Maravi

Listen to Mineworkers Union of Zambia

Listen to Mineworkers Union of Zambia
By The Post
Tue 07 Sep. 2010, 04:00 CAT

THE comments by Mineworkers Union of Zambia general secretary Oswell Munyenyembe deserve to be reflected on seriously. A government that does not listen to its people and ignores their sentiments on matters that affect them is courting trouble.

This seems to be the route on which Rupiah Banda is firmly entrenched. Rupiah has made it very clear by his actions and inactions that he is not in government to listen to what the people have to say and to deliver on their wishes.

We say this because the amount of arrogance and disregard for the interest of our people in many of the things that Rupiah claims to be doing for our benefit is startling.

Rupiah seems determined to mortgage our country in such a way that our children will remain slaves and serfs tied to the whims of international capital for generations to come. Rupiah does not seem concerned that some of the actions that he is taking are actually not sustainable but a recipe for strife and disaster in years to come.

Rupiah has the worrying obstinacy of an ignorant man who decides he knows everything and everybody must listen to him. It would be okay if Rupiah was being obstinate about leading the country in the right direction for the benefit of all. But that is not the case. It is very clear that the stubborn positions that Rupiah takes rarely, if ever, have anything to do with public interest.

It’s a question of doing deals. And what is more unacceptable is that personal or family interests are always in the vicinity of what should be serious government decisions. Rupiah now lacks the credibility to make decisions that can be trusted because of his public commitment towards patronage, nepotism, added to which is his government’s determined attempt to legalise abuse of office.

It cannot be denied that the government by its very nature is a difficult undertaking. Indeed, it is an undertaking that requires those who run it to sometimes make decisions that will not please everyone. This is understood.

But it becomes scandalous, if a government chooses for its mode of operation, conduct that readily opens it to suspicion and accusations of corruption and other forms of abuse of power.

But this is exactly what Rupiah has done. It is next to impossible to find any government decision, of an economic nature, that can be said to have been done solely in the public interest.

There is always this or that interest being served. Rupiah seems to have fully adopted Frederick Chiluba’s criminal commandist grip over the economy, where everything was run from State House. This is what opened Chiluba to the problems that he has faced.

The presidency by its nature commands a lot of power and unless one is very disciplined, the path to its abuse and consequent self-destruction is astonishingly easy for a president given our current constitutional arrangement. There’s virtually no check on the powers of the president. He reigns supreme as long as he remains in office.

But the powers of the president can also be a force for good if they are exercised with public interest and public good as the guiding principle.

Such an approach would also have to accept the principle that the powers the president holds are held in trust for the people and not meant for his or her illicit benefit. A president who thinks that the powers he holds are for his benefit and his family and friends is destined for disgrace. And this is what we see with Rupiah.

The propensity to use government power for personal benefit is what has eroded the confidence of our people in the decisions of the government. This is why we said the words of Mineworkers Union of Zambia general secretary Munyenyembe require some reflection.

What Munyenyembe and the Mineworkers Union of Zambia are concerned about is something that should bother a government that works in the public interest. For a while now, the Mineworkers Union of Zambia have been expressing concerns about a number of issues which suggest that they are not convinced that their government is making decisions taking into account the consequences on the welfare of their members and future generations.

Rupiah and his friends appear prepared to settle for very little whilst giving away a lot to some so-called foreign investors. Investment is not a bad thing in itself. If anything, it is important. But investment that robs our people of their dignity and endangers their enjoyment of their heritage is destructive.

The decisions that are being made should take into account the feelings of our people. This is because these decisions are supposedly made on their behalf. It is our people who will have to live with the consequences of Rupiah’s decisions long after it is forgotten that Rupiah was president.

Rupiah does not appear concerned at all about the consequences of his decisions. Our people are traditionally very welcoming to foreigners but this should not be taken for granted. There’s an increasing feeling that some of the foreigners who are coming to invest in our country are insensitive to the feelings of our people and dismissive of the contributions that they make.

It is these things that make Mineworkers Union of Zambia and others concerned about the deals that Rupiah and his government are making with all sorts of investors that are going to impact on the mining sector. Investment that is going to increase tension and polarisation in our country, although lucrative, according to Rupiah, needs to be weighed and weighed very carefully.

We already have problems with Chinese investment in our country. Many of our people are concerned about the way that the government seems prepared to mortgage our economy to our Chinese friends.

There’s nothing wrong with Chinese investment per se. It is the government that seems to do very little to ensure that this type of investment works in the interests of our people, especially those that are employed in the sectors that the investment targets.

Rupiah and his friends need to do more to ensure those that are coming to invest realise that good relations with our people are as important as a return on their investment. Bad relations with our people do not only endanger their investment but also our nation. An unhappy labour force is not a good guarantee for people and tranquillity.

It is only a matter of time before things get out of hand. This is what Rupiah and his friends should bear in mind as they celebrate this or that investment. They must ask themselves: how does this affect our people?

It is wrong for Rupiah and his government to accuse the Mineworkers Union of Zambia of being used by the opposition when they express their concerns about the quality of investors that government is attracting to our country.

If Rupiah and his friends were interested in doing what is in the public interest, they would take the concerns raised by the labour unions and use them to negotiate proper investment packages that address the demands of the people.

But this is not how Rupiah and his friends behave when they negotiate on behalf of our country. Instead of fighting to get the best possible deals, the best possible agreements, they behave like regional managers for the so-called investors and do everything to ensure that the investors get everything they want.

They are not even prepared to argue for a comma in the agreements if it benefits our people. Rupiah’s behaviour is endangering our country’s future independence. His ignorance has deluded him into believing that he is in control when he is daily ceding our independence to forces that he has no control over.

This is why he can even go so far as to tell donors, who are trying to help our people, to go away. This man has no clue and no idea of what is happening in his own country.

Labels: LABOUR, LABOUR DAY, MUZ, NEOCOLONIALISM, OSWELL MUNYENYEMBE

posted by MrK @ 4:26 PM