Happy New Year 2011

We thank all our esteemed site visitors and readership a great and Prosperous 2011. We look forward to your support in the New Year. God Bless you all in a mighty way.

The Lusaka Gossip

A "Wonder" that Is Zambia

When I reflect on the behaviour and the attitudes of politicians and the people of Zambia regarding corruption, I get incredibly disappointed and angry at our failure to take decisive action at the misdeeds and misconducts of Zambian leadership. I believe that their negative attitudes can be attributed to their knowledge that Zambians lack capacity and resolve to fight against injustice and corruption concertedly in a manner that would send a message that the people of Zambian are tired of all the hoopla that goes on in the nation. What is wrong with this picture? It is clear that the majority of us are afraid of confronting the system and getting embroiled in skirmishes and running battles with the illegitimate government and its institutions that perpetuate injustices. As a people, fear will never get us anywhere, and politicians will forever continue to ride on our backs.

Are we just cowards that cannot fight their fight to change the way the Government is run? Are we blind to the wrongs committed? Or is it that we are backward in our understanding or simply fail to appreciate that we deserve better leadership and systems that could serve the nation in an upright manner? Whatever the case may be, I find it disconcerting that, year after year, nothing changes in terms of improved leadership but we continue to retrogress to the era of the First Republic when we feared the state machinery were constantly snooping on us. It is amazing and at best a wonder why we predispose ourselves at the mercy of politicians that think only of themselves and their immediate family interests. In their minds, they must view us as collateral so much that we only become remotely useful or assets when they seek re-election. Are we ever going to change this perception?

It is also amazing how we fail to follow through issues that affect us to the extent that we are quick to put the issues behind us even in situations where a particular has hardly been resolved. A perfect example concerns corruption cases involving several leaders and civil servants that have betrayed the trust that the people of Zambia vested in them by misappropriating public funds. It is a wonder, too, why we seem to hold in esteem thieves, leaders and individual civil servants, that have robbed the poor thus denying them a decent existence. At worst, it is disgusting that such thieves can even brag and regard themselves as rich and successful when they know all too well that their "wealth" was illegally obtained.

Time is overdue for us to start engaging the system aggressively to foster uprightness. Thieves regardless of their level and status in our society, must not be tolerated or entertained. It is hign time that we started viewing Zambia as a  basket in which we all share common interest in what goes on and it's ultimate success. If we fail to realize that and also fail to adopt an aggressive approach to addressing aggravating Zambian issues, it will be hard, if not impossible, to achieve meaningful development where the interest of the people will be considered as paramount.

Africa: Painting a Façade of Democracy

While many parts of the world espouse open and unfettered democracies, where the people have the liberty to play an active part in shaping their destinies, Africa is forever riding a tide and roller coaster of vote manipulation and literary headed nowhere. Many countries in Africa are increasingly bringing scorn upon the continent whose politics are viewed as being far from open and independent. A case in point relates to questionable elections results in a number  of  African countries; namely Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In these countries, elections were a sham and results contested largely because incumbent presidents were believed to have had manipulated votes to rob their opponent of deserved victory. These scenarios are all too common in Africa that it is a foregone conclusion that any presidential election is rigged even before the date. Like Zambia, Ivory Coast is also another African country that has become notorious for vote rigging where a losing incumbent has the audacity to declare himself as a winner.

One wonders why African leaders shamelessly see fit to engage in the despicable act of cheating at the polls. It is clear that "free and fair" does not feature in the minds of many a African leaders. As a matter of fact they are not bothered by lack of credibility. Take the case of Ivory Coast in which the country's Constitutional Council, led by Paul Yao N'Dre, invalidated earlier results by the Electoral Commission that named the former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara, the winner. What makes incumbent African presidents have the insatiable desire to manipulate the votes? Is it by virtue of the understanding that the citizenry are impotent and cannot do anything? Do they fear that the law would catch up with them over their misdeeds while they were in office if they accepted defeat and stepped down? Do they fear what they only know they have done that the people don't know about? Why are African leaders devoid  of a sense of shame? Using underhanded methods to gain or stay in power is retrogressive to Africa's fragile democracies. At worst this repugnant behaviour will lead to more strife in Africa. What we call democracy in Africa is a mere façade inasmuch as the will of the people is contemptuously derided by selfish, greedy and power hungry politicians that choose to usurp power to perpetuate the rule.