I was shocked at BY's presentation to NCC about the inauguration of a president. I know my thoughts, belief and aspirations are far from me looking at and thinking NCC will ever bring any good to this country, but I had to take time to listen to what one called BY was presenting on the time for inauguration of a president.
Let me take this step by step and make sure I bring out my emotions on the issue in a systematic manner. Zambia is one of the primitive country which believes you need to steal a president into office in order to have “peace” and maintain the country's sovereignty. I deliberately used the word primitive because for any civilized country, leadership is an important part of its existence such that they treasure a change of leadership from one to the next and step up systems which will ensure that leader can have control and consent from the people when he takes over. In Zambia, MMD has made it such a circus you can even inaugurate a president in the back on a bus and he will lead, because they believe the army is what will take control of whoever disagrees with them. So we are democratic? And treasure our democracy, yes, only if you are ready to take it as primitive as it comes.
Primitivity at its best is the political situation of the country. Remind me, what sense have we brought to the country which was ruled by UNIP? What change exist apart from mere parading of small satellite political parties and you say there is opposition! What democracy will exist if noone in the country apart from a few ruling party followers believe an election can be won fairly? What development has come when the country is poorer than its neighbours who have been at war for as long as one can remember? Poor because all the resources of the country are taken up by the few MMD followers or leaders? Poor when it has abundant natural resources to feed the whole region, but constantly has to beg?
There is no progress in this country. Lets talk statistics: -
- There are fewer tared roads now, more than15years after UNIP was kicked out of power. All road left in good working condition then, are either gravel roads or are full of port-holes its a miracle to pass through a road unmaintained for more than 15years! Some have been constructed, but in actual sense, how do you construct what has always been there? They have been run down and then re-constructed?
- There are less mines operating now than in UNIP decades. On paper, it appears more mines have open up, but with a little hope in North-Western province where new ones seem to have started, a lot more has closed down and the buyers have even made the ones they bought worse-off by selling the equipment that was there. Total progress, if negative terms!
- There's no public transport in the whole country. Oh, Flash buses and the rest are privately owned and wont count as public transport. If local government operated transported was there, that will be public. The chilenje train would count, if it was working. Ok that was Kaunda's campign strategy which never worked, but it brought a train which was later just thrown in to parking rail.
- People are poorer than the old days! We seem to know more economics and business now than before, but little improvement if any, has come to our people. People trade and go as far as South Africa, standing on bus or sitting on the floor of a dirt bus to try and sell one or two things to earn a living. Middle class does not exist and you hope some form of development can be attained? From where? Heaven? People who need to work and increase economic activity have been pushed out of the game and made poor they can only work to eat.
- Unemployment is high. Graduates roam the streets and do odd jobs to have a living. When they go out of the country you ask them to be patriotic! Foolish words with little meaning to people who utter them. How can you ask someone to leave a job which enables him to feed his family so he can come and scream “MMD” to have any form of employment. Anyone who even attempts to think otherwise, Teta and Mulongoti will be after him. Boot licking is the order of the day! Progress, unemployment is progress in MMD language?
We have no national airline or parastatal to ensure government's business of taking care of people is achieved. Even Zimbabwe has a national airline. Development is not synonymous with no para-statal! Philips is a para-statal company. Instead of bringing efficiency in the industry that these companies worked in, you sold them. Simple economics will always have public goods provided by the government or its agencies. In Zambia, you think running better economics is to make sure no company exists to provide these public goods. Even hospitals have lost meaning! I prefer going to UTH than private clinics for one simple reason, private exists to make money not take care of me. They will take care of me if I pay more to their profitability than if my health will fail me. But all ministers have to be flown out to South Africa's Morning Side clinic to be treated for malaria! Why do we train doctors. Should we use the South Africa parliament as well to decide how we make our budget? Or get a Tanzanian President? Put pride in our institutions and make them provide for us! We pay taxes for that, not for sick-lings to be taken to South Africa. - State run media is the worst in the history of mediocre services. I don't watch any ZNBC TV! I pay the TV licence because I pay for power. If I had my way, I would not pay that and any tax. Why pay for these people's posh lifestyle? No Zambian feels happy about paying taxes, we don't get anything out of it. You pay tax and the little you get has to make sure you pay for what government should be providing! What sense is there? You are better avoid watching TV and watch South Africa's SABC or buy pirated Zambian music videos! There is nothing like a proud Zambian, unless he is MMD inner cycle!
- Electoral system is in a mess and a total disaster. Elections are a corner stone for democracy. With good and fair elections we expect people to govern themselves. If elections fail, we are better off as a dictatorial system. Free and fair elections are not only on the polling day, they start by following the law right from announcing to the election day. Actually, even that is silly, we need a time that we all know we will have elections and not let a mere minority, unloved president to tell us when to vote. It should be in the system and in law. Last week of October's Thursday. No problem. Then the president will take over on the first on January. Simple and straight forward.
Now we have BY whom, I have no respect for because he has done nothing for this country, telling us we need to put the president in immediately after announcing the results. Shallow minded approach. If he did law, he would know that it is impossible to kick out a president who steals elections in a primitive state like ours. No wonder MMD has been rulling for 15years without majority. I call for the 50+1 percent system for presidential elections, but even after that, I would love to let the president take over after a few weeks or a month and some weeks. Don't think American's have a bigger brain to think about that and have it and we can do without it! The politics of that are simple. But the matter will not be handled by shallow minds because they are only interested in simple benefits and stealing people's will. Let me explain it to you simpler.
Firstly, the will of the people is far greater than any human dead or alive. They decide, thats why we pick on democracy and leave the rest. You have to respect the will of the people to have any chance of being looked at as a great team. MMD does not! UNIP used to at one time but dead with the idea when they stood against the people. MMD is on its way there too.
Secondly any system claiming to be perfect will kill itself from wear and tear unless it is willing to look at its weaknesses and iron them out in time. Our weaknesses are plain. We have no system that people are comfortable with. The simple reasons and their desires are
Free and fair elections.
Enough time to clear all aggrieved parties before swearing in – we should not always steal elections and take the president in secret and at night using the back door. Thats why we never celebrate a coming of a president!
Who benefits from secret swearing and back door entrance of a president? Zambia is surely bigger than all this. We better work this out swiftly.
When we set aside time for an incoming president to take over, the position of president- elect will come into play. That time will be used for any court case on level playing field and resolved before we put some in office. He will have the support of everyone. He will also be given a proper introduction to the system and be guided and trained if need be. The office of the president is not cheap. Only in Zambia have we cheapen the office that no one respects a president like other countries. Our president if the worst character because after all, he went in through the back door! With a proper system, we would bring out a character to reflect what we stand for.
What security risk are we creating by rushing a swearing in? Will enemies of the state relax because there exist a president in the country? Which country has been attacked for not rushing the swearing in of a president? And BY thinks people will attack when you delay the swearing in. remember, we have a president and a president-elect. The president will be ruling while the elect, will be waiting for his chance to take over. Lets me mature and approach the issue with seriousness. It is a risk for the security of the country to be in a hurry and rush to swear in presidents that don't even deserve to be! It is a shallow way of doing it, we better move with logic and upgrade the system while kicking out old, senseless people who just want to put the country in a primitive state that it is in now.
