Where are the academics and other praise singers who sang for the new dawn?

By Joseph Chirwa

1. Introduction

The United Party for National Development (UPND) is one of the only two political parties that enjoyed support from academics and other thinkers.
The other party is the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD). With the Patriotic Front (PF), the support was not as overwhelming as that enjoyed by the UPND and MMD in their ascension to power. For starters, most academics and thinkers were not sure of the PF and only few supported it between 2001 and 2011. For the MMD we can simply say that it is the biggest beneficiary of support from academics and thinkers. There was a mass revolt against Kenneth Kaunda and his United National Independence Party (UNIP). Frederick Chiluba rode on the support of academics and thinkers. This is the same of President Hakainde Hichilema and UPND. Academics and thinkers sacrificed it all to see him win especially in 2021. The question is where are they now?

2. We are not career critics

A debate raged on social media when prominent estranged supporters of HH and UPND (previously anti-ECL and PF) asked very pertinent questions. The questions were very genuine from persons who are true patriots and who still have their souls intact. They asked as to where the elites in the name of thinkers, academics and others are in times of trouble. They questioned the deafening silence at the time of politics of tribe characterised by appointments based on tribe, nepotism and cronyism. They asked as to why renowned critics of the PF regime were silent when what they criticised against the PF was happening and happening at a high frequency under the UPND. They asked as to why it is now better for a region or regions to appoint themselves at the expense of others. They asked as to why police brutality is now acceptable in the eyes of those critics of the PF when the previous government did the same. They asked as to why corruption is now acceptable but under the PF it was condemned. They asked as to why the President now cannot be held accountable by academics and thinkers who have effectively been gagged or gagged themselves. In response, they were called names such as dogs and fools to mention a few. But one striking answer from one of the charlatans and praise singers caught my attention: we are not career critics. One of them added on his live Facebook feed that we shall continue to praise sing even if HH fails.

3. An educated cadre is a dangerous one

An educated cadre is a dangerous cadre. As Michael Sata once said educated people are cowards. They are opportunists. They exist in two kinds: those already appointed to positions and those awaiting appointments. Those already appointed to positions have effectively sold their souls. Very few can contradict their master. They never condemn government even when things are bad. They are gagged forever or until they are fired. Then there are those awaiting appointments. They are burning with anxiety from expectation. Each day it builds up and no appointment. Nine months since they helped the ‘new dawn’ ascend to power nothing. They are boiling and it is just a matter of time. They cannot talk now because they fear that they may lose out or be removed. Both of these types of academics and thinkers are sellouts. They are not patriotic Zambians. They either criticised ECL and the PF using tribal lenses or personal hatred as a result of them not being appointed. They have no loyalty to the flag. They are hired guns.

4. The silence continues

Some of these praise singers and goofballs masquerading as academics and thinkers are now silent because they have sold their conscious. It happened to me during the PF era. I stopped to think and I lost my conscious. I promised to be independent and never again to sell my soul to politics. I am ever inspired by the words of Ray Bradbury who once said that “I hate all politics. I don’t like either political party. One should not belong to them, one should be an individual, standing in the middle. Anyone that belongs to a party stops thinking.” I am now a liberated mind and I pray for my colleagues at local universities and in the diaspora to put Zambia first. Let us be like Sishuwa Sishuwa and speak the truth no matter how unpopular it is. Let us all be like Laura Miti who tells it as it is regardless as to whether one is in government. The truth shall set you free. Remember, all truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

5. It starts small and gets bigger

The wisdom that small injustices become big must be borne by our esteemed praise team. This is how it starts. Reporting and transporting suspects to godforsaken areas. Using state machinery to kill other political parties. Threatening judicial officers in the discharge of duties. Bragging about purging those seemingly loyal to the previous regime. Presidential gatekeepers going unpunished for leaked conversations undermining the rule of law. Killing the opposition to build a one party state. Political parties are the foundation of our democracy and we need them. Henry Clay advised that “political parties serve to keep each other in check, one keenly watching the other.” It starts small then it manifests into calamity and disaster. Let us not tolerate small injustices because these will soon manifest. Let the UPND put to stop all shenanigans that made the PF being voted out of power. The arrogance that we will serve straight terms must not be repeated. It was the PF that said never UPND, remember? Where is the PF now? Where is the MMD? Where is UNIP?

