Maravi

Rupiah is a pretender

Rupiah is a pretender
By The Post
Tue 05 Oct. 2010, 04:00 CAT

A great leader is a leader who puts the interests of the people he or she leads before their own. A self-interested person can never be a great leader. Those who aspire to lead our people must understand what our people need and work to deliver on those needs. It is not possible to deliver to a people whose interests one is not prepared to defend.

It was interesting to listen to Rupiah Banda trying to politic amongst our Lenje brothers and sisters the other day. When he attended the Kulamba Kubwalo ceremony in Chibombo the other day, Rupiah tried very hard to show our people that he respects them and values their support. In his pretence, he even tried to praise Levy Mwanawasa, whom he referred to as a great leader.

In Rupiah’s mind, he thinks that the people cannot see through his hypocrisy and cheap politics. For him, it is enough to say a few sweet nothings to change what the people think about him. Who does not know that Rupiah does not respect the things that made Levy a good leader? Today, Rupiah has embraced all sorts of thieves, crooks and criminals in a stance that is clearly calculated to distance him from the fight against corruption that was championed by his late boss. Going to tell the people of Chibombo how much he respected Levy whilst undoing Levy’s legacy may look like a clever tactic to him but our people are not fools.

By embracing Frederick Chiluba, Rupiah has rubbished Levy’s dedicated fight against corruption. Who does not know that Rupiah, through the minions that surround him, has been running a propaganda war against Levy’s fight against corruption? That Rupiah has been waging this war is clear because some of his propaganda pieces have been published in the state-owned and government-controlled Times of Zambia. There is no way that these articles would be published if they went against what Rupiah wanted. Since he came to power, Rupiah has done everything possible to distance himself from the principled stances that Levy took on national issues. It is nonsensical for Rupiah to go to Chibombo and try to cheat our brothers and sisters that he wholeheartedly supports the legacy of Levy when the evidence on the ground is totally different.

But this is Rupiah’s style. This is what he did when he was campaigning in 2008. He cheated a lot of our people into believing that he was a mild mature old man whose only interest was to continue Levy’s legacy. Rupiah had a way of even pulling his face into a submissive posture which hoodwinked our people into believing that he was a very nice man. Some went so far as to suggest that he was a humble old man who should be allowed to finish Levy’s term. When we criticised him and told our people that he was a dangerous man who was likely to gravitate towards corruption and protecting the corrupt, many of our people thought we were going too far and were unfair to him. How could such a harmless-looking old man be all the things that we were suggesting? They assumed that we were wrong.

It would have been nice for the nation if we had been proven wrong. Indeed, this is one of those times when we wish we were wrong, but we were not. In the run-up to the presidential by-election, Rupiah managed to fool a lot of our people but today, the truth is there for all to see. The man who had managed to hoodwink our people into believing that he was a mild-mannered, mature old man has proved that he is everything but mild-mannered. Under his leadership, the government has become a tool for repression. The only people that survive or do well in anything significant are those who are prepared to be his minions and bootlickers. Rupiah does not allow dissenting views anywhere within his earshot. Those who dare to criticise him or give him advice that he does not like soon realise that Rupiah is nothing but a pretended mild-mannered old man.

Rupiah is as ruthless as he is uncaring. When our people say they don’t want something, they might as well be saying they want him to do the thing they are against. This is because Rupiah does not accept that he can be wrong and what our people are demanding is correct. In this way, Rupiah is single-mindedly determined to do what he wants, when he wants, how he wants with no regard to the views or sentiments of anybody else. This is why we have in the past said that Rupiah is probably the most reckless and irresponsible leader one could ever get. Even if you told him that there was a wall in front of him, he would not listen until he hits himself against it. This is the kind of leader we have. For Rupiah, it seems it is enough to string together a few good words.

What you do or do not do is immaterial. This is the only way one can understand his unashamed utterances on electoral violence in Chibombo. It appears to be a nice thing to say and, therefore, he said it. Rupiah wants our brothers and sisters in Chibombo to believe that he stands for unity and more importantly that he respects the legacy of Levy when that is not so. Although Rupiah could go to Chibombo and claim that he would fight for free and fair elections next year, this amounts to nothing. It is a mere gimmick meant to hoodwink our people. We say this because it is clear that the party of which Rupiah is acting head supports violence and foments it. Rupiah’s comments about not supporting violence is cheap campaign rhetoric which he does not mean.

We have not forgotten that Rupiah failed to categorically condemn violence that was being perpetrated against journalists from various media houses, including ourselves. To Rupiah, it was justifiable for their thugs to molest those that they thought were against Rupiah, journalists included. The only time that we recall Rupiah commenting on this issue, he gave a dilatory answer that amounted to nothing but endorsing violence against journalists. More recently, Rupiah has failed to clearly condemn the violence perpetrated by his party in the recent Mufumbwe by-election. Although all the evidence on the ground seemed to point to a State House involvement through William Banda, Rupiah has found it fitting to keep quiet and not condemn the violence of his party.

Notwithstanding the ridiculousness of his position, Rupiah was quick to blame everything on the opposition. And yet now his own party cadres have come out in the open and told the nation that they run a militia that can be used to silence the opponents and those they believe to be working against Rupiah. This revelation was made by well-placed MMD party functionary and yet Rupiah has kept quiet. He goes to Chibombo and tells the people that he is committed to ensuring that the elections next year are free and fair and yet his party is busy mobilising a militia whose stated aim is to molest those who criticise Rupiah or ‘insult’ him, as they like to say. How can a president keep quiet when such a serious declaration of intent and battle preparedness is made by his cadres? To this extent, we agree with the Mansa Catholic Diocese Vicar General Fr Mambwe Mpasa, who has said that mumbwe pakulila pali eko ashintile.

The transliteration for this saying is that a person like Chiko Chibale cannot make the threats he is making unless he knows that he is well backed up. In other words, Chiko Chibale, who arrogantly announced the existence of an MMD militia, knows that he will be protected by the President and his men, and nothing will happen to him. This is why Chibale can even dare the police by declaring that he sees nothing wrong with making threats on Mongu Catholic Diocese Bishop Paul Duffy. Our people will not be fooled by Rupiah’s empty talk.

His pretence is something they have come to understand. When he says he is committed to having free and fair elections, our people know that that is not something to be believed. If anything, they should expect the opposite. How can a person who harbours party militia be able to protect us from violence? Rupiah is not serious; he is nothing but a pretender.

Labels: CORRUPTION, KULAMBA CEREMONY, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 12:35 PM