Veteran Politician Vernon Mwaanga has said Africa as a continent has been through difficult and disappointing phases of failed states, military coups, one man dictatorships, wars and conflicts, downright economic mismanagement, corruption, abrogation of press and individual freedoms which have made it impossible for the African people to get out of their cycle of poverty.
He has observed that newly elected African leaders amass unexplained wealth together with their subordinates in the shortest possible times of being in power and build houses, flats and complexes which their normal incomes cannot reasonably justify.
Dr. Mwaanga further observed that in African there is an erosion of democracy and human rights, the arrest and imprisonment of their opponents on tramped up charges, adding that such developments are disturbing and retrogressive because they have also induced a culture of silence and fear among ordinary citizens for fear of imprisonment.
Here is the entire statement by Dr. Vernon Mwaanga below:
Statement by Dr. Vernon J Mwaanga on the Relevance of Africa Freedom Day.
Africa Freedom Day is an important day set aside by our founding fathers to mark the day when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) -now known as the African Union – was founded on 25th May, 1963, in Adds Ababa, Ethiopia, to launch among many other objectives, the struggle against colonialism and apartheid on the African Continent.
It is a day for honouring the brave men and women on our continent who lost their lives, were maimed for life or made supreme sacrifices for our continent to be free from the humiliating yoke of colonialism, apartheid and oppression.
The founding fathers of our continent such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Modibo Keita of Mali, Gamal Nasser of Egypt, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Ahmed Ben Bella of Algeria, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and our own Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, wanted to see a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Africa, which would be tolerant of divergent views.
Sadly, our continent has been through difficult and disappointing phases of failed states, military coups, one man dictatorships, wars and conflicts, downright economic mismanagement, corruption, abrogation of press and individual freedoms which have made it impossible for the African people to get out of their cycle of poverty.
We have seen newly elected leaders amass unexplained wealth together with their subordinates in the shortest possible times of being in power and build houses, flats and complexes which their normal incomes cannot reasonably justify.
We have also seen an erosion of democracy and human rights, the arrest and imprisonment of their opponents on tramped up charges. These are disturbing and retrogressive developments which have also induced a culture of silence and fear among ordinary citizens for fear of imprisonment.
Africa’s GDP growth has slowed down and unemployment particularly among young people has become a time bomb waiting to explode with all the attendant consequences.
What has gone wrong with the vision of our founding fathers? We obviously have a leadership crisis which requires to be scrutinised more seriously, if we are to arrest the present downward trend of these selfish leaders who are not afraid to tamper with oil procurements, fertiliser procurements and other public procurement contracts to enrich themselves and their minions at the expense of their people, who are struggling everyday just to put food on their dinner tables.
Yes, we should celebrate Africa Freedom Day, which was a commitment by our founding fathers to eradicate colonialism and apartheid, which has been achieved and also to honour those gallant sons and daughters of Africa who sacrificed so much for our political freedom.
Sadly, we should also remember that the struggle against bad governance, human rights abuses, dictatorship, poverty, and corruption, shrinking space for press as well as civil society space and intolerance remains on going.
The people of africa must stand up and defend their democratic rights and speak out against injustice, so that we can lay down a much firmer foundation for generations yet unborn. Africa is an important continent and we all have a duty to give it a better image, which all of us can feel justly proud.
23rd May, 2017
Lusaka.
A great example is PF and ECL, nothing but a group of chimps and orangutans with IQ below 10
This loser can dare talk about African leaders, the kettle calling the pot black!
Vj used his time as a leader chasing anything in a skirt….peddled drugs for a quick buck. As a chief shushushu he killed Zambians and rigged elections. As times printpark boss..promoted the one party bul.lsh.it….and is now advising contrary to his own proven deeds…st.upid tonga
VJ WOULD QUALIFY A PERSON AS A GOOD LEADER IF THAT PERSON SALES ILLEGAL DRUGS AND CHASES AFTER ANYTHING UNDER A SKIRT. SHORT OF THAT HE/SHE IS DEFINITELY A BAD LEADER IN THE EYES OF IMMORAL, VJ.
