Friday, March 29, 2024

The Worrying Calibre of Zambian Political Opposition

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Copperbelt University based MMD cadres draped in the party colours

By Dr. Daniel K. Maswahu

In any competition everyone naturally celebrates number one. The laurel, the gold medal and the high table are all reserved for the fastest, the smartest, the brightest. Everyone loves a winner – just look at the staggering numbers of Manchester United supporters, fans (these actually bet and gambled money and possessions on the team) and sympathisers (these never placed any monetary or material bets, but to their credit did buy that over-priced T-shirt with Man U colours and made sure everyone knew about it). When “Chipolopolo” – the Zambia National soccer team win a game, even the neighbourhood dogs sense something is afoot from the increased number of (amateur) drunkards sleeping in the drainage ditches.

Number two? Ummm. Errr. The runner-up? Number two only gets credit for keeping number one just that tiny bit ahead. Let’s face it – if it wasn’t for number two snapping at the heels of number one, number one may not have broken that world record. Some top athletes make themselves ‘number two’ and so compete against themselves and their previous performances.

The term performance is in the Zambian political context somewhat alien. It is not given the significance it deserves with very desperate previous heads of state shamelessly taking credit for the forces of nature (rainfall and subsequent bumper grain harvests), the high price of copper and related metals on the world metal markets, and a predecessors efforts.

Performance in the minds of many Zambians equates to a big supermarket (think Shoprite, Pick and Pay or Game) just waiting (and begging) to be looted. This category of people characteristically hide the perverse inclination to take, take and take some more and not give or provide proportionate labour under accusations of tribalism. They unfortunately have no insight into their condition. The spirit of service that is required to raise an individual, a family, a community, a nation does not strike a chord with them. These people do not ask what they may give to their country – they ask only what they can get. Remember this next time you accuse someone of tribalism.

The Game of Politics

The stakes in the game of politics are obviously higher with loses being measured in terms of human life so one would expect greater respect and understanding for performance (or lack thereof). The only preparation Zambian political parties have prior to a stint in power is as opposition parties. The two political parties that have dominated the better part of Zambia’s 47 years in existence (UNIP and MMD) were before coming into power illegal, outlawed and considered borderline (and sometimes outright) terrorists. Their period of opposition prior to taking power was of course punctuated by the arrest of key leadership figures. The circumstances were somewhat improved for the Patriotic Front, but they had their share of time in the wilderness rendered twice as bitter by two very controversial presidential election polls that many now consider as having been snatched from out of their grasp. The argument for this “theft” of previous presidential election votes has everything to do with the drama that occurred when the then Chief Justice threatened to announce the September 2011 Presidential poll results to the world after incumbent Rupiah Bwezani Banda was caught in the spasms of a fit of denial generated by his own questionable governance and aggravated by a bunch of no-good “supporters” who predicted his “victory”.

Neither UNIP nor MMD had any concrete (or just plain ordinary) plans or agenda to cater for the event of them being kicked out of power – such was their intoxication. Their role as a post-ruling opposition party was and has never been clearly defined from within or from outside the party. Weaning (more like tearing) them from sucking (abusing) government coffers and resources has had dramatic effects on the existence and functions of these entities. They are now mere shadows of themselves after being or are currently being hounded by their sharp nosed successors.

And this is precisely where the challenge lies. Once they came into power, there was a very fatal blurring of what belonged to government (the People) and what belonged to the party. PF are one step ahead on this one as they have no plans of staying any longer than two terms and can therefore comfortably map out a survival strategy for being in the opposition. There are some who are of the opinion that part of the solution is to fund opposition parties that have at least one third of total parliamentary representation. Those that oppose this view argue that if a political party cannot carry out simple book-keeping practice or even raise funds, they should not be allowed within bungee rope distance of the economy of an entire nation.

The purpose of this discussion is to give some thought to the clearly important role that opposition parties play in the Zambian context of democratic governance and to see whether the values they stand for while they are in opposition reflect on the type of governance standards they will “inflict” or propagate when they are ushered into power.

The Issues in Your Face

Despite losing on the simple grounds that they did not champion the people’s concerns (poor health facilities, poor and inaccessible quality education, rampant employment, markedly poor living conditions for the few employed – a.k.a. more money in the pocket) the current opposition do not seem to have taken note of these concerns. It is not rocket science to be able to figure out that these matters will continue to be the issues that the electorate decide on even in the future when asked where to best place their vote. As regional (tribal) voting was practised by all stake holders, the overall effect of this alleged stumbling block mathematically cancels itself out, so let’s not even go there.

The following are my views about what the current opposition should be talking about if they are to be taken as serious contenders come 2016 (yes, let’s all get over the 90 days please).

Corruption

Essential civil servants
We all know that the Zambia Police Service are the all time top scorers in this category. The cause is simple. There is a civil service code of ethics that labels a police officer indisciplined (and therefore subject to instant dismissal) if he or she complains about living in a “dog house” such as the one below (Mongu Police Camp) or complains about lack / delay of payment of their salary.