6. Blind loyalty must be to God, country and family

George McGovern’s counsel may be timely to these academics and thinkers who have grown cold feet at the altar of expediency. The great American stated that “the highest patriotism is not blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one’s country deep enough to call her to a higher plain.” The Idealist warned that “cataract is the third biggest cause of blindness. Religion and politics remain the first two.” I am not advocating for academics and thinkers to avoid politics. They must be active. They are the soul of the nation. They are the voice of reason because without them, Plato warned that one of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by inferiors. That is why we need patriotic academics and thinkers to help sound the alarm and offer solutions when our servants in government bully us or betray our beliefs, faith and trust. When it comes to issues of government and the governed, we must always take sides. Eric Wiesel guided that “neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Frederick Douglass also warned that “the limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

7. Conclusion

Wake up son of Africa. Wake up son of Zambia. Use your education to the benefit of all and not self-aggrandisement. Use that voice to speak for the voiceless because that is what education is all about. Never betray your conscious because it will haunt. The deafening silence of those critics of the previous regime is a betrayal to those people they inspired to vote for UPND and against PF. Same wrongs must be condemned equally. Remove the cataract that is making you see injustices differently. The UPND must be wary of these academics and thinkers because they are the most dangerous. Let us support this President especially that he had a popular vote and mandate. Over two million Zambians voted for him. We can only do that by being salt to the menu. By being light in times of darkness. By being a voice of reason when charlatans, goofballs and praise singers want to derail him. We can do that by offering criticism and critical thinking as academics and thinkers.

The author is an academic, author and scholar based in Kasenengwa district and Lusaka city. He attended Chipata Day Secondary School and Chizongwe Technical High School in Chipata.

By Sean Tembo – PeP President

1. Yesterday l was double shocked. Firstly l was shocked that in this day and age, men of our country’s disciplined forces could torture innocent young boys and undertake mock executions with so much impunity in front of a video camera and within the precinct of a police station. All because the boys were suspected of defaming President Hakainde Hichilema. Secondly and perhaps most importantly, l was shocked that this incident had happened more than 2 days earlier, and despite the ample video evidence, no media outlet had aired the story, no civil society organization or opposition leader had condemned the act and the Government had not issued any statement to explain why the men of our disciplined defense forces were captured on video torturing and carrying out mock executions against young innocent citizens.

2. Look here ladies and gentlemen, our Government needs to make a decision on whether it is going to adhere to the rule of law or not. If the New Dawn Government decides that it is going to adhere to the rule of law, then it must respect all laws. Both those that favor it and those that do not. Today, Mr Hakainde Hichilema is recognized as President of Zambia because the Constitution says so. Today Zambia Army soldiers carry firearms because the Constitution of Zambia says so. Without the force of the Constitution, Mr Hakainde Hichilema would just be a common citizen and no one would be compelled to follow his orders. Without the Constitution, Zambia Army soldiers would not be recognized as such and any citizen would be entitled to challenge them.

3. However, the same Constitution that gives Mr Hakainde Hichilema the power to be President of Zambia and for his orders to be carried out by the defense, security and civil service, also provides that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty by the courts of law. In article 12, the same Constitution of Zambia further protects all citizens from torture or any cruel or inhuman treatment such as mock executions.
4. In the video in question, soldiers wearing Zambia Army fatigues and carrying assault rifles are clearly seen assaulting young boys who look no more than 15 years of age. The assault is carried out with an object that appears like to horse pipe. Further, one of the soldiers is clearly seen pointing his rifle at the head of one of the boys and mimicking an execution. All this took place in what appears to be a police station, based on the signage on one of the doors that is visible in the video.

5. We are fully cognizant of the fact that the Zambia Army is a big institution, and like all big institutions, it is difficult to control the conduct and behavior of each and every member. However, given the sensitive role that the Zambia Army plays in our constitutional democracy, we expect this institution to be disciplined. In that regard, we expect the Zambia Army to have rigorous systems for identifying and addressing even the slightest incidents of indiscipline. Therefore, the fact that a video of Zambia Army soldiers violating the Constitution by torturing and undertaking mock executions of innocent teenagers, had been circulating for more than 2 days on social media, and yet we did not hear of any statement on this violation of the Constitution from the Zambia Army or Ministry of Defense or indeed the Presidency, should be a source of great worry for any well-meaning citizen.

