Maravi

Learning from MMD's shortcomings

Learning from MMD's shortcomings
By The Post
Sun 18 Mar. 2012, 12:00 CAT

AN old refrain says that humans are the only animal who stub their toe on the same stone twice. It is true that there are lessons all of us have learnt from the 20 years of MMD rule. And as Wynter Kabimba, the secretary general of the ruling PF observes, the shortcomings of the MMD must serve as a lesson for the PF government.

They have learnt something from the MMD's mistakes. There are mistakes they won't make again; others may be repeated, and they may make new ones. But it gives us hope listening to Wynter acknowledging that the shortcomings of the MMD must serve as a lesson for the PF government.

It is true that we should learn from mistakes, but who hasn't made mistakes - over and over again? If we have shortcomings, we should not be afraid to have them pointed out and criticised. Anyone, no matter who, may point out our shortcomings. If they are right, we should correct the mistakes. If what is being proposed will benefit the people, we should act upon it.

Taught by mistakes and setbacks, we should become wiser and handle the affairs of our country better. It is hard for any political party, or any government, to avoid mistakes, but we should make as few as possible. Once a mistake is made, it should be corrected, and the more quickly and thoroughly, the better.
Rupiah Banda and his colleagues paid very little attention, if not none, to correcting mistakes. They never listened to criticism.

In a very short time of three years, they made more mistakes than a political party that has been in power for more than two decades. Public life is about service; it is about listening to people; it is about engaging the people and building consensus with them and among them. Rupiah and his colleagues never listened. We can today see the same trend emerging where those in power are not listening much to the voices of others.

If this trend continues, the PF government is likely to end up the same way as the successive MMD government ended. There are two things that lead to this situation or attitude. The first one is a deliberate decision not to listen to anyone because one has decided, consciously, to do that which he knows to be wrong.

If one is engaging in corruption and sees it as the only way to get what he wants and he is determined to get what he wants at any cost, he will not listen to anyone. The second thing that leads to this is a know-it-all attitude where people start to think they are the only thinkers, they are the only owners of the absolute truth.

But we know from the history of our country and that of other nations that there cannot be a single genius; there can only be a collective genius. Where those in power think they know-it-all, the ending is tyrannical. And we know what happens when tyranny sets in. Tyranny knows no restraint.

When we urge those in power to listen to others, we are not in any way suggesting that they should only do that which they are told by others. No. We don't mean that. What we are saying is that let the views of others educate and inform them, but let their decisions be a product of their own conclusions based on what they have learnt from others.

We have seen some elements of arrogance over the last few months of the PF government. We hope this attitude will not continue. And in this regard, we are comforted by Wynter's declaration that the shortcomings of the MMD will serve as a lesson to the PF government.

Our hopes have also been raised by what Wynter is saying: "Public life is about service of the majority of the people, not your cronies or those that worship you…we will not stop doing the right thing just because we ourselves may fall into the temptation of doing wrong things. Banda was doing wrong things with his team.

We can't use that to justify our desire to pursue the wrong things that Banda and former colleagues did when they were in office for fear that we may fall in similar things and others will pursue us in future." As we have pointed out before, the PF government and leadership is setting standards that are very good for the governance of the country.

But whether they will live up to these standards or not is another issue. The most important thing for now is that there are these standards which they are setting on their own. It is a known fact - an undisputed one - that the individual does best in a strong and decent community of people with principles and standards and common aims and values.

These provide a basis for judging the performance of those we have elected to lead us. They also provide protection for us as citizens from the selfishness or greed that may impair the capacity of our leaders to act in our best interests. We cannot protect the ordinary citizen of this country against the abuse of power by leaving them to it: we must protect each other.

There is also an urgent need for us as a nation to strengthen principles and encourage principled politics. We should make our political leaders realise that there is no choice between being principled and unelectable; and electable and unprincipled.

Our politicians should win elections because of what they are known to believe in and not because they were great at despising their opponents. They should win because they are understood better by the electorate, are supported and trusted by the Zambian people.

This is not the first time we are hearing these principles being propounded by the leadership of PF. A few weeks ago, Given Lubinda, a key leader of the PF and our country's Minister of Foreign Affairs, propounded a similar line and we wrote an editorial comment agreeing with him and praising his principled position.

This position of the PF needs to be understood by all because it is the best explanation and defence of what the PF is doing. They are defending certain principles that are of tremendous value at a time of confusion and opportunism in the politics of our country, a time when many politicians are doing nothing else but feathering their own nests.

But human beings should never draw away from the honest goals they seek and let themselves be influenced by selfishness, greed and vanity. We say this because we realise that humans tend to make a fool of themselves if they think too much about how much wealth or power they should amass or wield.

If you have a true measure of the power of people as individuals, you will realise that it's so fragile and such a small thing that it really doesn't make sense to magnify the importance or role of any individual no matter how intelligent, brilliant or able they may be. There have been many able, intelligent and meritorious people in the course of the history of our country.

With Wynter's appreciation of what is at stake, we hope the PF government will be able to foresee the dangers of not being principled, of selfishness, greed and vanity. Rupiah and his colleagues made enormous mistakes by failing to foresee the consequences of what they were doing and by not doing the right thing to reach the goals and purposes they proclaimed - which of course, most them were necessary and legitimate.

It is very easy for Michael Sata and his PF government to fall into the same trap, same weakness and end up the same way. And this is why we consistently advise and warn that the exercise of power must be the constant practice of self-limitation and modesty. This is so because if you are honest, truly honest, you won't be corrupted.

If you are unassuming and have a clear understanding of the worth of people and of yourself, you won't be corrupted the way Frederick Chiluba and his colleagues, Rupiah and his friends were corrupted. But here, there is a need for eternal vigilance.

Labels: MICHAEL SATA, MMD, PF, RUPIAH BANDA, WYNTER KABIMBA

posted by MrK @ 7:12 PM