A House currently being occupied by Police Officer in Mongu district in Western Province

It should not take the sympathy and good will of a top ranking civil servant in the Ministry of Home Affairs to have such fundamental issues noticed and dealt with. At the end of the day, the ones who are morally indisciplined are the employers of the police officer who make it impossible even when “the economy is improving” or we are registering “bumper harvests” for police officers and other civil servants to earn a decent living wage.

This ethos governing the rights (or lack thereof) of essential civil servants to complain is entirely valid, but the employer should know that there arrives a point at which professionalism is thrown out of the window because the unpaid and poorly housed civil servant must somehow fend for his or her family. And even though some say that civil servants should not engage in politics, a decently paid civil servant makes an excellent “campaign manager” and vice-versa. Government is still the largest employer in the country, so the MMD must have unwittingly recruited many “campaign managers” in the September 2011 elections.

The Workshop Culture

In this same line, the phenomenon of having workshops for ridiculously obvious and unnecessary matters in remote and exotic places such as Siavonga and Livingstone deserves mention. The infamous Kapoko used this gapping financial loop-hole at the Ministry of Health to enrich himself sufficiently to buy a Hummer and a posh lodge (besides running a private nursing school). Holding a workshop is a culture that is merely secondary or a reaction to poor salaries.

The cancellation by President Sata of a Permanent Secretaries 6 day Livingstone outing last week may not recover all the costs incurred, but more importantly sends a clear signal of what the PF government’s current and future priorities are. Kachunga Edwin Simusamba, UPND Deputy National Chairman for Finance and Economics who would undoubtedly hold a senior government position if UPND came into power has posted sentiments on the Zambian Watchdog website describing this cancellation as “extravagant” making me and many others wonder when exactly the meaning of this word changed.

Permanent Secretaries and the acting Secretary to the Cabinet of all people should be aware of the message contained in Cabinet Office Circular No. 7 of 2006. Recovery of part of the allowances should be simple given they only attended two of the six days of the workshop. Protea Hotel Livingstone can (of course) be negotiated with as they now have at least 40 fully paid but unoccupied rooms which are still free to be leased out. The long term loses are what should be prevented and cancelling such a misadventure for senior officers leaves them and all concerned in no doubt about PF government priorities.

I would have expected Mr Simusamba to demonstrate some knowledge of the difference between systemic and individual errors and accordingly offer improvement of workers’ salaries as a long term solution (thereby adding to UPND popularity, but he prefers to be fixated with the short term). This simple move would directly cut down on the hundreds of unnecessary workshops tabled within the civil service. The function of the opposition is not to merely deliver mindless, knee-jerk, negative opposition, but considered and well thought-out proposition.

The recent groundless call by UPND to impeach President Sata further conveys the impression that we are dealing with a bunch of disgruntled, frustrated elements with no sense of direction. UPND needs to seriously refocus and realise that the issues are not about Sata, but about taking care of the very valid concerns of the people.

Prosecution of former presidents and close associates.

Still on the subject of systemic errors, the recurring pattern of prosecution (intended and ongoing) and arrest (if ever) of former presidential candidates and those closely associated with them is a clear indication of a flaw in the system. Human nature is such that it will seek loop-holes in the system through which crimes may be carried out without punishment. The long term solution is very simply – seal off the loop-holes, which in this case are:
-drastically reduce the powers of appointing key civil servants by the office of the president (less powers of appointment and more appointments based on merit and track record thereby rendering the arms of government truly independent and more professional) and
-spread out and balance powers of office of the president by constitutional constraint requiring an elected vice presidential running mate. This will more clearly define the lines of power and additionally avoid costly re-elections.

Last but not least, the MMD bear the name of being democratic, but have repeatedly and flagrantly violated this primary ethos that brought them into being (with two consecutive top leaders namely the late Levy Mwanawasa and more recently Rupiah Banda being hand-pick instead of being democratically elected). I would expect them to champion and demand constitutional inclusion of intra-party democracy as a necessary requirement before any party is let loose on the national stage, but this may be asking too much given their total lose of direction. MMD need to clean their house big time by electing leaders who understand the fundamental meaning of democracy and are free of corruption and abuse of public resources to ever regain public confidence.

Part of the very simple reasons the top-most MMD leadership took liberties with public resources is that they over-stayed in power and felt they are only accountable to the group of people who hand-picked them (NEC) and not the Zambian public.

These are but a few of the critical issues I would expect mature opposition political parties that are in the business of serving the public for the long term to discuss.

Just as the ANC is celebrated in South Africa, Zambia should be celebrating the engineers of our important political milestones, not prosecuting and arresting them. The onus lies on the one hand with UNIP and MMD to re-capture the cause and arguments they were prepared to suffer and even die for that brought them into existence, and for PF on the other hand to elevate us to the next level by administering the necessary justice and end this pattern of ex-presidential prosecution and arrest by sealing the loop-holes. Those same causes and arguments are the reasons that there is today a Zambia proud and free, soaring upwards into an open blue sky like the magnificent fish eagle on our flag and coat of arms.

