthful. If our reports are truthful, we don’t care what Hakainde calls them.

We should never be expected to be party to any arrangements calculated to keep information away from the people. If the pact is doing well, it is our job to let the people know that it is doing well.

If the pact is not doing well as is the case now, it is equally our duty to let the people know. We don’t have to like the news to report it. We report what is happening not what we like. If the emperor is naked, we should never be expected to say he is well-dressed and looking smart.

This is what we owe Hakainde and all our people.
As we stated earlier, problems may be the rain that waters our development. But for that development to come, we have to face those problems honestly and sincerely.

This is what Hakainde needs to do. For us, survival – politically or otherwise – is the ability to cope with difficulties, with circumstances, and to overcome them.
The challenge for Hakainde and his colleagues is to move from rhetoric to action, and action at an unprecedented intensity and scale.

Above all, people are disposed to mistake predicting troubles for causing troubles and even for desiring troubles: “if only”, they love to think, “if only people wouldn’t talk about it, it probably wouldn’t happen”.

Perhaps this habit goes back to the primitive belief that the word and the thing, the name and the object, are identical. At all events, the discussion of future grave but, with effort now, avoidable evils is the most unpopular and at the same time the most necessary occupation for the politician. Those who knowingly shirk it, deserve, and not only frequently receive, the curses of those who come after.

Let us not forget that greatness comes not only when things go always good for you, but the greatness comes and you are really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes, because only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.