Listen to people’s demands, lecturer advises MMD
By Roy Habaalu
Mon 28 Feb. 2011, 04:00 CAT
THE MMD have no choice but to pay attention to people’s demands for them to remain in power, says a university lecturer.
In an interview, Phineas Bbaala, a lecturer at University of Zambia, said anything short of addressing people’s political, social and economic demands, the party would be shortening its stay in power.
“Holding all factors equal, the length of service of a ruling political party should be determined by the people. Citizens will decide whether or not the party should stay in power depending on its performance. If MMD intends to remain in power, they’ve no choice but to pay attention to the demands of the people,” Bbaala said.
He said the worst period for the MMD was during Frederick Chiluba’s regime between 1996 and 2001.
“Chiluba’s second term of office was like a curse to the people of Zambia and was the worst period Zambia experienced in its political history. The best period was between 2002 and 2008 under Levy Mwanawasa’s regime,” he said.
He said those in government had an opportunity to deliver and make history for themselves.
Bbaala said the government had failed to benchmark some of its actions to the best of its political, social and economic practices of 2002 to 2008.
He said Zambians seemed to be happy with most achievements made between 2002 and 2008.
Bbaala said the greatest leaders the world had ever had were those who listened to the demands of their citizens.
“It’s easy to remain in power provided you listen to what people are saying. Government should have a barometer to sense demands of its citizens. There should be a mechanism for aggregating those demands into finished goods and services,” said Bbaala.
Labels: MMD, PHINEAS BBAALA
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‘Campaigning on tribal lines retrogressive’
By Karen Chibonga
Mon 24 Jan. 2011, 03:59 CAT
CAMPAIGNING on tribal lines is retrogressive and divisive to the country, according to a political analyst. Phineas Bbaala, a lecturer of political science at the University of Zambia (UNZA), said it was the duty of political leaders to ensure that Zambians remained united.
He said the current ethnic problems being experienced in the country were as a result of some political parties campaigning on tribal lines. Bbaala said in a democratic country, political parties were likely to gain popularity if they accommodated all groups of people.
He said it was autocratic for an aspiring candidate to be asked to withdraw from elections because he did not originate from a particular part of the country.
“In a democratic government people should be free to contest for any elections as long as they are Zambians,” Bbaala said.
He said as the country goes to the polls this year, political parties must come up with a deliberate agenda, which would unite all Zambians.
Bbaala appealed to the electorate not to cast their votes for any party that would engage in tribal campaigns.
Labels: PHINEAS BBAALA, TRIBALISM
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We get the government we deserve
By The Post
Thu 13 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT
Phineas Bbala, a lecturer in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at the University of Zambia, says “democracy has been elusive to the Zambian people during the MMD’s rule”. This is true. But why?
The political and economic interests of the Zambian nation are too complex and by far larger than the similar interests of MMD leaders, members, cadres and the few hundreds of thousands of Zambians who vote for them.
Failure to realise this constitutes part of the explanation why the MMD’s performance has been seen by some citizens to be unsatisfactory in that the ruling party has sought to restrict rather than broaden democracy.
It is one thing to have democracy, theoretically, in the Constitution; its practical implementation is quite another.
It may happen that the system of government is controlled and manipulated by a reduced group of top politicians who are not interested in the common good but their own enrichment and prestige, but who always claim to act in the name of the people. In this case, what exists is totalitarian democracy in which there is no real participation and the opposition is frustrated in all sorts of ways from taking an active part in the political life of the country.
The formation of narrow ruling groups which usurp the power of the state for individual interests cannot be tolerated.
It must also be restated that no social group, for example a political party, has the right to usurp the role of the sole leader, since this brings about the destruction of the true subjectivity of society and of the individual citizens as happens in every form of totalitarianism.
In this situation, the individual and the people become objects in spite of verbal assurances, and declarations to the contrary.
When we were moving away from the one party state to the multiparty dispensation in 1991, we were full of hope that we were doing away with dictatorship and tyranny forever.
But what we didn’t seem to realise was the fact that although multipartism can indeed favour democracy, it cannot always guarantee it. Democracy, like any other human institution, is vulnerable and fragile.
Authentic democracy is possible only in a state ruled by law, and on the basis of a correct conception of the human person.
And accordingly, Bbala is right when he says that “people should not expect strong democracy in a country where there is a weak judiciary”.
This is so because you cannot have a state that is ruled by law where there is a weak judiciary, a judiciary that is open to manipulation by those in power and those in command of immense financial resources. We are seeing it here so repeatedly.
Those in power get what they want from our weak judiciary. And those with very deep pockets get things their way when they are not directly in conflict with the powerful political forces in government.
This is not a recipe for the rule of law.
A fundamental condition for the establishment of democracy is, therefore, the recognition of the rights of the people and social groups, be it children or adults, men or women, rich or poor, in power or not in power, without any social discrimination.
A real democracy has to be built on the basis of justice and moral values and have to look to the common good.
