Maravi

MMD and lawlessness

MMD and lawlessness
By The Post
Tue 29 Mar. 2011, 04:00 CAT

It seems in this country, MMD leaders and their cadres are above the law and can do anything they want.

The rule of law doesn’t seem to exist in the MMD’s world. To them, being a ruling party seems to be a blank cheque to do whatever they want to do, to act as they please. What we are saying is confirmed by the behaviour and actions of William Banda and his cadres in Lusaka. They have taken over the bus stations and are running the show. The Lusaka City Council is held hostage by William Banda and his cadres.

According to Lusaka City Council public relations manager, Chanda Makanta, the MMD is interfering with the local authority’s operations. William Banda and his cadres are heavily intruding in the operations of the Lusaka Intercity Bus Terminus which is under the Council’s control. They have literally taken over this bus terminus and are forcing bus operators and travellers to do as they direct. They are forcing them to wear MMD regalia. As Makanta has correctly observed, “it is not fair for MMD cadres to force people to wear party regalia”. What they are doing is illegal but no one is ready to enforce the law and stop them from committing crimes.

Lusaka Intercity Bus Terminus, or indeed any bus station or stop in Lusaka or any other part of our country does not belong to MMD. They are properties of the local authorities. And the local authorities, even where they are run by MMD councillors, are not owned by them. As for Lusaka, the MMD is not even in control of the city council. The MMD lost local government elections in Lusaka; they were not wanted by the people of Lusaka to run the affairs of their city. What William Banda and his cadres are doing amounts to a coup d’état. Is this why the government decided to dissolve Lusaka City Council so that they can take over its facilities and run them for the exclusive benefit of their party,

its leaders and cadres? This type of lawlessness should not be allowed to continue. What William Banda and his cadres are doing is criminal. They are stealing council funds and should be arrested and prosecuted. What is sad is that they are committing all these crimes in the name of the MMD, the ruling party. And because they belong to the ruling party, no law enforcement agency is ready to take them on for fear of reprisals from Rupiah Banda. But we shouldn’t forget that any group of people who have no respect for the law are like a pile of kindling; they will meet a fiery end. Every lawless act leaves an incurable wound, like one left by a double-edged sword.

The MMD leadership should restrain itself and its cadres from usurping the powers of councils and stealing council revenue at bus station. The MMD, as a ruling party, should set an example of good conduct and respect for public assets and revenue by arresting and prosecuting all those involved in interfering with the operations of the Lusaka City Council at the Intercity Bus Terminus. No crime should be committed in the name of the MMD. No one should be harassed in the name of the ruling party. We are no longer in the one party state where everyone was forced to tow the party line because the ruling party was supreme. We know that William Banda may be having serious difficulties discarding the one party state mentality. But he cannot continue to live in the past. Times have changed. The Zambian people rejected the one party state and its political methods because it was a recipe for tyranny. We are not living under the vanguard of the MMD. This is a multiparty state where there should be a thick line marking a distinction between the government and the ruling party. And lack of this distinction between the ruling party and the government will continue to create a climate of political intolerance and abuse that we are seeing in William Banda and his cadres today. Multiparty politics require a political life that is governed by ethics and morality, by tolerance, self-limitation and modesty. It is regrettable to note that our political arena is today full of injustice, double standards, hypocrisy, cheating and lies. Authentic multiparty politics are only possible in a state ruled by law, and on the basis of a correct conception of the human person. A real multiparty democracy has to be built on the basis of justice and moral values and has to look to the common good. Multiparty democracy is a demanding form of government, and neither our leaders nor our people seem to be naturally prepared for it. This calls for a long process of moral and civic education in order to understand and implement a real multiparty democracy.

We do appreciate the fact that there is no perfect form of human government. Abuses can take place in every system, but the fundamental value of multiparty democracy is to allow the participation of citizens in the government of their country.

And every citizen has the right to equal access to public services in their country. Those in the ruling party have no right whatsoever to monopolise public services. But it seems the leaders and cadres of the MMD have difficulties recognising and accepting this fact. They have monopolised the use of public institutions and the services they provide. Look at the way they have monopolised the use of the state-owned media they control at the exclusion of all others! Look at the way they are awarding government contracts and business to themselves at the exclusion of all others! Now it’s bus stations!

Clearly, multiparty politics require not only democratic structures but also the reign of democratic values in the hearts and minds of our politicians and their cadres. We must hold to some values and norms, some expectations and aspirations. This is the environment, the atmosphere that will make our multiparty democracy work.

The fundamental value we must have is a respect for diversity and acceptance of pluralism. Gone are the days when everyone was supposed to think the same way, belong to the same political party, and support the same programme and rattle the same slogans and wear the same party regalia. True believers in multiparty democracy recognise that there is a specific role to be played by each different political party in the spirit of unity amidst diversity. A real multiparty democracy has to be built on the basis of justice, moral values and the rule of law.

As for the MMD, we again urge them to realise the fact that the exercise of power must be the constant practice of self-limitation and modesty. They can’t go round doing as they please, committing crimes with impunity, abusing public resources as if they were in a world of their own, a world they don’t share with others. Let our councils manage the affairs of our cities and towns in an orderly, effective and efficient manner without undue interference from MMD leaders and their cadres.

Labels: CADRES, LCC, MMD

posted by MrK @ 4:42 PM