30 COMMENTS

  1. Dr Fimo Fimo mulichu-puba tata imwe. Where does it say because you are ANC you have the right to go and stea-l?

    • “for PF on the other hand to elevate us to the next level by administering the necessary justice”

      The ANC have had their fair share of prosecution and Mandela’s ex-wife was not spared.

  2. nice article. the very low caliber opposition we have makes me think PF can be in goverment for 25year. I mean look at HH, Mutati, kunda you can not compare them the president when he was in opposition.

    • You are absolutely right about possibility of PF running another 25 years, but that is precisely what is worrying. If that happens, we would not have progressed. The opposition need to pull up their socks, but they may need someone to pull them up. Wonder who?

    • PF will die with Sata. This is a one-man party, with a government that is centered on a personality. That’s why the acting president is usually his cousin Chikwanda, whenever Sata leaves the country. The vice president (Scott) almost has zero constitutional powers, being a first generation Zambian. You can tell this is a man not preparing anyone to succeed him.

  3. This article is spot-on. Zambians politics need to mature and reach the next level of democracy.

    Could someone enlighten me on zambia’s laws with regard to financing of political parties? Are they allowed to receive private donations? If they are not, then this needs to be changed. Where else do you expect a politician to get money to campaign – unless he is HH or BY. In mature democracies, parties are free to fund-raise from party loyalists and wealthy pvt individuals. I think the same pattern should be permitted in zambia.

    • There is no law against funding or sponsoring a political party in Zambia. What needs to be defined are the ground rules such as a public declaration of “who is donating what to whom” i.e. the need to declare interests and in order to protect from conflicting interests. There should also be rules especially about the nature of donations or support made to a party that is in power. There are also no rules (to my knowledge) about gifts made to the head of state or government officials because these gifts in effect belong to the people of Zambia not the individual receiving them.    

  4. HH is young and educated HH should be president and Sata in opposition_______________dream on,,, but what to do what to do,, HH has failed, even his oppostion to the govt has failed,, even when HE MCS was in oppostion HH still opposed him,, What does HH stand for ??HH and his tonga tribal party are not about counterbalance, but to Oppose HE MCS at anything, even when the president leaves office HH will still be opossing him maybe HH greatest ambition is to oppose HE MCS, he cannot even manage his under5 party. The UPND has now become so hostile, all they do is obstract and hinder development in our nation. Is that we what want from an opposition party ?? NO NO not at all

  5. “Dr”Why dont you become an opposition leader yourself.You Foul mouthed PF carders writing against HH you are hypocrites.Dont you that the media that black out HH is the reason for lack balanced opposition views in Zambia.Compalin agaist your media houses for not covering the opposition. HH has never being given a fair coverage simply because these media are triablly inclined and would only favour covering there on. Meanwhile this Govt of yours is ever digging deeper graves for you and your children.

  6. We cahoot the views Dr Muswahu expresses that MMD bear the name of being democratic though have reapeatedly and fragrantly violated this ethos that brought them into existence. Indeed MMD is the only democratic party in the country but its short comings are seriously being corrected with an increasing zeal to attain acceptable level of democracy. However, the rest of the parties are One Man Party and all power rests with one man. This does not exist in mature democratic countries. Currently, Zambia has gone back to UNIP days where KK was mis advised that nothing else existed outside himself. To day Sata appoints traditional chiefs and can threaten to remove them. Other parties have a long way to democratize themselves.

  7. It is very easy to condemn, why can’t this Doc form an opposition party based on his fantasies if he so loves Zambia?

  8. Those calling the Doc to be opposition,are they saying for one to complain he/she must be a party leader? Please get the sense from what this man is saying and let us give checks and balances to the gvt.I agree with No 6 SDA,HH opposed Sata when sata had no power to change things like now.Do you believe HH is acting in good faith? Let somebody take over UPND,I miss Mazoka (MHSRIP)!

  9. #10, denial is not a river in Egypt.
    If you think replacing one man with a bunch of equally clueless men and women is democracy, think again. One is just as bad as the other.
    Democracy demands transparency and the criteria and reasons for hand-picking Levy Mwanawasa or Rupiah Banda should have been made public (unless NEC are super intelligent, but they are not so please stop insulting our intelligence).
    You have a point about one man parades (PF – Sata, UPND – HH, Elias Chipimo), but the author does say that the MMD missed an opportunity to make intra-party democracy constitutional when they were in power for the simple reason they had stopped practising democracy themselves.

  10. Doctor who? Always easy to analyse what happened than to predict. Reminds one of the Supersport analysis of football games that have been played, they use illustrations of where a defender should have been when a striker was approaching as if football players are robots. But then Supersport is fun, not so this doctre.

    • You should just watch Sesame street and cartoons. Supersport is too hard for your imbecile brain to compute. Please don’t come and exhibit your ignorance here. Keep it in Chibolya where you stay biatch

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