6. Our expectation is that by now, those erring soldiers should have been suspended from the disciplined forces of our country, pending further disciplinary action. Further, they should have been arrested and charged accordingly. The fact that none of the above has been done can only mean one of two things. It is either our displaced defense forces are not as disciplined as we are made to believe, and that they do not have rigorous systems in place for identifying and addressing indiscipline, and that the Zambia Army Command is still unaware of the torture and mock executions of innocent teenagers by their members. Or it could mean that the Zambia Army in particular and the New Dawn Government in general, are fully aware of the torture and mock executions against innocent teenagers and that they endorse such a gross violation of the Constitution. We are more inclined to go with the later than the former.

7. Suffice to mention that Zambia is currently not at war or any armed conflict. However, even for countries that are at war, they appear to enforce greater discipline on their armed forces than we appear to do here. About two weeks ago, three soldiers of the Democratic Republic of Congo Army were arrested in the North Kivu Province for assaulting alleged illegal miners, after being exposed by France 24 television station. Now, we are all aware that the eastern DRC is a conflict zone. It has been a conflict zone for some decades now. Are we saying that the DRC Army has better disciplinary standards than we do, despite the fact that their army is operating in a conflict zone and ours is not?

8. Despite the loud silence by other opposition leaders, civil society, the church and traditional leaders on this gross violation of the Constitution, may it be known to all men and women of this Republic that we do not have the slightest intention of letting this matter die a natural death. The reason is simple; if this incident of torturing and carrying out mock executions of innocent teenagers is tolerated, it will only be a matter of time before we have our own version of Gukurahundi here in Zambia. It is unacceptable to have a situation whereby the New Dawn administration wants to cherry-pick which provisions of the Constitution to respect and which ones to disregard. The same Constitution whose operation makes Mr Hakainde Hichilema President is the same one that protects those teenagers from torture or any cruel or inhuman treatment. It is either we collectively embrace the entire Constitution and live as lawful citizens, both the weak and the strong, or we throw away the Constitution and live in anarchy. What we shall never allow is for the strong to cherry-pick provisions of the Constitution that favor them and that gives them power, and yet abandon provisions of the same Constitution which protect the weak.

9. In the premises above, we demand, as we hereby do, that all the soldiers who were involved in the torture and mock execution of innocent teenagers be immediately arrested and charged accordingly. Yesterday we had given the New Dawn administration a 72 hour ultimatum. However, in retrospect and looking at the pace of decision making in Government, we have decided to extend the ultimatum from 72 hours to 14 days. The reason is simple; we want Government to have the opportunity of making the right decision, so that when they make the wrong decision, it will not be because they did not have an adequate opportunity of making the right decision.

10. If at the expiration of our 14 day ultimatum, the soldiers who were involved in the torture and mock execution of innocent teenagers are not arrested and charged accordingly, we will take it that the said torture and mock execution was undertaken with the blessings and at the instance of President Hakainde Hichilema, who is their Commander in Chief. It will further mean that the New Dawn Government is sponsoring terror against its own citizens on the basis of political affiliation, which is a prosecutable crime against humanity under the International Criminal Court, to which Zambia is a state party. We will further carry out any and all necessary campaigns to let the international community know that President Hakainde Hichilema’s regime is sponsoring terror against its own citizens, and we have the video evidence to back up our assertions. We shall further approach and bring to the attention of all upright bilateral and multilateral institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about these state-sponsored human rights violations and the fact that any funding subsequently given to the New Dawn administration might be used to fund further violations of citizen’s human rights. Indeed, the President has 14 days to chose his poison.

By Prince Bill M. Kaping’a Political/Social Analyst

The nation would only start witnessing a sharp decline in national unity which our previous leaders had endeavoured to maintain when Michael Sata’s PF ascended to power. He would toss caution and restraint out of the window as he set forth on a destructive, and shameless path of rewarding his kith and kin with government, making the so-called family tree look like child’s play!

“I don’t balance tribes, I balance brains!” he would retort when challenged on his tribalism.

Apart from the son of Scottish immigrants, Guy Scot, who saw himself appointed as Vice president for “colouring purposes” as late veteran politician, Nakatindi Wina, would put it, every other appointee reeked of the strong stench of crass tribalism! Finance – Alexander Chikwanda (Northern); Defence – Godfrey Mwamba (Northern); Home Affairs – Edgar Lungu (Eastern); Mines & energy – Christopher Yaluma (Northern); Local Government & Housing – Nkandu Luo (Northern); Works, Transport, Supply & Communications – Yamfwa Mukanga (Northern); Foreign – Given Lubinda (Western); Health – Joseph Kasonde (Northern); Community Services, Mother & Child – Joseph Katema (Northern); Commerce & industry – Bob Sichinga (Northern); Information – Kennedy Sakeni (Luapula);Sport, Youth & Child Development – Chishimba Kambwili (Northern); Traditional & Chiefs Affairs – Emerrine Kabanshi (Northern); Secretary to the cabinet – Evans Chibiliti (Northern).