Am sure VJ now understands pretty well that this government means business, means well for all Zambians and will not be deterred by vagabonds like HH.
VJ should have been wise enough to offer mature counsel to under 5 or 5 times loser HH on how to behave. If the government slackened even for a second Zambia would slip away – thanks to the watchful eye of EL , keeping all Zambians happy and peaceful
VJ is absolutely right. The best president we ever had was KK. These new leaders are nothing but a group of thieving bandits. You steal from your own people and you go and buy a range rover. what kind of ignorant a.s.s s.h.i.t is that? Kaunda sang in one of his songs. Bambi bale lila ama suiti, ifwe tulelila ichalo. thats the group of leaders we had. show me where kk stole and put wealth for hisself?
Edgar na ka kaizer, ba sata na ka chella, sad!!!!
You leaders have commited treason against the people, and the punishment for all of you is death.
…don’t forget mwanawasa, fat corrupt ba.s.tared!!…
Mr VJ you should take responsibility for this mess….you have been part parcel of this mess…don’t fool us, we know precisely where we are coming from with corrupt old crooks like you…just because your tribes-boy is involved criminal acts with the state do you want to behave a saint… we are tired of you flip flop veterans like you …. just like KK…you have messed us up an we are tired of you….just go 2 hell and leave the younger generation to mop up your mess…
I AM EXTREMELY CONCERNED WITH THE CURRENT UNBECOMING BEHAVIOR OF VETERAN POLITICIANS AKA CROP OF OLD POLITICAL FOLKS
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The malice, hate, falsehood, rigging, satire, tribal, discouraging, lack of prudent legacies, future-less, biased, anarchy behavior; envy and jealousy perpetrated by failures like VJ strikes me to the core. VJ should be a builder not a destroyer; an excellent adviser not a betrayer; a god-father not a trivial tribal goon; an example of good leadership not a bitter rigging maniac;
HH does not recognise ECL and you have done nothing in advising your student, well it’s high time ECL stopped recognising tribal HH period.
appreciate VJ ‘s comments….. When CK is brought before ACC, you rarely comment. The President said his minister are corrupt…. so VJ is correct…
This is when he is seeing something bad with Africa. go to india punk!!!!
VJ I always admire your leadership qualities. You are a great stateman.
I just want to say that, while you have stood up at critical moments of our national developement, such as now, you did deprive Zambia a quality leadership in Anderson Mazoka (MHSRIP) by assisting Chiluba (MHSRIP) to steal Mazoka’s election. Thus, that has inadvertently, led to the type and quality of leadership with the rarest moral structure that we are witnessing today. How I wish you had allowed Mazoka to rule Zambia and set a good leadership example. All the current flock would have been very far from the corridors of power.
Well stated DePal, we need a CEO not this muzamangwe (constable mentality). Mean while they are the biggest thieves Zambia will ever produce. A civil servant brand new Range Rover, could you do that in KK’s days?
BA VJ. YOUR PAST IS SO DENTED AND IRREPARABLY DAMAGED THAT WHATEVER YOU SAY, HOWEVER GOOD IT MAY SOUND, IS ALWAYS TREATED AS TRASH FOR THE DUST BIN. TOO BAD. IF I WERE YOU, I WOULD KEEP MY BLAH…BLAH…BLAH… MOUTH SHUT TO ALLOW PERSONS WITH CREDIBLE REPUTATIONS SPEAK.
The Presidents Mwaanga has mentioned were worse than Mugabe and that’s why three quarters were overthrown except for KK Nyerere and Kenyatta. Let him cheat young boys who don’t read history.
VJ is spot on. Very sensible message. But obviously people with both low IQs and EQs will choose to attack a man over things of the past which do not add any value to the present.
