I read with interest the Lusaka times 7/2/2017 article titled “People insult me to just gain some media coverage-President Lungu.” I wanted to offer my thoughts and an essay helpful to the current discourse on governance in our Republic.
The President scoffed that people who are speaking against the manner in which he is leading the country are only trying to get media attention to promote themselves. In particular, the President is quoted to have referred to comments that he is a dictator, as an insult. Then he went on to ridicule his detractors by bragging that he is President and therefore disinterested in rebuttals. This perhaps a copy cut jibe from one issued by U.S President Donald Trump in his on-going feud with the U.S mainstream media who 48 hours earlier Tweeted that, “I am President, they are not.” Then Mr. Lungu concluded that: “A dictator does not consult, a dictator does not take criticism. I have taken so much; I have been punched so much but I have not hit back. Obviously I can hit back and all fairness I am a human being.”
Perhaps it’s prudent to define a few terms to ensure clarity. The terms of interest here are: “insult,” “Dictatorship,” and “Dictator.” The word “insult” means either an intransitive verb in archaic usage that means “to behave with pride or arrogance” or as a transitive verb in which case it means “to treat with insolence, indignity, or contempt.”
Without the need for a Presidential interview, it can be deduced that the President of Zambia is receiving non-flattering terms of describing his approach to governing our country intransitively as pride or arrogance of those voicing their concerns and transitively as them channeling insolence, indignity or contempt of him and his position.
Further, it is judicious to look at one of the insults. Those voicing concerns over his leadership have characterized his government as a “dictatorship” and therefore him as a head of State as a “dictator.”
First, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica:
“Dictatorship is a form of government in which one person or a small group possesses absolute power without effective constitutional limitations. Dictators usually resort to force or fraud to gain despotic political power, which they maintain through the use of intimidation, terror, and the suppression of basic civil liberties. They may also employ techniques of mass propaganda in order to sustain their public support. A dictatorship is a type of authoritarianism, in which politicians regulate nearly every aspect of the public and private behavior of citizens. Dictatorship and totalitarian societies generally employ political propaganda in order to decrease the influence of proponents of alternative governing systems. In the past, different religious tactics were used by dictators in order to maintain their rule, such as the monarchical system in the west.”
Second, according to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History:
“By Definition, dictatorships exercise extreme and extensive control over people’s lives and actions. They exert their authority through the diverse mechanisms of repression, fear, co-optation, acceptance, and approval.” (p.54)
A dictatorship is a type of authoritarianism, in which those in power regulate nearly every aspect of the public and private behavior of citizens. Such societies generally employ political propaganda in order to decrease the influence of proponents of alternate governing ideas.
Is there some merit to the descriptions of the current administration as a “dictatorship”?
In my mother’s village in Samfya District, they taught us that: “Ichikwanka bachimwena kumapmalanya” (literary means “that which catches you as you fall can be recognized by what it has done to others”). The implication is that we can compare what has happened to others or relate similar treatments in order to recognize the nature of something. Therefore, in determining whether the current administration is a dictatorship, we may take one or two approaches.
First, compare to other well-known dictatorships and isolate similarities. Second, we may read widely supported definitions of the nature of a dictatorship and compare them with the specific actions of the government to determine whether they fit together or are analogous.
In either case the Leaders of the Church Mother bodies did an excellent job in describing their misgivings about specific actions of the Edgar Lungu Administration in the Zambia and let me relate a few to the stated definitions. I cite the Bishops’ credible observations as examples and then relate each one to standard definitions of a dictatorship captioned above.
Example 1: “How can one explain the failure of the Constitutional Court to hear and exhaustively conclude a presidential petition?”
[see Encyclopedia Britannica definition of a dictatorship above: “a small group possesses absolute power without effective constitutional limitations.”]
Example 2: “The political environment in Zambia, today, is characterized by manipulation, patronage, and intimidation of perceived government opponents. We urge the government to stop using state security institutions to intimidate its own nationals. The police service, in particular, must be professional and impartial in carrying out their duties of maintaining law and order. Too many of the nation’s resources and time are wasted on politicking at the expense of real development. This culture must change for the better.” [see Oxford Encyclopedia definition of a dictatorship above: “they exert their authority through the diverse mechanisms of repression, fear, co-optation, acceptance, and approval.”]
