Dora and her sex campaign

Dora and her sex campaign
By The Post
Sun 11 Sep. 2011, 14:00 CAT

The MMD has declared this country a Christian nation. This should mean that their participation in the political life of our country should be guided by the Gospel values. And as they campaign for re-election, they are bound to responsible behaviour and to respect the dignity of others. Politics need people with high credibility and integrity.

We ask our politicians and their supporters to respect themselves and to be exemplary in their daily lives. We make this request because our politicians cannot call others to virtues which they themselves do not make an effort to practice. Justice begins at home and our politicians themselves must be the first to give witness. They cannot preach justice to others if they do not practice justice themselves; they cannot preach responsibility to others if they themselves are not striving to behave in a responsible way; they cannot ask others to respect them when they themselves have no respect for others; they cannot expect decency from others when they themselves are not decent in their conduct towards others.

We know that politics is said to be a dirty game where everything filthy is found. This is not correct because politics is not a dirty game, or if it is dirty, it shouldn't be dirty. We say this because politics is not a dirty game but is a genuine way of being at the service of others for the integral development of our country.

Since ours is said to be a Christian nation with Christian politicians, the participation of Christians in political life should be guided by Gospel values of respect for human dignity, human rights, common good, decency, social justice, solidarity, integral development, special concern for the poor and non-violence in election campaigns.

The politics of a Christian nation should be different from those of nations that have not declared themselves Christian. The presence of Christians in the political arena should be expected to bring Gospel values to the political process; it should demand expression of Christian commitment of service to others as cardinal. Insulting political opponents, deriding them, telling lies about them for the sole purpose of despising them to win elections is contrary to Gospel values.

We are saying all these things in the light of the story we carried in our edition of yesterday concerning the way Dora Siliya has been campaigning in Petauke. We were tipped by some concerned citizens that Dora's campaign has gone wild, has gone out of control - she has lost it. She was saying things that a leader should not be saying in public or even in private. We accordingly dispatched a reporter who hails from Petauke and who has lived in that area for most of his life and is fluent with our Nsenga language. The reporter was instructed to record Dora's speeches or addresses and take photographs. We did not want to misquote her in any way; we wanted absolute accuracy in our reports of her campaigns. The first campaign meeting of Dora our reporter attended produced yesterday's story. It is sad reading. It lacks all decency. One wonders whether Dora was drunk or that is the way she is, that is her language. We expect our politicians, especially those who have offered themselves as candidates at any level of leadership, to be exemplary in their conduct. There is a certain minimum level of decency that is expected of any citizen offering himself or herself for political leadership. We know that Dora is a liar because she has lied about us. We also know that she is a liar because she has lied about people we know and events we witnessed. But there should be a limit to everything, especially for a leader at that level. We expect Dora to respect truth and her political opponents. People can belong to different political parties without being abusive to each other, without insulting each other, without telling lies about each other. We need leaders who are courageous in defending truth and justice for all; who are completely honest in fulfilling public and private responsibilities. Dora does not seem to match up to this. The things she said about Michael Sata at her campaign meeting should not be said by any self-respecting politician. Dora showed no respect for her audience, the people whose votes she is seeking. But what was most shocking, what has left many people dismayed and disheartened is her lack of respect for her ex-husband. Her ex-husband, whoever he may be, is a fellow human being who deserves her respect and compassion. If Dora can talk about bedroom matters of her and her ex-husband in that way, how can one expect her to respect the dignity of a poor ordinary citizen in Petauke? How can a sane person, especially one who is seeking public office, go to an election campaign meeting and say the things Dora said, tell the people that she divorced her husband because he was lazy in bed, he failed to perform but now wants her? She likened this to Sata who she said had failed to perform when he was in government and now wants to be back in government. Whoever the ex-husband of this woman is deserves respect. Whatever problems were there, sexual or otherwise, between them, are a private matter that should not be offloaded at an election campaign meeting. But this is Dora! This is her character! This is her calibre!

If Dora still has any bit of decency remaining in herself, she should immediately apologise to her ex-husband, to Sata and to the people of Petauke whose votes she is chasing. The gifts she is dishing out to them are not enough to atone for all this.

We know that Dora is not honest enough to admit her wrongs. She will try to accuse us of publishing lies about her. But we have a full recording of what she said. Anyway, liars will always find lies to tell about anything. We know some people find it strange to talk of "honest politics" since to them, politics is a dirty game. Such politicians disrespect the dignity, rights and freedoms of others. This does make politics a "dirty game", fit only for people like Dora! But politics should be honest and responsible because it is an effective way of serving others and working for the integral development of one's country. And election campaigns must be carried out within the limits of the moral order.

We can only say, you have seen for yourself, you have heard for yourself and you must vote wisely and only for people who are known for their integrity, honesty, respect for others and for themselves, dedication and concern for the welfare and dignity of all.