Rupiah fires Chanda, Kambikambi
Written by George Chellah
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:34:52 AM
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has instructed Vice-President George Kunda to terminate the membership of African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) National Governing Council chairperson Tamala Kambikambi and spokesperson Amos Chanda over their uncompromising stance on Post news editor Chansa Kabwela's case. Kabwela is facing a charge of circulating two obscene pictures with a view to corrupt public morals, contrary to the laws of Zambia.
The termination of the duo's membership from the APRM National Governing Council follows Kambikambi's apology to The Post in her capacity as Zambia National Women's Lobby (ZNWL) board chairperson where she stated that the ZNWL reacted based on information given to them by sources who did not have full details of the story.
Highly placed sources at State House yesterday disclosed that Vice-President Kunda was under pressure from President Banda to terminate the membership of Kambikambi and Chanda from the APRM National Governing Council. The sources revealed that a named State House aide had been meeting some named leaders from the NGOCC and Women for Change (WfC) following Kambikambi's apology to The Post.
The sources said the named aide in conjunction with the named leaders from the NGOCC and WfC lobbied President Banda to ensure that Kambikambi and Chanda were dismissed because they felt that Kambikambi's apology had destroyed or dismantled their court case against The Post. Chanda had also issued press statements on Kabwela's arrest urging the police not to act on instructions but allow the due process of the law to take its course. Chanda is further alleged, by the named State House aide, to have been the brain behind Kambikambi's letter of apology to Kabwela.
Recently, the ZNWL apologised to Kabwela over a letter the organistion sent to her in which they complained about the pictures of a woman in labour that were sent to Vice-President Kunda during the protracted strike by health workers.
In a letter dated July 16, 2009 signed by Kambikambi, ZNWL stated that the complaint letter was written without the full understanding of the facts behind the matter.
"I refer to our letter dated 26th June in which we registered our displeasure of the photographer who took the picture of the woman who was in labour. It has come to our attention that we wrote the letter in the absence of full facts concerning the matter," Kambikambi stated. "Now that we have the facts, we want to commend you for the courage you took to alert the necessary persons and organisations on the plight of women in the wake of the strike by the health workers. It is for this reason that we write again to sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and anguish the letter may have caused to you."
Kambikambi stated that the women's movement would instead support the newspaper for its courage in promoting women's values.
"As an organisation that promotes the advancement of women in decision making, we want to stand in support for you and salute you for the great leadership and courage you exhibited during this trying time. On behalf of the members, board and staff of the Zambia National Women's Lobby, kindly accept my deepest apologies," Kambikambi stated.
And in another letter to the Press Freedom Committee of The Post, Kambikambi stated that the ZNWL reacted based on information given to them by sources who did not have full details of the story.
"...We would like to apologise unreservedly. We made that complaint based on information provided to us by sources that did not have the full details of the story. But now, having gotten information on the facts of the matter, we realise that we erred in our decision and that the whole essence of the matter was to push improvement of the women's access to health care - especially maternal health care. This is a cardinal issue if the socio-economic development of this country is to be advanced," she stated. "For this reason we want to commend the Post Newspaper for having selectively circulated pictures portraying the plight of women in the wake of the strike of the health workers to persons and organisations that they believed would have helped solve the impasse so as to ensure women did not continue to suffer the absence of adequate health care."
Kambikambi also saluted Kabwela for the courage she had exhibited over the condemnation she had received on the pictures.
"We want to salute the courageous Ms Chansa Kabwela who has exhibited great leadership despite the immense pressure that she has been subjected to. As an organization that promotes the advancement of women in decision-making, we want to commend the Post Managing Editor [Post Editor-in-Chief] Mr Fred M'membe, for having appointed a young and courageous woman journalist of such exemplary character. We need such women to help develop this country," Kambikambi stated.
On June 16, 2009, the ZNWL wrote a complaint letter to the Press Freedom Committee of The Post chairperson over the pictures of a woman in labour that were sent to them.