Example 3: “The selective application of the Public Order Act by the Police.”
[see Oxford Encyclopedia definition of a dictatorship above: “By Definition, dictatorships exercise extreme and extensive control over people’s lives and actions.”]
Examples 4 (a) “The plans to kill LAZ are discreditable.”
(b) “the police being used and acting like political party cadres. Police officers are supposed to and must be exemplary in following the rule of law since they are in- charge of keeping law and order.”
(c) “Our political leaders in the ruling party often issue intimidating statements that frighten people and make us fear for the immediate and future.”
(d) “Furthermore, we are witnesses to what transpired during the run-up to the August 2016 general elections when several media houses were harassed and finally closed. The recent happenings were not reported by several media houses because of the heavy presence of the Police.”
[For examples 4 (a)-(d) See Oxford Encyclopedia definition of a dictatorship above: “Dictators usually resort to force or fraud to gain despotic political power, which they maintain through the use of intimidation, terror, and the suppression of basic civil liberties.]
Example 5. “Our democratic credentials which have not been much to go by at best of times have all but vanished in this nation that loudly claims to be “God-fearing,” “peace-loving” and “Christian.”
[pullquote]dictators are human beings, they thrive on retaliating and they also consult. They just don’t consult wise people.[/pullquote]
Historically, dictatorships have used different religious tactics in order to maintain their rule, such as hoodwinking believers into the notion of the “Christian Nation.” In the Bible there are no elections, there are only selections of the chosen ones. If we transposed that to a government in a democratic dispensation, it will not fit and will constitute a dictatorship as defined above. Most importantly, can a nation or state government be a Christian nation? If this is Mr. Lungu PF government is what a Christian Nation is, then Christ surely died in vain. Truth be told, salvation in Christ is PERSONAL and never NATIONAL in nature. So “Zambia a Christian” is a utopian, unbiblical, and suck religious concept that all thinking Christians should be dismissive of as a political gimmick to hoodwink the faithful into political patronage on account of faith.
Mr. Lungu said: “A dictator does not consult; a dictator does not take criticism. I have taken so much; I have been punched so much but I have not hit back. Obviously I can hit back and all fairness I am a human being.”
This is NOT true dictators are human beings, they thrive on retaliating and they also consult. They just don’t consult wise people. They consult likeminded counselors, intellectual lightweights, and “Yes” men, mediums, diviners, and sorcerers. Aren’t we beginning to see our country becoming like our First and second Republic, or Southern Uganda or Northern Zimbabwe? There must be some consulting going on. Even Idi Amini would carry a rooster and enter a witchdoctor’s hut to consult. A dictator does consult especially in self-interest, not national interest. If Mr. Lungu does consult where are the research institutions to create and tender counsel to back public policy with empirical evidence, like all progressive governments, to improve the welfare of our people. Photo opts with the political ambassador of the Vatican to Zambia and Malawi is tantamount to political propaganda, the mainstay of dictatorships. Why not go and address the issues raised by the people who directly work will the citizens? Aren’t those the Bishops he has been hiding from for fear of the truth?
In a nutshell, His Excellence, the President of Zambia Mr. Edgar Lungu should look in the mirror and soberly reflect on the impact of this government’s actions on the people. When we call his government a dictatorship, we are not seeking to behave with pride or arrogance or describe genitals in public or insult our government. We are not trying to treat our President with insolence, indignity, or contempt. We just see, feel and recognize the type of government we have. Our desire, however, is to have our country do better. Our President is a lawyer who surely can read and write. If even us with half a brain can chronicle the deficits of hope in our country and other pertinent governing issues, what more the eminent lawyer of our Nation. If our own Leader cannot see this as a cry for better government, it is either one of three issues at play:
a) The President is insincere
b) The President is not sober when making such comments
c) it can be a case of psychological ineptitude.
In which case let me be the first Zambian to humbly ask Mr. Lungu for his resignation from the positions of President of our party the PF, and our country Zambia on account of lack of fitness for the job. It would be better to have someone up to the job than what is currently obtaining in our country. Zambia we can do better!
By Jones K. Kasonso, Ph.D., CPA, CGMA, MBA, BSc., NATech
The author is a Zambian, An Accounting Professor in Washington DC and Dubai.
