Chilanga Political Options
IN a few weeks, the people of Chilanga Constituency eligible to vote, will be “guests” of the Electoral Commission of Zambia, and by extension, all agencies dealing with elections.
Just what does it mean to elect a Member of Parliament? If, as it has been argued before that “process safeguards content,” we must answer this question: Is the process, where the ugly scourge of violence is manifesting, assuring us of a good product?
As a civic duty and political imperative, several candidates belonging to political formations, strong and not too strong, have presented their credentials, which include, what they have achieved or not achieved.
One of the candidates, representing and donning red garments, is said to be tainted with blood and of doubtful standing. What do we want?
Let me declare an interest from the onset about the Patriotic Front (PF) candidate, Ms Maria Langa, who with her responsible and gentle husband, are family friends. All I can say is to attest on the extremely humble and purposeful character that she carries.
I can only wish her the best of luck, in sharing her God given gift of effective communication. [I can tell you, Maria would have been a good candidate for any of the contesting parties and the PF is really lucky to have a candidate whose views are not narrow but defined by service, care and purpose].
But political competition as we are seeing in Chilanga, goes beyond luck. We must endeavour to question the candidates, who in reality are potential national leaders beyond representing Chilanga constituents. :hat profile does each one of them cut? Humble and hard working, cut throat and ruthless, sophisticated and crafty, deceitful and cunning etc. Do we have a candidate with a vision and cares for the community of Chilanga?
The duty of all political parties and players is to pay homage to Zambia, by first and foremost dealing with the question of truth, beyond lies and propaganda. My view is that in essence, the Chilanga byelection, will loudly speak to issues of tolerance, hate, falsehoods and the most debated issue of inter and intra-party democracy.
For instance, can we get to know what Maria Langa has been doing in the last five years or longer; can we get to know what Ms Charmaine Musonda, has been doing in the last five years or longer, what about the NAREP candidate and the other candidate?
For Zambians, we must challenge these candidates. What have they done to and for the
people of Chilanga; which is of benefit, beyond controversy"
, am not given to pointing fingers; but I can allude to the pain, inconvenience, cost and political ramifications of lapses of leadership, if and when it happens. There is a price for undermining governance.
The by-election in Chilanga, is a consequence of the operations of the law and the desire of the Zambian society to ensure equality before the law. Now, I insist, equality must not only be pronounced but we must live it.
We can ill afford to mock our judicial system particularly that in this particular matter, not all remedies have been exhausted. An appeal is pending!
What would happen, if for argument sake, (which is not too remote), the outstanding matter in court impacts on the by-election in Chilanga? Are we ready for another by-election or are we willing to play a complicated political game? In my view, these immediate two questions above, are not limited to the people of Chilanga but all Zambians.
Here and now, I will speak to the Treasury and by extension to all Zambian Taxpayers, inclusive of all political contestants and their respective political parties.
As far as I know, the national Treasury is the rallying point for national development. The state and health of the Treasury is what speaks to our economy – that is, whether Zambians and residents can lead a life which they all aspire to.
The President of Zambia, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, (and his Cabinet Ministers) has spoken on several occasions that “No Zambian, will be left behind.”
This makes a lot of sense because we are all citizens who are stakeholders in every aspect of our country. This observation takes into account the set-back President Lungu suffered because of betrayal by Ministers, who have since left him and are very bitter, thereby seeking solace in distributing lies and in the process, daring the law!
One disturbing view point is that which projects the direction of Zambia as a nation state, where politics is the preserve of political parties. President Lungu has talked about “No Zambian being left behind” and that statement makes no mention of any social construct, making it (statement) the cutting edge of statesmanship. (A statesman will NOT manipulate a situation; tells it the way it is and not what you want to hear).
I am convinced that the Zambian Treasury, cannot and should not allow situations which arrest economic growth to be primary over common good.
The gain of the Zambian Kwacha, is a common good, which the Bank of Zambia, has been managing very well. The import, is that collectively, we cannot afford to engage in activities which take away rather than add value to our Zambia.
There is no common good served by violence, hatred, insults, lies and lack of patriotism as demonstrated by articulations of vanity, in defiance of truth. ,s it not true that the Church in this our Zambia, marshalled a great dialogue process between political foes, almost 30 years ago? Is this not an achievement worthy of pride? (But forgive some of those throwing stones because 30 years ago, they were still in school and not witness or participants to this great national achievement).
The gain of the Zambian Kwacha, is a common good, which the Bank of Zambia, has been managing very well. The import, is that collectively, we cannot afford to engage in activities which take away rather than add value to our Zambia.
Two postulations point to either denial or suggestive of change in process and policy. (a) That so much wrong has taken place during the almost 30 years of a return to multi-party politics so much so that a clean slate is necessary and inevitable or (b) That the almost 30-year period, has given the country and its people, an opportunity to learn, regenerate and reposition itself through enhanced processes and procedures.
I think, (b) above is the most logical proposition. This proposition, in my view speaks to the need by the Treasury to take the bull by its horns and redeem this country from induced pain. Some costs that are not foreseen and are a drain on Taxpayers’ money!
I am not in any way advocating for abandoning periodic elections. To the contrary, I am a pragmatic reformist willing and able to review any social position, because principle is not the same thing as rigidity. It is democracy versus our economy!
Get your calculator and work out how many elections Zambia, has had since 1964, including by-elections at all levels. The average cost of running a general election is one US$100 million. Consider that part of this amount is “coughed” by Taxpayers from what we call donor nations! This is the dilemma we find ourselves in. :e find ourselves faced with the herculean task of managing the complex animal called democracy. For now, we have no choice but to play by the rules of democracy. But, as I have said before, it is important that we adapt the concept to be relevant to our context.
I can tell you that where we have borrowed this concept, an election is not a matter of life and death. An election can never constitute stopping all that one does to concentrate on causing trouble, using legal and legitimate means. Probably, in the period of electioneering, but not after! I can also tell you that where we have borrowed the concept of democracy, all play by the rules of the game and respect institutions to the letter.
The earlier we begin looking at things from outside the box, the better. For this reason (Emphasised) the day that the &artel and its affiliates formally sneak into government, will be the most tragic in the history of Zambia.
Why? Because we shall have voluntarily given in to the weight of expansionism. Making our life just bearable, while we enrich other nations!
If you are a Christian, you would have been moved by a service at the National altar, where fundamental issues of destiny, were raised. How can you say that you love Zambia, when you preach violence? How can you say that you care for Zambia, when your actions are closer to everything that is unZambian? In fact, the byelection is Chilanga, comes at a time when the nation is seized with challenges of resolving political questions. Former President Rupiah Banda, has challenged the Commonwealth to come out in the open on what their position is on who should lead the national dialogue.
I hear the minority view that the Commonwealth should lead the dialogue and wish to invite Zambians to appreciate the history of the Commonwealth and the dynamics therein that led to key developments, such as the formation of the Commonwealth Foundation.
An appreciation of international politics, shows that the Commonwealth cannot lead the dialogue process and should not cause Zambia trouble.
See you next week!