Defending what can’t be defended

COMMENT - No one should swear allegiance to an elected official. The Constitution, yes, but not a politician.

Defending what can’t be defended
By The Post
Sun 26 Sep. 2010, 04:00 CAT

Things must be called by their right names. This does not mean that one is speaking with hurt, harshly or insultingly about anyone. We should analyse and criticise seriously things people say. If one has told a lie, this cannot be called by any other name other than that of a lie. And one who tells a lie has no other description other than that of a liar.

It doesn’t matter what position or title one holds in society, if they tell a lie, it will be called a lie and they themselves liars. And no attempt should be made to create conditions suitable for people to tell lies.

As Amilcar Cabral aptly put it: “Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told.” Lies shouldn’t be told because even from a biblical point of view, they are not allowed.

“What I say is the truth; lies are hurtful to me” (Proverbs 8:7); “To honour the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil ways and false words” (Proverbs 8:13); “If you are good, you are guided by honesty. People who can’t be trusted are destroyed by their own dishonesty” (Proverbs 11:3); “Honesty makes a good man’s life easier, but a wicked man will cause his own downfall” (Proverbs 11:5); “Honest people will treat you fairly; the wicked only want to deceive you” (Proverbs 12:5); “A wicked man is trapped by his own words, but an honest man gets himself out of trouble” (Proverbs 12:13);

“When you tell the truth, justice is done, but lies lead to injustice” (Proverbs 12:17); “Honest people hate lies, but the words of wicked people are shameful and disgraceful” (Proverbs 13:5); “Evil people listen to evil ideas, and liars listen to lies” (Proverbs 17:4); “Respected people do not tell lies, and fools have nothing worthwhile to say” (Proverbs 17:7); “You will have to live with the consequences of everything you say” (Proverbs 18:20); “You have to hate someone to want to hurt him with lies. Insincere talk brings nothing but ruin” (Proverbs 26:28).

It doesn’t seem right for Speaker Amusaa Mwanamwambwa to go for George Mpombo who was telling the truth and protect a liar – Rupiah Banda – who was telling lies. There is nothing in what Mpombo said about Rupiah that cannot be truthfully defended. There is no doubt Mpombo successfully exposed Rupiah’s lies in a manner that could not be challenged. Mpombo was extremely factual in his exposition of Rupiah’s lies. Rupiah told lies and there is no doubt about it.

And one who tells lies is nothing but a liar. And since Rupiah lied, Mpombo was justified to call him a liar because this is the truth of the matter. It is not an insult on the President to call him a liar when he lies. Rupiah himself has called other people liars, sometimes even when they have not lied. But if they have lied, Rupiah would equally be justified to call them liars and there is nothing unfair or insulting about that – things have to be called by their names.

Speaker Mwanamwambwa asks a question: “But consider if it is a Zambian culture for adults to insult each other. Is it normal to call one another liars?” Firstly, it is not an insult to call one who lies a liar. Secondly, it is not an insult under the Zambian culture to call a liar a liar and denounce him as such. Actually, the Zambian culture abhors lies and liars.

And Speaker Mwanamwambwa went on to warn Mpombo and other members of parliament:

“When it comes to this House, each one of you subscribes to the oath of allegiance. Be careful what you say here or there. And the oath says allegiance to the President. What that means is that wherever you are, inside or outside this House you must represent the President.”

There is no member of parliament that has sworn any oath of allegiance to the President’s lies. They have sworn allegiance to the dignity and honour of that office and not to its lies and other evil deeds. When a president resorts to lies, he loses that honour; he is no longer a man of excellence or honour; he is a man without honour and dignity.

And this is why when people occupying that office are found wanting, those with some honour and dignity that has been affected quickly apologise to restore it. Rupiah has never apologised for any lies he has told. Rupiah lied about us; he falsely and maliciously accused us of having pocketed US $30 million from state institutions to build and own mansions, buy and drive strange cars.

And he assured the nation that he would collect that money from us so that he could use it to build hospitals and schools. None of these is true; it’s all lies. And Rupiah knows very well that he lied about us. But he has made no effort whatsoever to apologise to us and to the Zambian people he told lies. Truly, Mpombo was right in calling Rupiah a shameless liar. A man with shame would have apologised to us and to the nation for such big lies.

Speaker Mwanamwambwa says: “Insulting is not a sign of heroism or political championship. Honourable Mpombo is an honourable member of parliament, honourable! And no honourable member can utter such words.”

It is said that “he who is not afraid of death by a thousand cuts dares to unhorse the emperor” – this is the indomitable spirit exhibited by Mpombo and which is needed in our struggle to build a more honest, fair, just and humane nation. Whether Speaker Mwanamwambwa likes it or not, Mpombo is a hero. We say this because heroes are men and women chosen to bring happiness into the hearts of people – these are the real heroes. Mpombo is a hero because he has refused to defend lies even if it may be beneficial to him personally to do so. We are told in the Bible:

“Don’t allow yourself to be dominated by someone who is stupid or show partiality to influential people. Stand up for what is right, even if it costs you your life; the Lord God will be fighting on your side” (Sirach 4:27-28).
It is very difficult to defend a humble politician like Mpombo when he is pitted against a powerful person like the President.

Only heroes will defend the weak against the powerful. We don’t expect Speaker Mwanamwambwa to defend Mpombo and go for the President. It is said that “when a rich man stumbles, his friends will steady him, but if a poor man falls, his friends will have nothing to do with him. When a rich man makes a mistake, there are many people to cover up for him and explain away all the things he never should have said.

But let a poor man make a mistake, and he gets nothing but criticism. Even if what he says makes good sense, nobody will listen” (Sirach 13:21-22).
We wish Speaker Mwanamwambwa could learn something from United States president Franklin Roosevelt who observed that: “The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants.

He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right.

Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or anyone else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about anyone else.”

And Speaker Mwanamwambwa is wondering why the law enforcement agencies are not arresting and prosecuting people insulting Rupiah by calling him a liar. Probably they know more than the Speaker knows about Rupiah that the man is a liar, and they will just embarrass themselves by arresting people and taking them to court for calling him a liar.

This is so because in defamation, truth is the most potent defence. And there is no way Mpombo, with all that truth he pointed out about Rupiah telling lies, can fail to defend himself for calling Rupiah a liar. This can be like the case of Frederick Chiluba arresting us in 2001 for calling him a thief when he had actually stolen. There was no defamation here because the man had stolen. And one who steals is a thief.

All that needs to be proved is simply that the man has stolen. If Speaker Mwanamwambwa really wants to defend Rupiah from being called a liar, he should advise the law enforcement agencies to pounce on us for calling him a liar so that we can go to court and truly show that Rupiah tells lies and is a liar.

If calling Rupiah a liar is an insult, the only medicine that can cure this is for him to stop telling lies and live by the truth and the truth alone.

No amount of intimidation or threats from Speaker Mwanamwambwa or anyone else for that matter will stop Rupiah from being called a liar if he continues to tell lies. Clearly, Speaker Mwanamwambwa is trying to defend what cannot be defended.