You make his ego erect, doctor is too large for him.
Umuntu nga atumpa doesn’t mean is a dictator.
Ukutumpa is not an insult.
Ka Mayor Chanda kalitumpa,
Kapyongo alitumpa,
Lusambo alitumpa,
Floyd Mayweather alitumpa, but I like him.
Prof. you could have not out it any better. What we have is a dictator hiding behind propaganda and hooliganism scripted by K. Zulu and Mumbi.
The clenching a fist symbolizes being a dictator. In the picture you have a dictator in a hat and his henchman.
Dictators often clench fists as a way of scaring people around them and they will often have police or paramilitary behind them all this meant to instill fear and intimidate. They will also have blind followers around them. Well there you have it, in the picture above, nothing to do with me it’s just there.
This is a herbal professor (traditional healer from mununga)
To a dictator, any negative innuendo is an insult.
President Lungu is a DICTATOR. Period! Anyone who disagrees must check the definitions again and re-read the article.
dictator meaning
noun: dictator; plural noun: dictators
– a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained control by force.
Intolerance is an indisputable mark of dictatorship. Our president cannot withstand opposition in any form. Is that not dictatorship?
Lungu lied, Nobody in the opposition or civil society has been using profanity.
Phew Prof. Kasonso! What an article! I initially saw a long article which like many that takes one on a winding road with little substance, I enjoyed going through it and wound up wishing it was longer, thanks! Would a G12 in government understand and appreciate it? The President himself, his press secretary or whoever is in his close circle if they indeed get to access and read such posted articles do they do it with an open mind as to glean something constructive! I truly wonder! My consolation is the clear perspective on the “Christian Nation” and its on record only the Catholic clergy opposed and still remain opposed to this declaration. Zambia is deeply rooting a dictatorship!
Calling someone dictator kumutumpika.
We are no saying that he is a dictator as in a real dictator, as they come. He is just a small dictator.
Even from your examples, Kasonso, it is clear that you lack understanding of basic democratic tenets and prefer to lazily feed off what the media is telling you rather than research, which is the basis of what makes your title of professor. Have you bothered to study the constitution before you rush to say it did not hear the petition?? Was it PF or ECL who set the 14 day time limit?? Like a common carpenter rather than a professor who researches, you rush to say the government is “planning to kill LAZ”, do you know what LAZ is?? How do you have the top three leaders of LAZ being affiliated to the Nchitos; a sister, a former employee and a partner to a Nchito associate and expect LAZ to be neutral?? Jones Kasonso, you are a let down. It is good you are not here as your contribution to…
Zambian citizen, you have nailed it all. The accounting Professor is wrong. Wrong on facts presented. He is arguing from an ill-informed position. Nobody closed any newspaper it closed itself. He relied on Oxford definitions to push his arguments which do not make sense at all. It is good he is outside the country otherwise he could have been misleading everyone. Please stay there with your accounting credentials we don’t need them in Zambia.
Perfect: you are true. The fact that he is able to post his article on an online network simply shows that the country is not under dictatorship. He is making academic explanations that are based on his outside understanding. That is the problem I have with such people who make a lot of noise but leaving outside the country. Who wants to kill LAZ
Quote: “Most importantly, can a nation or state government be a Christian nation?” I’m wondering whether Kansoso can read between words to find hidden emotions and agenda in writers. When a country declares itself as a Moslem or Christian nation, it does so on understanding that its constitution and socio-cultural behavior would abide by the teachings of that religion. Nineveh repented its sins once Jonah admoshed them. The Bible is full of such testimonies. Yes, Zambians can declare their country a Christian state. This professor also makes several claims he fails to substantiate. Who wrote those archaic laws of regulating gatherings by the police? Is it Edgar? People like GBM, Guy Scott, Nevers Mumba and the Miyandas had the chance to repeal such laws when they were in government;…
That’s what dictators always do, they have justification for everything.
Useless article ba Kasonso. Dictator is not a nice term, period. Its connotations are repulsive.
