I have been away for too long. Personal issues I had to sort out, meant that what the country was/is going through made me to choose to stay away or I would have written things which people would have found offesive. But I think we need to start looking at what this country is going through to be able to work our way, hopefully one day, to the right path. Right now we are doomed with what is happening in government and the country at large. But Let me react to something which caught my attention this morning.
It is very funny to imagine someone thinking after all the investments, the country would remain with the same level of money in the banks. I mean what are you trying to say? Kaunda inherited alot of money and what he did with it today can easily be seen - he built Zambia. What shocks me with people writing such comments is there completely desire to ignore the simplest idea of reasoning and looking at the achievments. You just want to say he wasted money. How? By ensuring you got an education, good roads, cheap fuel? Do you think all the peace and harmon that we have was without a price? Can you run a house without any form spending money on food, investments (education, business,etc)?
If you honestly want to see how much stealing can do, you don't have to go far. Look at what Chiluba did! How many leasure trips did he undertake? How many shoes and suits did he have from government resources. He is in court over all that. He only arrested Kaunda on Christmas day for personal revenge and on tramped up charges. Anyway, we should watch his cases now and the new government in power for merely over 6 months and what they are doing.
I think our problem has been developing a laziness on alot of issues and we it seems we see sense in blaming the good and praising the bad. Do you think the Post would have been created if Kaunda didn't want it? He not only had power then, but also had the resources not only to ban its existence but lock up anyone involved if he so wished. Look at how far RB has gone in a democratic state to try and close it down. Be it from Zambian Airways or mere article talking truthfully about him. Thats why the world out there praises Kaunda more than we do. We are damn right foolish if our reasoning when it comes to the big man. What structures have been built up since Kaunda left office? Even simple maintaince of roads seem a non starter. The buildings have simply been painted or cleaned (in the case of ZANACO). But Kaunda built structures that stand today. Look at how the elections came out. Did he rig? Are you sure he couldn't do it if he wanted? From ballot printing to annoucing. He let the people decide. Now even the delay in results is shocking as it has to pass through some central place to get the approval. Kaunda had less technological know how to release results faster than what happens today. I think it is shocking we have improved in technology but, things are worse! In a time of cyber technology, Kaunda did better with land lines! Not even dial-up!
Shame on a country which would praise the useless and leave the real heros standing with insults. We know what he did, all of it. But in almost all cases, they were reasons which called for such actions. From being a one party state to simply signing to allow muilty-party politics. Now we can't even have a constitution that the people want. A president has to choose as only he knows what people want. Do you know that even when the one party state was being created people wanted it? If we didn't go in that direction, we would have been at war, or worse be in total destruction? Don't say the minning issues brought urbanisation. Do you think Congo DR has less mines than Zambia? Be real and straight. You need a leader with a vision to provide for such. One who will work on issues not only to develop the people, but a country. Yes, he wanted to take people back to the land, it was for a good reason. We actually need to work on that right now. We have so much land, and yet we import agricultural products! Was that a bad thing to go back to the land? How many companies can we creat out of that idea? Or maybe you enjoy the economics of buying chips and potatoes in Shoprite clearly labelled "Proudly South African"? Zambia can't grow potatoes? Its such comments about good ideas being made to look bad that need to be brought out and comdemned. Kaunda said he wanted a company to produce 'oil from grass' and people laughed. If he worked on the idea, would Brazil be better than Zambia in oil fuel? He was way ahead and had the country in all his thoughts. He even fired MPs for forming companies that would interfer with their governmental obligations. Now its ministers companies working on governmental projects. Vested interest arrangements are all over. If not his company, its his sons milking governmental resources. Did you praise his for setting a good code of conduct for governmental officeials? Did you look at what those of followed him to? What came out of their self-interest policies? Now we even talk about ignoring the law of the land if the president is interested in the case!
So before you write something, have a clear idea of what led to what you are writing about, not just condemning. I hate people who have no clear and balanced sense of the issue and take advantage of being in a position which will allow them to throw rubbish on everyone they think should receive the rubbish. I'm very disappointed and don't like it. Why didn't you use your channel to high what he did good in totallity, and then hit him for what he did wrong in totallity. That way, you will use your media to build a country and build people not create monsters when you have nothing to scare kids with. Be realistic as you hold a high profile which should be used for goodness.
Staying in power for too long is a problem we all agree. But it is only a problem when one does it through systems which rig, lie, use force, etc. There is no question about that. More so if the leader is simply aiming at destruction and self development. MMD and Kaunda over-stayed in power. Fact! MMD was only good in power the first 5 years - Fact! Kaunda was good for over 10 years - Fact! So should we insult Kaunda twice more than we insult MMD or is it the other way? Look though your article and see if you brought out this information. If you did, did you balance it well? What structural growth has happened since Kaunda left and I'm simply looking at public services as any other area is subjectively dependent on the surrounding circumstances. That should be clearly handled. There are things one can compare and others they can't. RB's stand on corruption and Mwanawasa's stand and their actions and statements to that effect can be compared to Kaunda's as these are not subjective but factual. What did Kaunda/Mwanawasa and RB do to ministers found in corrupt situations? Factual even though slightly different, all corruption will be the same case.
You can't on the other hand say, there are more cars in Zambia now than in Kaunda's era. The fact is, South Africa is independent and can now trade with Zambia unlike in Kaunda's time when we could only build a pipe line to avoid sabotage from enemies. But you can look at what MMD would do if it was in Kaunda's time and vice versal. Thats a fair address of things on the ground. Anything besides that is not fair. Thats why in economics we use the word 'ceteres paribus' all things equal.
Its folly to compare things which are unrelated in any one. We got independence in 1964, look at African countries which did the same around that time and what they got 10years later. Assess that and look at what their leaders did. We got multi-partism in 1991, South Africa for example got multi-partism in 1990. Look at what they have done, not in infrastruture but say politically compare that with what MMD did. Even their constitution is worth looking at. MMD set up an idea of self-devotion at least after 5 years of Chiluba's rule. Laws were being setup to block and hammer opponents. We are not in a closed shop. We are surrounded by others who we can use to judge our progress. Surely are we any better than our neighbours?
These are issues which we should use to look at ourselves. Not looking at one person and use your self-made yard sticks to judge him. That is judging other people by your own standards. We as a country must learn to look at things in a manner which is fair, broad, and of course not in isolation. Don't laugh at a soldier running back from a war saying 'he was trained to do that!', when facts on the ground show that he ran away from a nuclear bomb which was thrown at him direction. Was his body trained not to burn to asshes? We should praise him at dogding the bomb, he did marvellous.
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