Maravi

This government is betraying the poor

This government is betraying the poor
By Editor
Sun 01 Aug. 2010, 04:00 CAT

It is said that “water is life”. Truly, life is impossible without water. It is impossible for a human being to live or do anything without water.

Without drinking water, human life is impossible. Without water, it is impossible to have food. To even cook the food, when it’s available, one needs water. A bag of mealie-meal is of no value to a human being without water – water is needed to turn the mealie-meal into nshima.

Truly, water is life because without it, there is no life. And we know that life is sacred, a gift from God to be valued from the moment of conception until death. One cannot claim to uphold the sanctity of life if there is no provision for the minimal access to water for all. People cannot be sent away to go and die because their government is not ready to provide them with a guaranteed access to water. Where life is concerned, the government cannot wash its hands and simply say we have no money to guarantee the provision of such a need, a right. We are reminded in Mathew 14:16: “There is no need for them to go; give them something to eat yourselves.” We would say there is no need for them to go and die from lack of water, give them water to drink yourselves, you the government – guarantee that right, recognise it as a human right.

It is surprising that a country like ours, with immense fresh water resources, can fail to vote in favour of a United Nations resolution making access to clean water and sanitation an official basic human right everywhere in the world. Zambia refused to join the 122 countries that voted in favour of this resolution, and instead decided to be part of the 41 countries that abstained.

It is also understandable why this government has refused to recognise access to clean water as an economic and social right in our Constitution. When this clause was proposed at the National Constitutional Conference, those who were in attendance burst into laughter thinking this was senseless, was a joke. It was not this clause that was senseless, that was a joke. It was those who were laughing who were senseless, who were a joke. It is their ignorance, their lack of understanding of the legal nature and content of economic and social rights that made them laugh at that clause. And this ignorance and lack of understanding is seriously undermining effective action on economic and social rights in our country. Clearly to a certain degree, the difficulty in fully recognising economic and social rights in the face of endemic poverty and increasing inequality in wealth and income discourages action on economic and social rights when other challenges confront us.

We need to recognise the fact that human rights are a legal statement of what human beings require to live full human lives. Collectively, they are a comprehensive, holistic statement. A comprehensive approach to the promotion and protection of human rights, which include economic and social rights, ensures that people are treated as full persons and that they may enjoy simultaneously all rights and freedoms and social justice.

There must be concerted effort to ensure recognition of economic and social rights in our country. However, when over 70 per cent of our people live in abject poverty, go hungry every night; when many of them lack access to even a basic necessity like safe drinking water and live lives that are worse than those of animals, renewed attention and commitment to the full realisation of economic and social rights are vital.

It is the task of our government, of all of us to give the millions of Zambians an essential piece of dignity in their lives – the dignity that comes from having running water, a solid roof over your head and other services in an established community. There is nothing that makes people more appreciative of a government than that it should be able to deliver services.

There are people in our country who each day cannot meet the basic needs necessary for a decent human life. It is a duty for all of us to advocate for just government policies that will help improve the basic material needs for living, like water, food, housing, healthcare and education. It is the strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental needs to remain unsatisfied.

Every citizen of this country is entitled to a standard of living worthy of human dignity that includes access to clean water, enough food, clothing and adequate housing. And this is primarily what government is constituted for.

Again, we are reminded in Proverbs 30:8: “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food that is needful for me.”

There is a great danger that government policies, if not combined with clear social concern, will bring socio-economic deprivation. Living conditions must be improved, especially for the low income earners.

Every person, whether rich or poor, educated or not, has an equal right to clean water. And this should be guaranteed as a human right in our Constitution. Again, water is life. And human life is a precious gift from God, the source of all life. This being the case, why can any government, let alone one that claims to be Christian, refuse to recognise access to clean water as a basic human right?

The right of all individuals, families and their practical implementation must be acknowledged, protected and fostered, together with the public duties binding all citizens. We need a constitution that guides us to a share in divine life through love. And the constitution must be a medium that regulates our conduct in necessary matters concerning the common good. The question we should always ask ourselves is: does our Constitution guarantee fundamental human rights and freedoms for integral human development?

The Constitution reflects the wishes and aspirations of the people. And if this is so, how can our Constitution fail to recognise access to clean water as a human right when the great majority of our people don’t have access to it? If a vote was to be taken today, in a free and fair ballot, can anyone really think and truly believe that the majority of our people who have no access to clean water would refuse to recognise and acknowledge this as a human right in our Constitution? The refusal to include this in our Constitution is a clear indication, in itself, that this is not a people-driven Constitution. The rights of the Zambian people will only be truly protected when their Constitution is people driven. This is the only time the Constitution will truly reflect their wishes and aspirations.

Economic and social justice requires that each individual has adequate resources to survive, to develop and thrive. And economic growth depends in the first place on social progress.

The Constitution of a country is a national document of the highest importance. As the supreme law of the land, it must be recognised and respected as embodying the sovereign will of the majority of the people. And the pursuit of justice must be a fundamental norm of the state. And we shouldn’t forget that poverty is impoverishment caused by unjust political, economic and social structures. And for this reason, the poor deserve preferential attention in whatever constitutional arrangements we come up with. The roots of human rights are to be found in the dignity that belongs to each human being. Respect and promotion of all human rights is essential for human development. Every human being should have the chance to enjoy the well-being necessary for their full human development. And it is impossible to have full human development without access to clean water. By refusing to recognise access to clean water as a human right, this government is betraying the poor.

Labels: POVERTY, WATER

posted by MrK @ 3:41 AM