Then how else do you describe a kama person who imposes himself as a president illegally, no one wants him and he keeps clenching his fists as a way of scaring people around him and often have police or paramilitary behind them. They will also have blind followers around them? I mean what image does the picture above portray? Are you stu.pid?
analyser – Your stu.pidity manifests itself in your failure to analyze issues. Nobody imposed themselves on anybody in Zambia. Your being scared by a picture of a harmless citizen tells a lot about who you are. When you are back home just obey the law of the land.
…the country would have amounted to nothing!!!! Even in the USA, Donald Trump has attacked the media this morning calling it fake and even doctoring a video where like in WWF attacking an opponent labelled CNN. The media world wide is coming under increasing attack for their irresponsible and biased reporting. Certain quarters are labeling the media for having hidden agendas and constantly being used to champion selfish motives. Who can forget the news of the world saga where the media held politicians at ransom in UK?? or even our very own Fred M’membe who used the media to push selfish political motives??
The truth has been uncovered Zambia is in the hands of a dictator
And Zambia is a place where no dictator dwell. We will shift him. KK was shifted after 27 years and this kama Lungu of yesteryear will just be brushed aside. Him he thinks that he is big, at least that is what his henchmen tell him. They call him boss and he thinks of himself as being larger than life.
How do you justify hanging out with dictators at your age, you even get funded by the one of remaining dictator of times Robert Gabriel Mugabe. Come on, try something else.
@Zambian Citizen -if you have studied the constitution, who declared EL as president? By virtue of the election being petitioned, the results announced by ECZ were invalidated. It was now the constitutional court who had the power to tell the nation who the president was – the petitioned or the petitioner. After dismissing the petition,the ConCourt was supposed to uphold the results announced by ECZ but they didn’t. So which constitution did you study?
Mr Professor, do you read? The media that you have used for your “article” right here this LT contains insults in almost every set of comments.
Then you write such a long article on things that you could have verified very easily simply by reading one two three articles? Awe mwebantu, bushe bu professor ubu? Tebututu ubwabu Donkey ubu? A breed of UPNDonkey obviously. No wonder U5 cannot become President, with donkeys to advise him sure?
You are so preoccupied with upnd that you see in every article even where there is no mention at all.it says a lot about you Mr terrible.stay focused .the prof is Right.
This is a clear tabulation of what many objective people have publicly told Mr Lungu. People who have told Mr Lungu are from various corners of Zambia and the world, but Mr Lungu doesn’t listen for sure. One wonders why. Is it really normal for a human being to keep brushing off all the advice that he has been given. The president of Ghana who visited Zambia just last week advised him publicly to put the interest of the country above self, but nothing seems to get to mr Lungus ears. What could be the main reason Mr Lungu is so deeply adamant inspite of the uproar on his type of governance. Surely,there should be a reason that many of us are not able to see. Pipo now have to start looking at the CAUSE for his conduct and not the RESULTS of his conduct.
The whole set of “advisors” in U5’s board of advisors seems to contain such “professors” as this UPNDonkey.
I am sure that even U5 and all other UPNDonkeys are so disappointed with this particular one, the other ones are even a little better.
Their advice on UPND is based on the deep-seated feelings of “it’s our time to rule” Zambia. Nothing really convincing. Even the constitution they refer is misconstrued terribly. Nowhere in the constitution does it say the President must hand over power at first instance except in a re-run. But they will twist this fact to suit UPND views. They will also rant on who swore the President, but they could see the Chief Justice signed the oath of allegiance the president signed, again they emotionally argue to the contrary.
To make their points look valid and authentic they use titles of “Professor” all aimed at misleading the public. Who says because they hold such titles then they are wiser and knowledgeable than the rest of the people of Zambia. Zambia is such a wonderful country, no…
If allowing the nation to be run by the rule of law is what amounts to dictatorship, then dictatorship is the sweetest thing that has ever happened to Zambia, and dictatorship I support 100%.
Ba Professor!!!. You obviously have your own agenda and pay no attention to facts. We are all doomed….where on earth did they find this pointless individual……desperation by UPND or what? I pity the folks in DC and Dubai who have to put up with such a buf00n
A dictator must have to be called a dictator just as one calls a spade a spade.
Dictators like our dictatorial friend ECL want call a spade a big spoon and they want to ensure that we believe it. I ain’t mate.