The pictures were sent to Vice-President George Kunda and copied to the Minister of Health, Secretary to the Cabinet, NGOCC, WfC and the Archbishop of Lusaka.
The women's movement complained that the pictures were depressing to all women in the country.
"We write to register our complaint over the photographer who took pictures of a woman giving birth. We would like to mention that as women, we are deeply disturbed that the dignity of women is being undermined in the name of press freedom. While we are in support of press freedom and the right to information, we feel that circulating pictures that demean women is a transgression of women's right to privacy," the letter stated. "The pictures were not only depressing to the victim, but to all women in the country. We therefore call on our colleagues in the media not to allow the dignity of women to be tarnished by one single individual who did not pay attention to the negative implication the picture had on women."
And sources at State House yesterday further disclosed that following President Banda's directive, Vice-President Kunda had written to Kambikambi and Chanda, informing them of the decision to terminate their membership from the council.
"His Excellency, the President feels so strongly about Chansa's case. I am sure you know that even during the last press conference here at State House he spoke at length against the issue of those pictures, which he actually described as pornography. Therefore, any comments that are seen to be undermining Chansa's case as well as His Excellency's strong feelings over that issue, he is not taking them lightly," the source revealed. "So it's against this background that His Excellency saw it prudent that Tamala and Amos' memberships and executive functions from the APRM National Governing Council be withdrawn. What this basically means is that Tamala and Amos cease to be chairperson and spokesperson respectively of the APRM National Governing Council respectively."
The sources said President Banda had taken keen interest in Kabwela's case.
"But for obvious reasons you will not get this explanation from anybody including the Vice-President himself. That's why even in the letter written to them, he is just saying that they have decided to reorganise the council," the source said. "They have also said that they have taken the decision to withdraw the duo's membership and executive functions from the National Governing Council after taking into consideration other factors. I must say the factors they have taken into consideration have not been stated."
When contacted yesterday, Chanda confirmed receiving the letter but referred all queries to the appointing authority.
Kambikambi could not be reached for comment by press time.
In an interview with Radio Phoenix last Wednesday, Kambikambi maintained that her organisation would support Kabwela because she did not publish the pictures of the woman in labour but instead sent them to a few selected eminent individuals in the country.
Kambikambi said the ZNWL had seen the issue in a different way, saying Kabwela had felt for the women and that is why she never published the pictures in the newspaper.
Kambikambi said the ZNWL would support Kabwela because she felt for the women who suffered during the period of the protracted strike.
"So we just want to tell you that we will support the young lady because she felt for the women who were suffering and she felt that was a way in which she could agitate those who could make certain decisions," said Kambikambi. "We know that there are colleagues who felt the means did not justify the end."
And just after Kabwela's arrest, the Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) whose vice-president is Chanda together with other media bodies observed that the arrest and subsequent charging of Kabwela would set a bad precedent.
"The Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA), Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) And the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia would like to urge the government and Members of Parliament to amend the law on obscenity in order for the said law to define in clear terms what constitutes obscenity and matters that can corrupt morals," they stated. "Currently Section 177 makes it an offence to be in possession of, or circulation of obscene material. However, this law does not define what constitutes obscene matter. It simply makes the offence punishable through imprisonment up to five years. However, the law is too broad and it leaves to the discretion of the person in authority to determine what constitutes obscene material.
"As media associations, whose membership is drawn from media practitioners, we wish to urge government and indeed our law makers to amend these laws that impinge on press freedom by clearly defining what constitutes obscenity. Currently under this law, journalists are operating in grey areas that are not clearly defined."
Labels: AMOS CHANDA, CHANSA KABWELA, RUPIAH BANDA, TAMALA KAMBIKAMBI, THE POST
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We have no right to be ungrateful
Written by Editor
Friendship and support from friends is something which is a source of tremendous inspiration always and to everyone. It is said that those who are ready to join hands can overcome the greatest challenges. Chansa Kabwela and The Post have no right to be ungrateful for the support of Tamala Kambikambi and the Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group.
