Maravi

Rupiah’s callousness is frightening

Rupiah’s callousness is frightening
By The Post
Tue 01 Feb. 2011, 04:00 CAT

Our people are known for their peacefulness and this is something that must be applauded, but it should never be taken for granted. This is something that Rupiah Banda and those that surround him should bear in mind as they go about doing the many shameless things that they are doing in the name of governing.

We say this because when one reviews the just over 24 months of Rupiah’s government, it is difficult to believe that so many things can go so wrong in such a short time. It is shocking that a person can be so consistently wedded to wrong things so that it is difficult to find anything sincere about his actions.

When Rupiah’s presidency is reviewed by students of history, one of the things that will no doubt stand out is his callousness.

Rupiah does not seem to blink when doing things that would make any other person in his position to stop and think.

His appetite for self-aggrandizement and dishing out patronage to his entourage seems to know no bounds.

In an election year, normal people would expect their politicians to be extra sensitive about public opinion because they will be seeking a vote from the same public.

For Rupiah, this is not an issue. Even within his own political party, the MMD, Rupiah has been pushing to have his will prevail regardless of the consequences.

Rupiah has been imposing unpopular elements, people who are not wanted by their colleagues, on the structures of the party in the recently concluded MMD provincial conventions.

Although Rupiah needs the grassroots of his party to campaign for him if he is to stand a better chance of winning this year’s elections, he does not care about their feelings and preferences.

This is the kind of person we are dealing with. A person who will push his personal and family enjoyment at the expense of national or collective priorities.

When one looks at Rupiah as President, there is no avoiding the question: if this person can behave so badly in two years and be so arrogant in a year when he’s seeking re-election, what will happen if he is given a five-year mandate and one in which he will not need any votes from anyone to complete it?

It is Rupiah’s callousness that gives the minions that surround him, like George Kunda, among others, the courage to continue destroying state institutions and working against national interests.

They know that their boss does not care.

As long as he is well supplied with drinks, can roast some meat when he wants and has the social company he desires and a well-serviced presidential jet to take him wherever he wants to have fun, they have no problems.

These characters have only one responsibility: keep Rupiah happy and all will flow their way.

This is why in an election year, they have the audacity to callously attack the chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia and hound her out in defence of crookedness within the electoral process.

If Rupiah was not callous and uncaring about public opinion, he would not have allowed his attack dogs to go for justice Florence Mumba the way they did.

But this callousness and insensitivity to the wishes and feelings of our people is a danger and great threat to our fledgling democracy and indeed to the peace and stability of our homeland.

Since Rupiah came to power, we have been scratching our heads to find one time – only one – when Rupiah ever sided with the progressive demands of our people on any issue that was being debated in the nation.

When have Rupiah and his minions ever tolerated any protest against themselves or any one of their puppets?

When have these characters ever listened when people have complained about a clear injustice?

Rupiah claims to be president in order to serve the people.

How can this be when he does not care about what these same people think or feel about the issues that affect them?

Today, Rupiah and some of his minions are busy cheating our people that they have brought this or that development.

But all one has to do is go down to our people who are supposed to be the beneficiary of that development to see the type of criminality that is going on.

We know that they have a great interest in infrastructure projects, but this interest has nothing to do with the welfare of our people; it has everything to do with their vanity, greed, selfishness and corrupt intentions.

This is why projects that should cost K1 billion are gobbling K100 billion. Everybody knows what is happening with the difference. But nobody seems to care.

When we raise these things and call things by their names, they claim that we are insulting them.

When they steal and we call them thieves, we are accused of being rude and insulting.

What else should we call people who are doing the kinds of things that we are seeing in our country today?

They would rather everybody joined the senseless choirs of their sycophants who sing praises about their achievements even when they themselves do not know where their next meal is going to come from.

To them, when we oppose what they are doing, they accuse us of preaching hatred and inciting the people to rise against their government.

They are talking as if this country were composed of children who can’t see things for themselves, who can’t analyse things for themselves, who can’t speak out for themselves without being told what to say and when to say it.

Their attitude simply shows their lack of respect for the people they lead. It is clear that they are leading a nation whose people they have no regard for and do not even understand.

The Zambian people are peaceful by nature and by choice, but they are not fools. Frederick Chiluba used to boast that if he wanted, he could rule this country forever.

Yes, he thought that way until his ill-conceived third term bid failed. This taught him that Zambians are not fools.

It is this same Chiluba that today Rupiah has befriended and turned into a political mentor.

Rupiah seems to have more loyalty towards Chiluba than he does to our people.

Defending the interests of Chiluba takes precedence over Rupiah’s obligations to the Zambian people.

And this will cost him.

We need to pay particular attention to what Col Panji Kaunda is saying on this question of taking our people for granted.

It seems that Rupiah and his minions think that our people have forgotten about Chiluba’s plunder for instance.

This is why they would like to facilitate the return of properties to Chiluba which the state legitimately seized because they were bought using stolen money.

Today, Chiluba, knowing that he has the full protection of Rupiah, is working tirelessly to deprive our people of the properties that he forfeited to the state.

A government that is prepared to pursue an honourable and decent citizen, justice Mumba, is not prepared to defend public property from the sticky fingers of their criminal friend Chiluba.

This is another example of Rupiah’s callousness. A decent person would feel ashamed about this naked abuse of power.

But Rupiah does not seem to find it difficult to use his office to protect thieves and wrongdoing whilst persecuting decent people like justice Mumba.

Our people have got legitimate questions about Chiluba’s wealth, but Rupiah is not interested.

People would like to know, as Col Panji asks, “…can they kindly tell us how a person of humble beginnings like former president Chiluba had within a space of 10 years when he served as president amassed so much wealth?”

These are legitimate issues that a politician who feels accountable to the people would have difficulties ignoring.

But Rupiah does not appear to be bothered at all. To him and his government, it is more important to stop justice Mumba from auditing the Electoral Commission than to stop Chiluba keeping stolen property.

What corrupt deal could justice Mumba and the commissioners who served with her get into with KPMG?

Are they telling us that the professional accountants running KPMG are crooks, corrupt elements who get business through paying kickbacks?

Anyway, who got a kickback from the audit contract that was being discussed at the Electoral Commission?

What government money moved to KPMG from which such kickbacks could have been paid to any commissioner?

When a government becomes insensitive to the cries and complaints of its people, it runs a risk of colliding with the wrath of the masses.

This is what happened in Tunisia. And this is what is starting to spread across North Africa.

Rupiah and his minions should never think that they can subjugate our people and feed them on a diet of injustice forever.

They can engage in all sorts or forms of manipulation, deceit and lies in an attempt to keep themselves in power and to enrich themselves.

They can do all sorts of things to circumvent the will of the people in elections.

But one day, these peace-loving people, these meek people, will say ‘Enough is enough’.

Labels: RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 7:02 PM