We keep reminding ourselves of the “One Zambia, One Nation” motto but how could someone honestly deliberately omit Southern and N/western provinces in his appointments, especially when the two regions contribute greatly to the national treasury in terms of tourism and mining?

As they say, history has a habit of repeating itself……the cold hand of death would strike yet again claiming the visibly ailing president. And just when keen observers of our politics hoped the new leader, Edgar Lungu, would somehow change the narrative and strive to enhance national unity; boom……he would apply fertilizer to the “Family Forest,” making it even more flourishing! Of course, Inonge Wina, a descendant of Barotseland, had to be somehow rewarded with the second top most job for helping hand him the presidency on a silver plate! The Northern regions alone boasted of a Lion’s share of 18 slots, with 5 going to kumawa, while the rest of the regions jostled for the remaining 7 paltry portfolios!

The positions were distributed as follows: Defence – Davies Chama (Northern); Finance – Bwalya Ng’andu (Northern); Home Affairs – Steven Kampyongo (Northern); National Development Planning – Alexander Chiteme (Copperbelt); Information – Dora Siliya (Eastern); Commerce – Christopher Yaluma (Northern); Health – Chitalu Chilufya (Northern); Mines & Minerals Development – Richard Musukwa (Eastern); Higher Education – Brian Mushimba (Northern); General Education – Dennis Wachinga (Northern) Community Development – Mulenga Kampamba (Northern); Tradition & Chiefs Affairs – Lawrance Sichalwe (Northern) Labour – Joyce Simukoko (Northern); Works & Supply – Sylvia Chalikosa (Northern); Housing & Infrastructure Development – Vincent Mwale (Eastern); Local Government – Charles Banda (Eastern); Youth & Sports – Emmanuel Mulenga (Northern) Religious Affairs – Godfridah Sumaili (Northern); Water Development – Raphael Nakachinda (Southern); Agriculture – Micheal Katambo (Copperbelt); Foreign Affairs – Joe Malanji (N/western); Presidential Affairs – Freedom Sikazwe (Northern); Energy Minister – Mathew Nkhuwa (Eastern); Livestock & Fisheries – Nkandu Luo (Northern); Justice – Given Lubinda (Western); Transport & Communication – Mutotwe Kafwaya (Northern) ; Tourism – Ronald Chitotela (Northern); Health – Jonas Chanda (Northern); Gender – Elizabeth Phiri (Eastern); Lands – Jean Kapata (N/western); Office of the Vice president – Olipa Mwansa (Northern).

Doesn’t this amount to a national scandal?

Anyway, by now we are all aware that President Hakainde was denied MPs in certain provinces. However, the man has been magnanimous enough to bring everyone on board as he attempts to reunite what was once a polarized country like a true statesman that he has so far demonstrated to be: Vice – Mutale Nalumango; Defence – Ambrose Lufuma (N/western); Finance – Situmbeko Musotwane (Western); Home Affairs – Jack Mwiimbu (Southern); Foreign – Stanley Kakubo (Central); Energy – Peter Kapala Northern); Water Development – Mike Mposha (Lusaka); Health – Sylvia Masebo (Lusaka); Education – Douglas Siakalima (Southern); Community Development – Doreen Mwamba Northern); Labour – Brenda Tambatamba (N/western); Local Government – Garry Nkombo (Southern); Tourism and Arts – Rodney Sikumba (Western); Small & Medium Enterprises – Elias Mubanga (Northern); Information – Chushi Kasanda (Central); Green Economy & Environment – Collins Nzovu (Central); Livestock & Fisheries – Makozo Chikote (Western) Mines & Minerals – Paul Kabuswe (Northern); Agriculture – Mutolo Phiri (Eastern); Commerce, Trade & Industry – Chipoka Mulenga (Northern); Youth &Sport – Elvis Nkandu (Northern); Lands – Elijah Muchima (N/western); Transport – Frank Tayali (Copperbelt); Justice – Mulambo Haimbe (Southern); Housing & Infrastructure – Charles Milupi (Western); Science & Technology – Felix Mutati (Northern).

Fellow citizens, your take on this……

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