When people say: “this dog bites,” they mean to say, it bites. A biting dog is called a biting dog because it bites. Similarly, a dictator is called a dictator because he is a dictator. The descriptive term is neither imposed nor arbitrarily ascribed. It is born out of the perception of a collection of individuals. It’s possible to deny that a biting dog bites. However, if it bites anyhow, to what effect would that denial amount to?
Recently this dictator was called chi.kala, that person found himself behind bars. In Bemba chika.la isn’t an insult but ilumbo. You have one hell of a raving maniac in state house. Very soon he will begin calling all Zambians, stupi!d idyiots, like his mentor used to do.
You are very stu.pid ba Wantanshi. Your inability to condemn insults underlines how stu.pid you are.
It becomes mere wishful thinking to deny that a crying baby cries, when that baby keeps you awake all night. If the baby cries, there is nothing wrong to say it cries. President Mwanawasa was a tribalist, president Chiluba, a thief, Rupiya Banda an embezzler and president Lungu, part this, and part that, but largely a dictator – that is not an empty insinuation. It’s a fact. President Kaunda is a good man. He was a good leader and an outstanding president. But that does not mean he was not a dictator. He was.
Lungu is just f00l who has destroyed Zambia and Zambia will never be the same unless if we see Lungu behind bars. His day. Will come and all his minions in the names of Kaizer, Mumbi, F Bwalya and Lusambo and Kampyongo and Kanganja will be be scattered like flies. Thanks prof.
When someone who is drunk tells you that he is not drunk, do you go by what he tells you or by what you see him to be?
Even when caught red-handed, a thief rarely admits that he is a thief.
The hard fact is that, our innocent looking president is not as innocent as he looks. He is a committer of atrocity. He is more violent than he appears, more cruel than his appearance wants us believe.
Dictator or not as long as you recognise his authority and that he is in power
Dictator or not, recognise him or not, he is the man in whom Executive power is reposited. If UPNDonkeys want U5 to be released or pardoned he is the man to authorise the papers.
If his power and Presidency are legitimate why does he need recognition? who is collecting a Presidential salary and benefits in Zambia? what recognition beyond that does he want or need? Look this man is not God his day to answer for his atrocities awaits him and will be there for all to see if his ARVs allow him to live longer.
Sometimes I wonder what all these UPNDonkeys will be saying or writing when U5 negotiates his “reconciliation”, i.e. pardon, and abandons all his endless donkey cases in courts of law. Can you imagine all these so called professors just opening their mouths.
I have discovered that in many cases donkey professors attain those lofty titles because they are donkeys who have failed to be recognised by society, they have no brains so they work very hard to attain the title thinking that then society will give them respect. But it never happens so they will go abroad and say I am a lecturer in America. But so what? They are probably as good as a primary school teacher. I mean guys let’s be honest we know Professors when we see them, they don’t announce themselves but society acclaims…
….. I mean guys let’s be honest we know Professors when we see them, they don’t announce themselves but society acclaims them. We have real Professors like Professor Nkanza, Professor Chifumbe Chintu and many other acclaimed Zambians who have done real research and contributed so much to Zambia. But the pretenders go to earn some cash for a bag of mealie meal. …..UPNDonkeys! awe ca nsoni sana!!
Ask this Donkey what he has contributed to his field of “expertise”, nothing and then you know he is just another (UPN)Donkey hopelessly thinking that he will be a permanent secretary if U5 became president and then he can amass wealth. Shameful really!
I personally know the author of that article. He can not seek employment in Zambia not even in your dreams. No government position can pay his salary. Google him and go into research databases at 40 he is one of the most outstanding young Zambians not even ECL can much his pedigree. All the professors you are mentioning are great men but they are all old people. If you thinking becoming a professor at such a tender age is a joke then become one and bring your testicles for comparisons…iwe Terrible pasaulemo CHALLENGE HIS IDEAS DON’T START ATTACKING PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW…Not all wise people are UPND, get over UPND! This is guy is a SATA boy…we shiluwe!
Desert Fox – Don’t tell lies, there is nothing about your acclaimed “Professor”. If anything he got his PhD only in 2015 – what did he do to become “Professor” in two years? Assistant Professor, yes – meaning a junior faculty member.
