PILATO AND GROUP HAVE MISTAKEN TOLERANCE FOR WEAKNESS - GLENN KALIMBWE

I HAVE tried this week to go about my business and take a break from current affairs but the buzz about the now-called disgruntled youths has been difficult to ignore. Thus, I took to write this article with the sincerest of intentions and utmost honesty.

Having had the privilege to read Brian Bwembya aka B-Flow’s letter to the president, in which he asks for an appointment for two issues; firstly the need for frequent communication of efforts being made to address the challenges facing the youth and opportunities available for the youth population, and concerns regarding some conduct of foreign investors in the country.

I am inclined to conclude that indeed President Edgat Lungu is a humble leader, whose humbleness these youths have started taking for granted. I can only pray that the patience that the president has doesn’t wear thin for their sakes.

It is not only disrespectful to the presidency for anybody, youth, or adults to seek the audience of the highest office in the land with such a vacuous agenda but an indictment on the intelligence of the author.

While it is his right as a citizen to make demands from the national leadership, we must always exercise our rights in the confines of normality and good judgment.

The Ministry of Youth, Child, and Sport Development exists to address the concerns of youths. The only complaint from youths, warranting the audience of the Presidency, is to complain about the inadequacies of the responsible ministries in addressing the concerns in question.

Since his letter did not elaborate, I am personally curious as to what he meant by the need for frequent communication. What sort of communication does he require that the national broadcaster has not provided?

It’s paradoxical in that other sections of society complain that public media is all about government, and on the other hand here is a person complaining that the government is not communicating enough.

If this is not mere attention-seeking and rabble-rousing, then what is it?

Let this be considered in perspective. The opposition parties that have turned these unsuspecting young citizens into pawns in their political games will ditch them after they have lived their usefulness and successfully destroyed their futures.

Nowhere globally has an economic issue as the one cited by these youths, been solved by way of street protests. Disrupting social order is on its own, economic sabotage. Therefore these acts only serve to reverse the gains that this country has made hitherto.

The loudness of these voices does not represent a popular view. It represents the views of the dead weight that this country has. While the common youth is out in the street hustling for a living in various ways, the dead weight is making placards and mobilising protesters.

My point is that the patience and humbleness of the president have manifested itself in that removing these elements from the streets will not affect the economy of this country yet, in his wisdom he has tolerated them hitherto.

Everyone indeed has the right to be heard yet, we cannot all speak at once. Therefore, the unfettered noise that these guys have been making on social media should not be mistaken for the views of youths in Zambia.

Youths are a diverse group with divergent views and at no point did the youth gather to elect a parallel government that should claim to be representing them.

Our silence has not been of service to this country in this discourse. It’s time we meet at the battlefront. From youths to the other. Give government space to govern