The stand taken by Tamala and the Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group establishes the understanding in us that in them we have friends, we have honest fighters against injustice who feel hurt because other people are hurt, who seek our success because they too seek the victory of justice over injustice. Let us keep our arms locked together so that we form a solid phalanx against injustice. By joining hands, we can overcome problems others think would forever haunt us.
We are conscious of our obligations to do whatever we can to contribute to the advancement of justice, fairness and humanness in our country. Tamala and her colleagues in the Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group have felt and recognised that our work advances the very principles on which their organisation is founded. It is truly a demonstration of the spirit of ubuntu, that profound African sense that we are human only through the humanity of other human beings – is not a parochial phenomenon, but has added something very valuable to our common search for a more just, fair and humane society.
The lies of Rupiah Banda about those pictures – we mean the pictures of that woman in labour who was left to give birth in the open and in the process lost her baby – and the half-truths cannot hide and should not hide the treachery of NGOCC and Women for Change in their complicity with Rupiah in his persecution of The Post.
We only hope NGOCC and Women for Change will learn that taking positions that do not strengthen an organisation can lead to a blind alley.
As Mahatma Gandhi has taught us, it is necessary to brave arrests or indeed imprisonment if truth and justice were to triumph over evil. We must never lose sight of the fact that the Gandhian philosophy may be a key to human survival in the 21st century. For us, a willingness to make sacrifices for a loftier purpose can be said to be the unwritten code of our journalism.
We welcome and highly appreciate the support of the Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group because no struggle can be waged effectively in isolation.
We don’t know what those treacherous women at NGOCC and Women for Change can now say in the light of Tamala and Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group’s gesture towards Chansa and The Post. Our communication with Tamala and the Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group has been much lower than that with NGOCC and Women for Change. But why has it been much easier for Tamala and the Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group to understand the goals Chansa and The Post were seeking in not publishing those pictures and in sending them to the Vice-President, the Minister of Health, the Secretary to the Cabinet , the Archbishop of Lusaka and to NGOCC and Women for Change themselves? The answer is there is no honest person who can fail to see the goals that Chansa and The Post were seeking because it was clearly stated in the letter that accompanied those pictures. It is easy to understand why Tamala and her colleagues joined in criticising us. It is simply because that letter and those pictures were not sent to them. And they were honest enough to admit that they were misled by the lies and half-truths that accompanied our being harangued by Rupiah, NGOCC and Women for Change. But later on, on their own, they discovered the truth. And because they were honest people, they changed their earlier position and apologised to Chansa and The Post. This is how honest and honourable people behave. NGOCC and Women for Change know the truth. But they are not able to publicly acknowledge it and apologise because their initial position was not driven by ignorance or by someone misleading them. It was not a product of oversight. They had taken a conscious decision to go for The Post by using lies and half-truths accompanied by a deliberate misrepresentation of facts. They tried to hide under the banner of defending the human rights of that woman whose pictures we had sent them. They accused us of violating her human rights. They totally ignored her life. Or rather they subordinated her life and that of her baby to that of her body. Which human rights activist doesn’t know that the highest human right is one’s right to life, that life is the most sacred thing? Chansa and The Post were much more concerned about the life of that woman and that baby who died whose story is yet to be fully told. We could have made a gigantic story out of it but we chose not to. We decided to deal with the matter quietly and we limited the issue to a few people who we thought were better placed to deal with the problem that was going on in the country. That woman is not the only one who gave birth in the open during that period. They were many around the country. But she was the only one whose pictures were brought to us.
Clearly, if there is any issue that has exposed the complicity, the vacillations and opportunism of the elements who control NGOCC and Women for Change, it is this issue. Now the nation fully knows who they are and what they stand for. Those who don’t understand who these elements truly are, we will help them to do so. In this way they will not be able to deceive any one anymore apart from those who want themselves deceived. Their bare faced malice against Chansa and The Post will be fully exposed when the trial of this matter starts. And after that, they will not be able to deceive anyone with their crowing about human rights. They have made their noise and in the end, the cries of the infant who dies because of lack of healthcare will penetrate the noises of our towns and its sealed windows to say: am I not human too!
