Maravi

‘MMD is on a clear path to abusing national resources’

‘MMD is on a clear path to abusing national resources’
By The Post
Wed 09 Mar. 2011, 04:00 CAT

Our state needs dipping because it’s infested with so many parasites sucking its blood. There are all sorts of characters calling themselves businessmen when in fact they are nothing but crooks stealing from the state in all sorts of ways.

Many of these characters do nothing other than chasing government contracts. What we have in this country today is not entrepreneurship but tenderpreneurship, as the South Africans call it.

Public resources are being stolen through the so-called government tenders or contracts. Here there is a network of well-connected people who share government business.

But to be connected, you have to start by being a member of the ruling MMD and be seen to be supportive of the characters that control it at each particular stage or moment.

Today, one has to be seen to be supportive of Rupiah Banda and his family to get government contracts.

Second, one has to be seen to be making financial contributions to the MMD activities.

Look at the type of people who contribute to the MMD’s fund-raising activities and ask yourself: why are they making such contributions?

The only discernible reason is to secure contracts and public sector jobs if they are in employment. You ask yourself: why should a parastatal chief executive be attending an MMD card renewal exercise and pledging millions of kwacha to it?

Why should a Lebanese, Greek, Indian or European businessman who is not a citizen of this country be attending an MMD card renewal exercise and make pledges to contribute to its finances?

We don’t see these characters at similar activities organised by the opposition.

The simple reason for this is they are patronising those who control government resources so that they have easy access to them. There is no sensible reason other than that.

And looking at the boards of parastatals and other quasi-government institutions, they in the main comprise characters who are well connected to the appointing authorities.

These are not independent boards; they are boards dominated by compromised characters who are ready to pass any decision or resolution that the appointing authorities want.

There may be a few independent and decent characters here and there; but they count for nothing and sometimes they don’t even know what is going on because board meetings are called not to meaningfully discuss anything but to simply rubber-stamp what has already been decided.

The same happens in our government ministries and departments.

Even the Zambia Public Procurement Authority is nothing but a rubber-stamping board comprising characters chosen precisely for their closeness and user-friendliness to the appointing authority.

In some cases, these characters are nothing but relatives, friends or tribesmen of the appointing authorities.

And because of this, anything they want is done; their wish is the command to these characters.

This is why the nonsense that is going on at NAPSA of misappropriating, misapplying and misusing pensioners’ funds is allowed to go on.

Look at the composition of the key management and board of NAPSA and ask yourself what these characters and the appointing authorities have in common.

It is either they are tribesmen, personal friends or associates of one form or another of the appointing authorities.

And since all of them survive through the same characters being able to hold and control state power, everything possible is done to ensure that those in power, those who have appointed them, are re-elected.

And for this purpose, the resources of their institutions are misappropriated, misapplied and misused through all sorts of schemes to keep the appointing authorities in power.

There is no doubt that NAPSA funds are being used to keep Rupiah and his friends in power.

The deals going on at NAPSA don’t require much financial or business knowledge for one to see that there is something seriously wrong with the way pensioners’ money is being used.

It’s very clear that part of this money ends up being used to keep the appointing authorities’ hold on power intact through contracts to their agents who pass part of that loot.

This is what is happening at NAPSA and other government-controlled institutions.

In some cases, this is done in the most shameless of ways.

Look at the way the state media, that is the Times of Zambia, the Zambia Daily Mail and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, are being abused by a small clique in control of the MMD and government!

If one was a visitor to Zambia and not told who owns these institutions, they would think the MMD or Rupiah own these media institutions.

They have personalised them as their own as if Rupiah, the MMD and its government have become the state.

And we have seen that the enjoyment of the freedom of thought and expression in this country requires creating a thick line marking a distinction between the government and the ruling MMD.

Lack of this distinction between the MMD and the government creates a climate of political intolerance, leading to the restriction of freedom of thought and expression.

Today, these media institutions serve nobody else other than Rupiah and those who support him.

The only time one can be meaningfully covered by these media organisations is when one is supporting Rupiah or is denouncing the opposition or a dominant part of it.

And the only time the opposition gets prominent coverage is when it is being denounced, belittled or demeaned.

Those who work for these institutions can never dare give fair and objective coverage to the opponents of those in power and retain their jobs.

This is how far they can shamelessly go in abusing state institutions and resources to keep themselves in power.

And let’s not forget that this is not power for the sake of power. It is power for self-enrichment and enrichment of the cronies of those who hold it.

Look at how quickly Rupiah, his sons, relatives and friends have become prosperous since his becoming President in 2008!

People who were running away from bailiffs a few months ago are today boasting of owning this and that, are swimming in money. How is this possible?

They are in charge of government resources, they control government business and they are helping themselves to it.

And because of this, they will do anything possible to keep that power to themselves and continue to enjoy public funds.

And Partner Siabutuba, Civil Society for Poverty Reduction board chairperson, is right in his conclusion that the MMD is on a clear path of abusing national resources.

And Siabutuba says if not checked: “We are predicting massive looting of public resources ahead of these elections…we foresee a situation where the MMD will multiply theft of funds to woo support at the expense of the poor as we have already seen in Mporokoso where the MMD is dishing out money in the name of women empowerment.

So you can imagine how much resources will be abused, even the money that is being earmarked for projects will just land in the hands of MMD without enhancing or improving the lives of people.”

This is certainly not the type of political leadership the Zambian people deserve given the magnitude of their problems. What we need is authority that is exercised legitimately.

And authority is exercised legitimately if it is committed to the common good of society.

Leaders should work for the welfare of all the people and not just to enrich themselves, their families and friends.

Their focus should not be on simply entrenching themselves in power. Let those who rule do so with care (Romans 12:8).

Labels: CORRUPTION, MMD

posted by MrK @ 2:35 PM