This common good is not simply the addition of individual, particular interest; rather it involves an assessment and integration of those interests on the basis of a balanced hierarchy of values; ultimately it demands a correct understanding of the dignity and rights of the person.
Clearly, democracy is a demanding form of government; and neither our leaders nor our common citizens are naturally prepared for it.
A long process of moral and civic education is required in order to understand and to implement a real participatory democracy.
Zambia has been on the road to democracy since its independence.
What is important, however, is to have a right understanding of what democracy is and what it requires in order to have a just and participatory form of government.
There is no perfect form of human government.
Abuses can take place in every system, but the fundamental value of democracy is to allow participation of citizens in the government of their country.
In this regard, democracy as a system of government is consonant with human rights and the respect of human dignity and freedom.
In fact, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is explicit in affirming the value of political participation: “Everyone has the right to take part in the government of one’s own country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in one’s country. The will of the people shall be the basis of authority of government; this shall be expressed in periodical and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 21).
The right to political participation is equally enhanced by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ rights approved by the member states of the Organisation of the African Unity, now the African Union, in their meeting of June 1981 in Nairobi.
In any true democracy, more is needed than political institutions and practices such as voting and representation in parliament.
We must hold on to some values and norms, some expectations and aspirations.
This is the environment, the atmosphere, that makes democracy work.
This is the so-called political culture which we feel is so necessary in Zambia today if our multi-party democracy is to succeed.
The fundamental value we must have is a respect for diversity and acceptance of pluralism.
Gone are the days when everyone was supposed to think the same way, belong to the same political party, and support the same programme.
True believers in multi-party democracy welcome dialogue and debate over views contrary to their own because they realise that they themselves may not always be right.
They recognise that there is a specific role to be played by each different organisation in a spirit of unity amidst diversity.
This value of respect of diversity and dialogue mean a realisation that political parties are important but that they are not the only actors in democracy. Democracy rests on human rights.
These rights are not endowments of our government but the gifts of our Creator, and are enshrined in the Constitution of our country.
Clearly, the democratic form of government, like all human institutions, is full of shortcomings, but it is the form that suits the human person best, as an intelligent and free being and co-operator with God in the building of this future.
A fundamental element of democracy in any society is the space given to freely choose leaders in a free and fair election.
It is through this that other freedoms follow, such as holding our leaders accountable and replacing them through peaceful means.
Authentic democracy promotes the common good of all.
And what our people are seeking is genuine democracy in which the leaders are servants of the electorate and not masters.
With all that has happened since our return to multipartism in 1991, it is crystal clear that multi-party democracy itself guarantees us nothing. It offers instead the opportunity to succeed as well as the risk of failure.
It is then both a promise and a challenge. It is a promise that as free human beings, working together, we can govern ourselves in a manner that will serve our aspirations for personal freedom, economic opportunity and social justice.
It is a challenge because its success rests upon our shoulders as citizens of this country and no one else.
Josef Brodsky, Russian-born poet and Nobel Prize winner, once wrote, “A free man, when he fails, blames nobody.”
It is true as well for us as citizens of our country who, finally, must take the responsibility for the fate of the society in which we ourselves have chosen to live. In the end, we get the government we deserve.
Labels: DEMOCRACY, PHINEAS BBAALA
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MMD has contributed to the decline of democracy - Bbala
By Roy Habaalu
Thu 13 Jan. 2011, 04:01 CAT
DEMOCRACY has been elusive to the Zambian people during the MMD’s rule, says a UNZA lecturer. In an interview yesterday, Phineas Bbala, a lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in the department of political and administrative studies, said what was happening in Zambia was a bad replica of real democracy.
Bbala said the MMD had contributed to the decline of democracy because anyone with divergent views was its enemy. He said people should not expect strong democracy in a country where there was a weak judiciary.
“The ruling party has remained predatory and everyone else has been reduced to a prey,” he said.
Bbala said if people didn’t support the MMD, they risked losing all they worked for, including jobs. He said some people wanted to short circuit the acquisition of wealth and livelihood by clinging to the MMD.
Bbala said the kind of democracy obtaining at the moment was that of window dressing where the MMD wanted to show the outside world that they were upholding it. He said most political players and institutions of governance had not internalised democracy.
Bbala said the current conflicts in the recent MMD provincial conferences were as a result of people fighting for resources and being close to the President and ministers. He said most of the defections from the opposition to the ruling party were as a result of the desire to acquire wealth, which had caused instability in the party.
Bbala said as the elections drew near, more people would defect to the MMD in search of a livelihood because of the high poverty levels and political immorality.
“There are poor people who still uphold their integrity and promote democracy and political views of our country,” he said.
Bbala said Zambia’s democracy in the last 20 years of MMD’s rule had not been different from the one party state.
“That’s how exactly UNIP used to operate. If you don’t support them you lose your house. But when you join them, all is well.” said Bbala.