As we have stated before, and confirmed by the Archbishop of Lusaka and Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group, among others, Chansa and The Post’s intention was not to humiliate that woman, to violate any of her human rights and of that baby who died in birth. We think Tamala articulated Chansa and The Post’s intentions very well when she said: “This issue the way we have seen it from the National Women’s Lobby Group is that Chansa Kabwela when she received those pictures, she felt for the women because that was at the height of the strike by the medical personnel. She did not publish them but sent them to a few selected eminent individuals and decision makers in this country. Chansa took those photographs to people who she believed would help to deal with the impasse and hence deal with the striking workers to come back and curb that problem that was seriously affecting women. So to us, we felt she was doing a noble job…So we just want to tell you that we will support the young lady because she felt for the women who were suffering and she felt that was a way in which she could agitate those who could make certain decisions. We know that there are colleagues who felt the means did not justify the end.”
As we have stated before, Chansa will always stand her ground, no one can move her to do wrong things. Chansa is a young lady of considerable ability destined to occupy a very important position in Zambian and world journalism. She is a woman of exceptional quality, dignity, very respectful, very warm, very kind to others. Chansa is a very gracious lady, highly intelligent and committed to worthy causes. It is ridiculous for anyone to accuse her of engaging in pornography or indecent things. Chansa was pursuing no other goal with those pictures other than the noblest of human sentiments, of solidarity with those in pain, in suffering. And no honest person can fail to recognise that. Rupiah and his friends at NGOCC and Women for Change have failed to see this because they are not being honest with themselves and others. But in this battle against injustice, there will be no quarter given anyone. We are going to call a spade a spade, and we are going to appeal to the honour of all our people. In the end, those who refuse to repudiate their lies and half-truths are going to self-correct, but in another way; yes, they are going to be smeared with their own offal. One thing we are sure of: in every human being, there is a high sense of shame. Those who try to humiliate and scandalise us with lies are not going to be allowed to get away with it. Throughout history, one sees men and women get arrested and go to jail, or die for honour, values they can hold dear. At The Post, we don’t teach our staff to disrespect the human rights and dignity of others. We teach them to respect the rights and dignity of others and to go beyond and defend them with everything they have when they are attacked; we inculcate in our staff, in our editors the best values from the human point of view, from the point of view of justice, fairness and humanness. We consider ourselves fortunate to have been aware that hatred and prejudice are not political weapons. They are political weapons and in addition, we have the experience to know that principles are the best possible political weapon.
What Chansa and The Post did can’t be done except on the basis of principles, on the basis of ideas, on the basis of ethics. It’s the only way. We believe in the human being, in his ability to acquire an ethics, a conscience, in his ability to make great sacrifices.
There is no great merit in having accumulated the experience that we have accumulated. If there is any merit, it is in the fact of being constant in our loyalty to ideas and principles, of not letting ourselves become all puffed up which is quite frequent among human beings. And of course vengeance – like the one we see from Rupiah – can find no place in our hearts. We can fight with all the determination and strength of will in the world, but we won’t do it out of hate for anyone.
Labels: CHANSA KABWELA, TAMALA KAMBIKAMBI, THE POST, ZNWLG
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Women’s Lobby vows to support Kabwela
Written by Margaret Habbuno
Saturday, July 25, 2009 7:42:24 PM
ZAMBIA National Women's Lobby (ZNWL) chairperson Tamala Kambikambi has vowed to support Chansa Kabwela because she did not publish the photographs of the woman in labour.
In an interview with Radio Phoenix last Wednesday, Kambikambi said the organisation would support Kabwela because she did not publish the pictures of the woman in labour but instead sent them to a few selected eminent individuals in the country. Kambikambi said the ZNWL had seen the issue in a different way, saying Kabwela had felt for the women and that is why she never published the pictures in the newspaper.
