By Prince Bill M. Kaping’a Political/Social Analyst
During his state of the nation address to Parliament, President Hakainde Hichilema challenged citizens, particularly our parliamentarians, not to be dead to challenges our people may be grappling with day in and out.
“In such uncertain times of climate change occasioning calamities such as floods, consider donating something in your local areas,” he implored us, passionately.
The president himself has set the bar sky higher when it comes to extending a helping hand to the vulnerable in society using his own resources without necessarily having to brag about it. He’s not like most of these rich folks or wannabe politicians that want to eat alone with their kith and kin or indeed, side chicks!
From time immemorial, Hichilema has been sponsoring hundreds of students in secondary schools through to colleges or universities even before he joined politics and ascended to the throne as president. Not so long ago, it was quite emotional to see him defy his security detail and protocol and hug a visionary impaired young man, one of the many beneficiaries of his generosity, during his graduation in Eastern Province.
Apart from this, he has constructed deep tanks, built schools and clinics across the country and yet very few of us know about it his charitable exploits!
What could be the reason for this?
Well, this is exactly in line with what is expoused in the Scriptures. That the right hand mustn’t know what the left hand is doing otherwise we would be trading an eternal reward for a temporal one!
If we may digress a little bit, last week we found ourselves in a shanty compound in one of the constituencies in Ndola attending a funeral. Unfortunately, when some of the relatives of the departed one along with party ward officials attempted to call the Area MP appealing for help towards the funeral, he erupted into uncontrollable rage and fury!
” You should understand that an MP isn’t a mobile Bank expected to fork out cash anyhow!” he ranted in a cheap mobile phone as a timid party official listened, obediently.
Anyway, to cut the long story short; a Mr. Simangolwa, a prominent local business man and philanthropist finally came to the rescue of mourners. He didn’t only bring in firewood and food to the funeral house but even took a step further and hired transport to take mourners to the cemetery.
What are we getting at?
In these uncertain times of Covid-19 or natural calamities such as floods and drought due to climate change affecting our communities, let us learn to be each other’s keepers as the president said. If any of us willingly elected to become servants of the people as Ministers, MPs or Councilors, we should expect citizens to “inconvenience” us with phonecalls at awkward hours begging for this or that help. We don’t expect any sarcasm from any of our leaders otherwise we shall dismiss them as fraudsters that don’t deserve to sit anywhere near the corridors of power.
In our next offering, we try to find out from Mr. Bowman Lusambo where Los Angeles in Ndola is.
Be careful. Our president thinks being approachable is posing for photos with the masses at every opportunity. Some people are so insecure they think they should nt say No I’m sorry I’m busy