Maravi

Abuse of public resources in MMD campaigns

Abuse of public resources in MMD campaigns
By The Post
Wed 13 July 2011, 12:00 CAT

There is need for Rupiah Banda and the MMD to conduct themselves in a manner that does not put other political players at an unfair disadvantage. Rupiah and his colleagues are abusing their offices and public resources to secure for themselves another term of office.

It cannot be denied that Rupiah’s ministers and MMD leaders are using government offices and resources to campaign for re-election. How can Rupiah explain his use of public resources to go round the country campaigning when he has not even declared the election date and dissolved Parliament?

Rupiah cannot claim to be doing government business clad in his MMD campaign regalia. And so are his ministers. They are all going round dressed in MMD election regalia and campaigning, claiming they are doing government business.

Is campaigning for re-election doing government business? The Zambian taxpayer is paying for all this – the fuel, wear and tear to the government automobiles they are using, allowances and accommodation for themselves, their drivers and other government and MMD officials they are travelling with.

This week, some senior MMD functionaries are with George Kunda in Eastern Province. Who is paying for their travel and accommodation there? It is the government. But are these MMD functionaries government officials? The answer is a categorical no.

In the light of all this, we make a special appeal to the government and the MMD to realise that they have a serious responsibility.

As facilitators of this year’s elections, they should ensure that there is fairness and justice and transparency in the conduct of elections. Elections in which they themselves are using government resources when their competitors have no access to such resources cannot be said to be free and fair.

And moreover, it is illegal, it is corruption for them to use public offices and resources for their campaigns the way they are using them. There is need for ethics in our politics.

In politics, we must realise that there is a realm in which good and bad exist. And political ethics deal with how to act in a political realm that has evil in it, but also provides us the opportunity to do good for others.

And three actors play a role in the political realm: the candidates, the political leaders and the common citizen. Each has a responsibility to maintain high ethics. One can cross the ethical boundary by deceiving any of the other two actors in the realm. The average citizen gets deceived more often than not.

As citizens, we have a responsibility to ensure that our politicians, as our representatives, act in our best interest, and not in theirs. Right now, we are allowing our politicians to act in their own interest against our own.

Those in government are leaving their public duties, for which they are well rewarded, to go and campaign. They are not on leave – they are simply absconding from work while the taxpayer continues to pay them. They are using public resources in their personal political campaigns. And we know it; we see them do so riding in government motor vehicles. But we do nothing.

We are allowing impunity. We all know it’s wrong for them to do so but we are not doing anything about it. As Vaclav Havel once observed, “let us not be mistaken: the best government in the world, the best parliament and the best president, cannot achieve much on their own.

And it would also be wrong to expect a general remedy from them only. Freedom and democracy include participation and therefore responsibility from us all”. We are allowing our political representatives to abuse us and our resources and we should take the blame, as citizens, for these abuses.

There is no way cabinet ministers, who are paid from the national treasury, can behave in total disregard of their obligations to the people and go out and spend all their time on re-election campaigns at the expense of the jobs they are paid to do.

The politics of ‘now’ seems to be the quest for power. Our people can do something. They have more control than they know. This is supposed to be a self-governed government in which all the people participate.

If you are not an ethical citizen, how can you expect the politicians in government, the candidates you vote for to maintain their ethics? Ralph Nader once said, “There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship.”

Citizens need to keep their officials in line. If they do something wrong or unethical, stop them from doing it. If they come to campaign in your area in government motor vehicles, stop them from doing so by impounding such automobiles. If they are using public time to campaign, don’t attend their meetings. Citizens need to keep their officials in line. Know your leaders.

Tell them what you expect. Get involved in the democratic system and stay involved. Harry Truman said, “Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with reason and justice.”

Do not let power become more mistreated. We the people need a charge for political excellence. We deserve it, we owe it to our children, and we owe it to democracy as a whole. The youth of today need ethics taught to them.

The rising sun of democracy is the youth of today. Their ethics must be strong and able to hold steadfast to that which is good. Our government should be one built by the people, for the people.

If people are not active in the political arena, the government becomes bad, it crumbles. All responsible citizens, we say to you, the time is now to reclaim what began as a good system of government but has now turned bad due to corruption, abuse and lack of respect for the citizen and the common good.

Political ethics must be a prevailing level of quality, value and achievement that is demanded. It’s time for a new beginning. It’s time for real leadership. No dream is beyond our reach. Together we can make our government and our country good. We need leadership that leads by example.

And it is said that the highest proof of virtue is to possess boundless power without abusing it. It is said that it is not hard for one to do a bit of good. What is hard is to do good all one’s life and never do anything bad, to act consistently in the interest of the broad masses, the young people and the nation.

We know what is bad. Corruption by political office holders is bad. Lying by political office holders is bad. Violence by political office holders is bad.

We also know what is good. Debating political issues with others with whom we disagree is good. Deciding collectively how to use our limited resources as a nation is good. Making positive changes to help others in our community is good.
Changing things in our country needs to start with ethics in our politics.

Our political ethics are not where they should be. Too often, our politicians are not being punished for their wrongdoings. We have to change the tone and refuse to accept that which is ethically wrong.

Let us stop the abuse of government time and resources by our politicians in government in their personal and party election campaigns. If Rupiah wants his ministers to go all out and campaign, let him dissolve Parliament and Cabinet so that everyone who wants to campaign has the time to do so.

And government resources should not be employed or deployed in ruling party election campaigns. It is not only unfair to do so; it is also illegal.

And those who are abusing public resources in their campaigns should be prosecuted for doing so if there is a change of government. We say this because they know very well that what they are doing is against the law.

Labels: CORRUPTION, MEDIA, MMD, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 6:48 PM