STATE CAPTURE
THE spurious political attacks against governance institutions must be seen for what they truly are as empty but targeted statements intended to demoralise, undermine and eventually provide fertile ground for state capture.
Zambians should not be surprised that the campaign is targeted at the presidency and judiciary because they constitute the very epitome of statecraft. The scurrilous attacks are intended to scandalise and in the process degrade the public confidence they enjoy.
The measure of any constructive and meaningful criticism should be the ideological dimension extended to identify faults, lacunas or indeed policy misjudgments.
Such substantive content is spectacularly lacking in the barrage of attacks that are dressed in some form of philosophical verbiage that invariably is directed at individuals rather than the system or policy. The tools of economic political and social analysis are never invoked because these demand rigor and serious analysis.
The so-called paragons of virtue have one singular mantra; corruption. This corruption is invariably directed at public officers with the obvious interpretation that only public officers are corrupt and by implication the accusers and their associates are blameless. This is utter nonsense because ill-founded accusations of corruption are championed by private provocateurs intent on seeking state capture.
It is an act of corruption of the most heinous type to undermine public authority by using ill-defined allegations of corruption in a taxonomy that suggests an appropriation of public resources for private gain.
Increasingly corrupt private businessmen who have accumulated wealth from nefarious activities are presenting themselves as models of virtue when in reality they have intentions to capture statecraft by intimidation and fear.
There is nothing courageous, honourable nor indeed admirable about targeting a torrent of invectives and innuendos against public officers who may not have an opportunity to respond and who indeed may be conducting admirable public service worthy of acclaim.
This country has won the admiration of most economic pundits for its resilience and single minded determination to overcome economic impediments that would have otherwise led to the collapse of the economy.
On the contrary the Global Innovation Index GII has ranked Zambia very highly for her political and economic stability. It has placed Zambia’s standing at 54 of the 126 countries graded this year.
This means that Zambia was among the countries in sub-Saharan Africa that has performed well in innovation in the region by showing strength in starting business and ease of resolving insolvency.
The outside world has recognised that Zambia has achieved milestones in strengthening governance institutions in areas of political environment, regulatory environment and business environment.
In contrast spurious critics have been relentless in their campaign to demoralize the nation through a process of selective and misguided interpretation of reality without making use of any ideological dimension thus appealing to emotion rather than hard facts or reality.
Those who really care for the truth must be honest enough to balance teleological and deontological arguments to arrive at an ethical or moral position devoid of unsubstantiated subjectivity.
For example such vulgar assertions regarding the nationality of leadership should not grace serious media because by its very nature it is spurious and not worthy of any contemplation.