STOP THE ROT!

THE manipulative approach employed by the opposition and their allies towards national affairs is an attempt to covertly stir resistance among citizens towards the government. On one hand, opposition party leaders are preaching commitment towards national dialogue while on the other they are propagating an impeachment motion against President Edgar Lungu. This is illogical and contradictory. This is an abuse of the process that betray a disregard of political decency and propriety. The United Party for National Development (UPND), leading a fragile alliance of MMD faction, one-man People`s Party and the Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) which is now excelling in the art of political nonentity. It is certainly deceptive for any one quarter to propagate national dialogue while in the same breath push for an impeachment of the very person in charge of national affairs. The rationale is to hoodwink the people and the international community that indeed they are for a peaceful round-table discussion when in fact they are scheming to embarrass the President. Secondly, the aim is to portray Zambia as a nation which is mired in social and political disorder. The very act of struggling parties supporting the motion is indicative of the malice and avarice being championed Such parties include the Peoples Party of Mike Mulongoti who officially announced the formation of his party in March 2013 and made a public announcement that a national convention was in the offing within a few months. Five years down the line, the gentleman is still struggling to make a positive impact in terms of membership recruitment and party mobilisation. Holding a national convention is a pipedream. There cannot be intra-party democracy or activities because he is all by himself. Where does he draw the mandate! It is surprising, therefore, that Mr Mulongoti has the audacity to hold himself a democrat and present his party as though it has a national character. Charles Milupi, a businessman, resigned as Independent Member of Parliament for Luena in May 2010 to take up leadership of the ADD which initially showed some glimmer of hope. Bubbling with confidence, Mr Milupi promulgated that his party was formed around the desire to eradicate poverty – that desire is still on paper eight years on! Pastor Nevers Mumba, now at the foot of a political mountain, is leading a mangled faction of the MMD after stumbling a number of times in his political mission. Their kingpin, Hakainde Hichilema, has tumbled five times in successive elections, two of them at the hands of President Lungu and has been at the helm of UPND for 12 years. Zambians must not forget that he became UPND president because the clique that controlled the party decreed that only a Tonga could lead the party. If Mr Hichilema had any conscience, he should have declined to be nominated for the presidency after the death of its founding leader, Anderson Mazoka. Mr Sakwiba Sikota, who was vice-president was hounded out and ended up forming his own party. Zambians should critically examine democratic credentials of politicians pushing for the impeachment motion. A quick look at the leaders agitating for this process shows two elements: failure at presidential elections and absence of intra-party democracy. Worse still, some parties are non-existent on the ground and have to cling to other organisations to shed off obscurity. They shuttle from one radio station to another to remain relevant. It is thus malicious and counterproductive to initiate a process which is evidently headed for failure. Opposition political parties should instead offer checks and balances in good faith – they should recant anger and frustration. Political ingenuity is not about being manipulative. It is about offering selfless service to the people, who are expectant of development in the constituencies. Unfairly, some MPs have elected to pursue narrow interests at the expense of serving the people who voted them into office. They have chosen to obey misleading voices that are bent on frustrating Government programmes. Zambians must remain calm and decipher information in the right context – they should ignore divisive manoeuvres.