Am fully convinced that people like Terrible & Zambian Citizen are paid Agents for the PF probably working very closely and fully benefiting from the regime to monitor online media. This article was written by a PF Supporter, but you still rush to rubbish UNDP. Learn to be analytical & leave the opposition out if you have nothing sensible to contribute. We are trying to build a Zambia which is better for all of us, just mark my words “EL will not be power for ever”. Every dog has it’s day & even if he wins in 2021, his time to pay for his misdeeds will eventually come.
There are a few preliminary observations regarding this article:
? If you choose to splash your qualifications an opinion or perceived opinion you must indicate where you got those qualifications. This helps to determine the level of response one would receive. For example if you got this Degree from Matero University then one would know how much time to spend on your opinion. We know for a fact that there are Universities even in America that are not accredited by anybody but they dubiously give degrees.
? The article sounds more like one written by a UPND cadre than a professional, if this was a balanced article it would have touched on the behaviour of the opposition leader as well.
? The constitutional court issue: The author seems to have got the story only on a Friday The last…
“…you must indicate where you got those qualifications.” Really?
The author isn’t applying for a job to show off the schools. For example his BSc is from Oxford is that in Matero …baPF baba Lungu mulimatako sana…our President Sata hard a white man with a PhD as vice president…ba Lungu ni mediocrity yekaka such that when sense shows up in public it must be UPND cadres… dispute the man’s claims in his article. Then we see mwamuna!
…
? The constitutional court issue: The author seems to have got the story only on a Friday The last day that the Conccourt was sitting.
? If you have a dictator you do not have to define the term, if you are at pains to explain the dictatorship then you probably have none in site.
? The police and other law enforcement agents are there to maintain peace , law and order
? If closing a media house that does not pay tax means dictatorship then the author spends all of his time in Dubai (No tax) in America everyone pays tax including the Washington post in case the author has no idea.
@Perfect:
You have said it all.upnd always twist facts to suit them.they never sleep day and night.but their political tactics are weird and will never win them the presidency.
Indeed if president Edgar Lungu’s current works are works dictators do then am 100% in support of dictatorship!!!in any democracy,there are rules to follow.but upnd is determined to enter state house by all means.is that good?
IF I WERE ECL,BY NOW UPND AS A PARTY WOULD HAVE BEEN HISTORY.UPND HAS DONE MORE BAD THINGS TO MOTHER ZAMBIA THAN GOOD.today Zambia is divided on tribal lines,public properties burnt,etc all because of HH’s upnd!!ALL UPND KNOW IS “KUFILA MUNSENGA-meaning IF NOT HH IN STATE HOUSE,THEN NOBODY ELSE SHOULD!!!”
Hear Hear.
This article by Professor Kasonso is a stupendous piece of writing and cannot be put in any simpler than this. Lungu will certainly read this one, whether he will be sober at the time or not, it will create some tingles in his body. He is a dictator, no two ways about it.
Just do get offended if you are equally called what you are not. Academic intelligence and achievements, is not wisdom.
Dont
“Academic intelligence and achievements, is not wisdom.” Are you dismissing “intelligence”?
No of course being called a dictator is not an insult at all. In fact it’s as pleasant as Professor Kasonso being called a person of mediocre intelligence verified by a poor range of educational qualifications that reveal he is still at heart nothing more than a primitive bushman in an African savannah.
I’m sure he appreciates my take on his article and agrees wholeheartedly with my imaging of him.
That’s cute and poetic. Except it doesnt describe what prof K does. Dictatorship is what Mr .Lungu is doing and championing daily.
Being a nose demon, is ukutumpa sana!
Being a stoolpid professor is not an insult but kutumpa fye.
The only good thing is that Hazaluza Hagain and the Under Five Card Clinic supporters will lose Hagain too!
Sharon, how is Lungu going to convince people after starving them for five years. Prying on ignorant Zambians can only last so long and right now the people feel abandoned as Lungu has become too drunk with power, have you heard him talk. its just blah blah and blah with no substance and its like the atrocities he is committing are getting to him, it’s like the U.S soldiers sent to kill people in the middle east they come back with serious issues because humans are not designed to be so evil. Lungu’s dictatorship title has caught the attention of the international community and you know what that implies ICC can go after him and he is definitely under their radar.
Ba Professor Kasonso, this is not the ripe time to test your theories on English literature. Our urgent task is to on counseling HH to stop playing with the lives of people.