Maravi

The opposition and their mercenary Amsterdam

The opposition and their mercenary Amsterdam
By The Post
Fri 08 June 2012, 13:25 CAT

IT requires little intelligence - if a little is all one has - to realise that there is something seriously wrong with the opposition, its political methods, strategies and tactics. What they cannot forgive is that what they never thought would happen happened. What they cannot forgive is that Michael Sata and the PF won last September's elections against all odds, and totally against their wishes.

They can't get over their defeat. Today they are looking stupid because of the false things they used to say. This is what happens when one starts to believe his own lies, his own propaganda. They used to claim that there is no way Michael would win that election. All of them believed that Michael wouldn't win. Those elections were not run or managed by Michael. They were administered by themselves. But still, Michael won.

They want to achieve what they failed to achieve through the ballot box by other means, by hiring mercenaries like Robert Amsterdam to scandalise, humiliate, undermine a genuinely and freely elected government of our country.

Who doesn't know who Amsterdam is? Amsterdam is a mercenary prying on the vulnerability of those who have stolen money from their people. Amsterdam is Henry Banda's lawyer today. Amsterdam doesn't work for poor people. He only serves those with deep pockets and in most cases, corrupt elements that have stolen money from their people. This is how Amsterdam makes his money.

And this is the man the so-called opposition of this country is courting. We say the so-called opposition because some of them are opposition just in name. What opposition does Sakwiba Sikota represent? What votes did he get in the last elections?

Who are the members of his party other than himself and his family? Who are his members of parliament or councillors? This is the man who abandoned his political party to campaign for Rupiah Banda and lost the election. Who is Godfrey Miyanda? How many members of parliament or councillors does he have? Can Godfrey really call himself an opposition leader?

Who is Godfrey leading? Simply having a registered organisation does not make one a political leader. How many votes did Charles Milupi collect in the last elections? Yes, he has one member of parliament in his home area - at least one can say he is better than Sakwiba and Godfrey, but not very much different.

What binds these elements together other than hatred for Michael? What do they stand for? If any one of them claims that they are against abuses, where did they stand with Rupiah's abuses? Hakainde Hichilema used to accuse Rupiah and his family of corruption but later on started working with him and today, they are bedfellows standing for the same things.

A man is known by the company he keeps. These are men who are today turning a blind eye to the corruption of their friend Rupiah and his family which in this case is another way of saying how 'honest' can an honest man be if he willfully turns a blind eye to the dishonesty of his associates.

What is it that is really today uniting these so-called opposition elements? Is it principles, ideas, values or standards? No. It can't be. Sakwiba and Hakainde were part of Rupiah's campaign. What has changed Hakainde's attitude towards Rupiah and the corruption of his league?

Regardless of Michael's limitations and the defects of his government, he is infinitely superior to Rupiah in terms of honesty and integrity. Being man like any other and, like any other human being, prone to error, Michael has made mistakes in some of his decisions and will continue to do so.

But there is a difference between the mistakes or errors of an honest person who wants to do good and those of a criminal who wants to rape the community. No one can today produce any evidence to show that Michael has been out to steal or abuse public resources. And we challenge the opposition to come up with any of such evidence.

If these opposition elements had any evidence of Michael doing anything wrong, they wouldn't sleep - the excitement would be too high for them to sleep. They are anxiously waiting for Michael to slip and do something silly, something wrong, something corrupt and they will rejoice endlessly. So far, Michael has conducted himself with sufficient honour and integrity as he is expected to do.

Of course, no Zambian would be asked to tolerate corruption from Michael. And because they can't find anything wrong that Michael has done, they have resorted to lies, malice and cheap propaganda, to hiring mercenaries like Amsterdam to compensate for their own inadequacies.

If this is the way these elements in the opposition think they will win the next elections, they are in for a rude awakening. The Zambian people are not fools and they can see through their lies. They can see through their envy. They are all choking with envy. Patriots don't do such things; patriots don't behave in that way.

Even under multi-party politics, a patriot would never look to defeat the political party in power on the back of national failure. For a patriot, there will always be sufficient grounds to get into government than to malign others and to destroy their country. We always give the example of Michael's commitment to the country when he was in the opposition.

When there was a strike at Zambia Revenue Authority, instead of cheering them on, encouraging them to cripple the country's economy, Michael went there and pleaded with the striking workers to get back to work, clearly spelling out the consequences of their continued strike on the welfare of the country and its people.

This is the type of opposition leadership that inspired many Zambians to vote for Michael and not the mercenary behaviour that we see today.

It is difficult for those who were close to Rupiah and those who are still working with him today as political allies to accept that other people are not like them, don't do the things they do or did with Rupiah.

And Amsterdam, the mercenary they are courting today, is not as credible as they want to make him. This is a fellow who was thrown out of Singapore for bad conduct and mischievous behaviour. This is a fellow who is representing Rupiah's son who is a fugitive. And this is one of the sons Hakainde used to say are corrupt.

This is what happens to people when values are lost and principles are traded on the altar of political expedience. What awaits these characters is a very bad ending. They will be very humiliated politically. And for their betrayal, they will one day be smeared with their own offals.

As for Michael and his government, there is need for continuous mass mobilisation to explain to the people what is going on and what these elements are up to. Matters like these need to be taken to the people and urgently and continually so.

Michael needs to get back on the road and explain the hyena, jackal or scoundrel behaviour of some of these elements. People need to know what is going on because these elements are peddling their lies with a lot of determination and recklessness.

They have no scruples when it comes to telling lies about their political opponents or people they don't like. Everything that has happened so far or is happening today needs to be explained to the people. Lies have to be always exposed.

No matter how hard falsehood may try to overwhelm it, truth always refuses to yield. Mercenaries don't deal with truth and don't fight for principles. And because of this, theirs is always a doomed cause. Amsterdam and his Zambian opposition clients are headed for disaster.

Labels: MICHAEL SATA, MMD, OPPOSITION, TREASON

posted by MrK @ 3:48 PM