"This issue the way we have seen it from the National Women Lobby group perspective is that Chansa Kabwela when she received those pictures, she felt for the women because that was at the height of the strike by the medical personnel,"Kambikambi said. "She did not publish them but sent them to a few selected eminent individuals and decision makers in this country."
She said Kabwela had done a noble job by sending the said photographs to selected people.
"Chansa took those photographs to people who she believed would help to deal with the impasse and hence deal with the striking workers to come back and curb that problem that was seriously affecting the women. So to us we felt she was doing a noble job and it was unfortunate that there was a lot of debate that ensured a lot of half information, which went around where [to] some ...it was being seen in a different light," she said.
Kambikambi said the ZNWL would support Kabwela because she felt for the women who suffered during the period of the protracted strike.
"So we just want to tell you that we will support the young lady because she felt for the women who were suffering and she felt that was a way in which she could agitate those who could make certain decisions," said Kambikambi. "We know that there are colleagues who felt the means did not justify the end."
Recently, police arrested and charged Kabwela with circulating obscene matters with the intention to corrupt morals of society contrary to section 177 1 (b) CAP 87 of the Penal Code.
The pictures of a woman in childbirth were not published by The Post but were instead sent to Vice-President George Kunda, Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Joshua Kanganja, Minister of Health Kapembwa Simbao, Women for Change (WfC), Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council (NGOCC) and the Archbishop of Lusaka to enable them address the problem of the strike by health workers which lasted for over a month.
Section 177 1 (b) CAP 87 of the Penal Code states that: "Any person who - (b) imports, conveys or exports, or causes to be imported conveyed or exported, any such matters or things, or in any manner whatsoever puts any of them in circulation is guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for five years or to a fine of not less than fifteen thousand penalty units nor more than seventy five thousand penalty units."
Kabwela 29, who appeared before Lusaka chief resident magistrate Charles Kafunda pleaded not guilty to one count of circulating obscene matters or things.
Particulars of the offence were that Kabwela, between June 1 and 10, 2009 in Lusaka did circulate two obscene photographs tending to corrupt public morals.
Lusaka deputy division prosecutor, Anderson Simbuliani represented the state in the matter while Remmy Mainza, George Chisanga, Chileshe Kaoma and Sam Mujuda represented Kabwela.
The court then set August 5, 2009 as the date for the commencement of trial, August 24, and September 8 for continued trial respectively.
Labels: CHANSA KABWELA, TAMALA KAMBIKAMBI, THE POST, ZNWLG
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We accept our comrades’ apology
Written by Editor
On June 26, 2009 we received a letter from the Zambia National Women's Lobby signed by the board chairperson Ms Tamala Kambikambi. This letter which was addressed to the chairperson of the Press Freedom Committee of The Post complained against circulation of pictures of a woman in labour.
Reading the letter we immediately realised that our comrades at the Women's Lobby had become victims of Rupiah Banda's misinformation and propaganda against us. Our comrades at the Lobby had not made an effort to speak to us on this issue before writing their letter which was given extensive coverage in the state-owned and government-controlled media. We decided to exercise revolutionary patience and did not respond to their attacks.
Life has taught us to know how to wait; to know how to be patient; we never despair. Our enemies, those who have made public declarations to destroy The Post live in perpetual despair, in perpetual anguish, in perpetual lying, in the most ridiculous and infantile way.
We knew very well that our comrades at the Women's Lobby didn't know the truth about this issue. We were confident that eventually they will know the truth and when this happens their position will change. We knew that no matter how hard its adversary - falsehood - may try to overwhelm it, truth always refuses to yield.
And we are always prepared to stand by the truth even if everyone is against us. For us there is no better tactic, no better strategy than to fight with the truth, with clean hands because these are the only weapons that inspire confidence, that inspire faith, that inspire dignity. Lies are weapons that help no one, and no serious person ever needs to resort to a lie. Our weapon is reason, morality, truth, the ability to defend an idea, a position.