And what’s your IQ?I bet if Mwaanga had praised Edgar and condemned HH you’re going to call him low IQ
Hey they never added value even then
I agree with realist, the dullness in this country is appalling. VJ points out something important and sensible and then some senile chaps just respond according to the crumbs they are offered. Kupusa bati Shaa
Yes it is better to avoid AIDS by taking advice of an HIV sufferer
And do you agree that Sekou Toure was a good president as Mwaanga alleges. If you do then you don’t know anything about dictatorship and one man rule . Your man here is just failing to mention Edgar.
Lets hope your relatives, friends and neighbours who are infected or affect by AIDS do not see your heartless comments. What do you understand by term stigma, maybe you are not even tested but busy pointing fingers.
Ndanje Khakis – The man includes Ahmed Sekou Toure and thinks he is addressing kids — he conveniently ignores what Ahmed Sekou Toure did to Diallo Telli.
We would have taken him seriously if he wrote this in the 1990’s; too little, too late.
Comment:
VJ, THE MADRAX DEALER! Reliving his past.
But VJ has been and is one of Africa’s leaders. Is he wanting to remove himself from the equation?
VJ deliberately set aside the observation that some politicians form opposition parties in the hope of milking national wealth through mortgaging their Mother lands to western capitalist imperialists; and the fact that some politicians who worked in the era of Nkrumah, Nyererre, Kenyata and Kaunda tarnished the theme of Africa’s liberation fights by engaging in trafficking of psychotic drugs.
“What has gone wrong with the vision of our founding fathers? We obviously have a leadership crisis which requires to be scrutinised more seriously, if we are to arrest the present downward trend of these selfish leaders who are not afraid to tamper with oil procurements, fertiliser procurements and other public procurement contracts to enrich themselves and their minions at the expense of their people, who are struggling everyday just to put food on their dinner tables…VJ SHOULD HAVE FINISHED THIS PARAGRAPH AS FOLLOWS: …at least I sold mandrax to enrich myself, I didn’t steal from Zambians, but KK found out and he put me in prison, at least I didn’t steal public resources, I just sold drugs…”
People read about the founding fathers of our continent such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Modibo Keita of Mali, Gamal Nasser of Egypt, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Ahmed Ben Bella of Algeria, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Thomas Sankara!!
Study about self and wake up!!
Where’s Mandela and Augostino Neto on your list Jay Jay?
Look who is talking! Like he was an exemplary politician in his day…..drug dealing and all!
Aah boring talk from another Tonkey.
I AM EXTREMELY CONCERNED WITH THE CURRENT UNBECOMING BEHAVIOR OF VETERAN POLITICIANS AKA CROP OF OLD POLITICAL FOLKS
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The malice, hate, falsehood, rigging, satire, tribal, discouraging, lack of prudent legacies, future-less, biased, anarchy behavior; envy and jealousy perpetrated by failures like VJ strikes me to the core. VJ should be a builder not a destroyer; an excellent adviser not a betrayer; a god-father not a trivial tribal goon; an example of good leadership not a bitter rigging maniac;
HH does not recognise ECL and you have done nothing in advising your student, well it’s high time ECL stopped recognising tribal HH period.
all I see here are *****s
@VJ LOSER and Drug dealer/ SEX maniac . You passed through many portfolios, what did you come up with in terms of development? your time is over
VJ, you were so wealthy and had great opportunities. But look, despite all this, you failed to educate even 1 child of yours. So what vision did you have? Your only success was sex and drugs. Shut up and keep quiet. You are not a leader. All your wealthy was repossessed because of mismanagement
Sadly KK chooses to keep quiet on such matters!
Why should KK get involved? Do you want to start insulting him if says something contrary to your views,? Leave him alone.
VJ did you write this? or your Press Secretary who is not aware of your past? You contributed a lot to the current lack of integrity in our leaders by your deeds.