Labels: DEMOCRACY, MMD, PHINEAS BBAALA
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Formation of new political party doesn’t make sense, UNZA lecturer
By Namatama Mundia
Sat 06 Mar. 2010, 03:10 CAT
IT does not make any political sense to form another political party at this point in time, University of Zambia political and administrative studies lecturer Phineas Bbaala has said.
Commenting on the newly-founded National Restoration Party (NAREP) yesterday, Bbaala said forming a political party at this time did not make sense but that the new party should have studied the ideologies of already-existing parties to see where they fit in.
“The problem is we don’t have serious ideological divide between and among political players because if we had a clear ideological divide, it could have been clear for a person who wants to start a new political party,” he said.
Bbaala said the founders of NAREP should have studied the positives of existing ideologies before forming a new party.
“If those parties don’t represent your ideologies, that’s the only time you can form a political party,” he said.
Bbaala however, said Zambians should not expect any surprises from NAREP.
He added that if NAREP’s aim was to form government next year, then they have not done a right thing.
“And they NAREP will not go anywhere if they have been sponsored by another political party because the sponsor will not want a new party to become popular than them,” Bbaala said.
He added that NAREP was not going anywhere when the pendulum was between the PF-UPND pact and the MMD.
“I don’t think there is another political party or group that can perform better than the MMD and the PF-UPND pact, those colleagues should have studied the manifestos of MMD, PF or UPND and they could have found where they fit in,” he said.
Bbaala advised the NAREP founders to dissolve the party and join any of the existing parties.
Bbaala said he does not see NAREP winning any election and that they are just wasting their resources, time and energy.
“I don’t think they have resources, time and energy to go for campaigns and trail their political manifestos. The mood in the country is on MMD, PF and UPND and no other party can get that support,” said Bbaala.
Labels: PARTIES, PHINEAS BBAALA, POLITICS, UNZA
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There’s no sanity in current politics, says UNZA lecturer
By Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Tue 02 Mar. 2010, 03:40 CAT
UNIVERSITY of Zambia’s political and administrative studies lecturer Phineas Bbaala has observed that politicians, especially those in government are paying more attention to issues of political survival at the expense of solving problems facing the country.
And Bbaala has charged that there is no sanity in the current Zambian political scenario. He noted that the current political situation was unstable and of concern. Bbaala said a first-time visitor to Zambia would think that elections would be held next month when there was a year to go before they could be held.
He reminded those in the government that they still had a mandate to fight poverty and that the kind of political situation currently obtaining should only be created towards elections.
“I want to appeal to the government through the President (Rupiah Banda) to help de-politicise the country a bit so that his ministers, deputy ministers and all government officials concentrate on issues of development,” he said.
“Engaging into political campaigns is premature and denies the country an opportunity to concentrate on development.”
Bbaala said the current political environment had no sanity because the political regime was not working as an infrastructure that would enable the country to achieve its social and economic objectives.
He observed that a political environment that had sanity was used for resolving human problems and that that was not happening in Zambia’s case.
“At the moment, I don’t think that is happening. These days if you’re not partisan, it seems you cannot get anything from this government. No roads or hospitals will be done in your area and if you are qualified, you cannot get a job unless you are partisan,” said Bbaala.
“The government political regime is not working to embrace citizens of diverse social and political standing but rather it is working in segregation. Public goods are being accessed according to one’s political affiliation. Where there is sanity, social goods should be provided regardless of the actual or perceived political affiliation.”
Labels: PHINEAS BBAALA, UNZA
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UNZA don codemns NCC's stance on PSs
Written by Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
IT is totally irresponsible for the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) to aspire to have politically inclined permanent secretaries, a University of Zambia lecturer has charged.
Commenting on the NCC's rejection of a clause in the Mung'omba draft constitution that calls for the appointment of career permanent secretaries, Phineas Bbaala, a lecturer in the department of political and administrative studies said it would be dangerous for the country to have a politically inclined public service.
He noted that the trend in most progressive countries was that permanent secretaries were professional people.
"It is important to make laws that will ensure the neutrality of the public service. There is a connection between the neutrality of the public service and continuity of the public service," said Bbaala.
"Continuity of the public service depends on political neutrality and if civil servants are appointed on political lines, you will find that each time there is a new party in power, top civil servants will be losing their jobs."
Bbaala observed that although it may be argued that even in advanced countries such as the United States a number of top civil servants lost jobs when there was a new government in place, this was not good for a small country like Zambia.
He said for development to be realized, permanent secretaries were required to guide politicians in ensuring that there was continuity in the implementation of development programmes.
Bbaala said failure to maintain continuity in the civil service would cause serious disruptions in implementing development programmes.
Last week, the NCC rejected a clause in the Mung'omba draft constitution that calls for the appointment of career permanent secretaries and subject them to ratification by the National Assembly.
After a heated debate, members that were against the clause argued that the President should be allowed to appoint people whom he wanted to work with.
Labels: CONSTITUTION, NCC, PERMANENT SECRETARIES, PHINEAS BBAALA
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