And because we fight with the truth, we are very quick to admit our errors, our mistakes, our wrongs and without hesitation acknowledge them and apologise. How else can we defend something that is wrong if not by accepting that we are wrong and apologise.
We also have learnt to recognise and distinguish the mistakes of our comrades from the actions of our enemies. Rupiah was not misinformed to take the position he took against us over those pictures. His was a position driven by hatred for us, by enmity against us. Rupiah has never attempted to hide his hatred for us and his desire to one day catch us wrong-footed and punish us. This was what drove Rupiah to tell the lies he told about those pictures and us.
And because we are able to distinguish the mistakes of our friends from the actions of our enemies, it is not difficult for us to forgive our comrades when they apologise for the wrong position they have taken against us. And for this reason we wholeheartedly accept the apology made by the Women's Lobby. Who are we not to forgive others when we are every day being forgiven by others? Friendship is the fruit of honesty, truth, humility and solidarity. And to guarantee friendship, all are called to maturity, tolerance and responsibility. True friendship is to seek and accept forgiveness.
We are told in the Bible: "Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one other, so that you may be healed" (Jas 5:16). We are also told in Matthew 5: 23-24 : "If you are bringing your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your gift."
If friendship and cooperation is to be built or established among us, the primary requisite is to eradicate the factors that make us differ, that make us attack and denounce each other, that cause dissension between or among us.
Throughout this period we have never attacked or denounced the Women's Lobby because we understood very well that the position they had taken was driven by lack of understanding resulting from Rupiah's manipulation because some of them are very close to his people and serve in various institutions or agencies that are connected to government.
Their position was different from that of NGOCC who had deliberately refused to take our explanation. When NGOCC chairperson Marian Munyinda wrote that letter attacking us, effort was made to contact her and explain to her what we did and why we did it the way we did it.
Time was also taken to explain to her the consequences of the uncomradely approach they had taken to deal with their displeasure against us and what we had done. We told her that this is not the way to deal with comrades even if they are wrong. When we failed to make her accept our position we told her that in that case there is no alternative for us but to apologise to them.
Marian and her friends, because of their treacherous intentions and designs saw in our apology a weakness, and not a strength, and decided to exploit it. Our apology to NGOCC made headline news in the state-owned and government-controlled media. And they followed this with a meeting with Rupiah.
After that meeting, Rupiah decided to go for us in the most shameless and ridiculous manner, trying to whip up public sentiments against us, trying to humiliate us as reckless, queer, morbid and sick people who indulge in pornography and other immoral behaviour.
To this day, we have not received an apology or an explanation from NGOCC and the equally treacherous changed Women for Change who have always enjoyed unlimited access to our newsroom. Probably, now that they are seeing the consequences of their treachery, tomorrow they may come to us to mend fences.
But this will not be an honest position on their part arising from a realisation that they behaved in an unfair and unjust way towards comrades. Whatever action they take will be a product of defeat and an attempt to save their faces.
We will not regard it as a genuine act of contrition after realising that they were wrong. What they did against us is not a product of not having adequate information. Their action was not a product of oversight. It was deliberate and conscious.
They were simply out, in solidarity with Rupiah, to humiliate us and diminish our influence. But they have failed and the most they can do is to realise that their senseless action will take them nowhere. Instead of humiliating us, it is them who have been humiliated. But it is not us who have humiliated them. They have simply humiliated themselves. This is what happens to people when they lose or abandon principles. This is what happens to individuals and organisations when values are lost. These treacherous and opportunistic women will live to regret their evil activities and designs against us.
Our alliance with women organisations is a strategic one. This isn't unity conceived of only on the plane of a tactic of struggle. It isn't just a happen-stance or a political alliance like those we are seeing just to win an election. It is, of course, by definition, but the tie that is established here on the ethical or moral plane concerning the plight and role of women has the nature of a lasting, permanent, strategic alliance. It is a proposition with a solid moral, political and social basis.
To us issues concerning the plight of women are not an act of charity, the result of a humanitarian or compassionate attitude. Issues concerning the plight and role of women are a fundamental necessity for the progress of our country, are the guarantee for our nation's success in all the areas of human endeavour. For us this is the context within which the question of women's role, plight and rights arises. Generally speaking, women are the most marginalised and humiliated beings in our society. This being the situation, how can this country make progress with the majority of our population in this position? How can one change things in this country without mobilising women, leaving women on the fringe of the struggle for the establishment of a more just, fair and humane society?
It is essential that we understand this phenomenon so as to avoid false and futile debates. Clearly the fight for the dignity of women demands, as a first step, a clarification of our ideas. It requires action on several essential levels. And first of all, a political line of action must be laid down. For women to make progress, to emancipate themselves, there must be cautious political commitment. And we pledge action to educate our people in the best way we can to a more correct view of women and to actively redress the injustices done to women everywhere in our country, including the church, state and family life.
Women must not be treated as mere passive participants in national development. But they must enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms befitting all human beings, both in domestic and public life.
Women are a backbone of our families and they play major roles in our economy, especially in rural areas. This being the situation, the life and health of women are of central importance to the future development of our country. Clearly, women bring special gifts to the progress of our country and if they are not treated in a fair, just and humane manner, then we will simply not have sustainable and equitable progress. This is what we believe in. And people who believe in things like this cannot be justifiably accused of the crazy things Rupiah and his treacherous women are charging us for.
Labels: RUPIAH BANDA, TAMALA KAMBIKAMBI, ZAMBIA NATIONAL WOMENS LOBBY
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No development without the rule of law – Sanderson
Written by Mutuna Chanda in Kitwe
Sunday, June 21, 2009 3:19:24 PM
KITWE resident Murray Sanderson has said there would be no development without an honest and transparent government. And Copperbelt University (CBU) economics lecturer Mundia Kabinga has said it will be more economical for Zambians to dialogue among themselves than spending US$2 million yearly on the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
During an Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) organised public discussion on the African Peer Review Mechanism in Kitwe on Tuesday evening, Sanderson, who is also Zambia Institute of Public Policy Analysis (ZIPPA) chairman, said Zambians needed to get their priorities right.
"We have only to look across our borders to the DRC and Zimbabwe to realise that without the rule of law and honest and accountable government, any kind of development, any prosperity is impossible," Sanderson said.
"Now let us turn to Lusaka and look at the Ministry of Health and the Wildlife Authority where employees have lately committed massive thefts. Are things so much better here in Zambia? Nor is it just Lusaka. Look at our own Kitwe City Council. What happens to the money they receive? We don't know; the city's accounts are no longer audited."
He said Zambia should concentrate on principles, processes, practices and performance instead of policies and purposes.
"The rule of law; this covers the protection of person and property and the prevention of theft and corruption. Specific requirements under this head are: an efficient and incorruptible police service; a special enforcement body to follow up reports of the Auditor General and ensure honest handling of government monies; a law to protect whistle blowers,” said Sanderson.
"Honest and transparent government which is efficient and accountable to the general public; this could be achieved through introducing closely monitored and effective customer service charters so that civil servants start to live up to their name."
And Kabinga said a country did not need the APRM if it had internal policy dialogue. He cited Botswana and Namibia as examples of countries that did not need the APRM.
Kabinga however said countries that probably needed the APRM were those that lacked internal policy dialogue. He noted that Zambia lacked internal policy dialogue in its political, economic and corporate governance spheres. Kabinga also wondered whether the APRM recommendations would be implemented in Zambia.
But APRM National Governing Council (NGC) spokesperson Amos Chanda said there were examples of peer pressure among African countries working on those that were not in tow with good democratic principles.
And APRM NGC chairperson Tamala Kambikambi said much as African states had problems, that did not stop them from giving suggestions to fellow countries.
Labels: AMOS CHANDA, APRM, EAZ, MUNDIA KABINGA, MURRAY SANDERSON, TAMALA KAMBIKAMBI, ZIPPA
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