Urgent Government Action Against Zimbabwe Border Security Forces Needed

Zimbabwean Security forces have continued their wanton attacks against Zambian fishermen on the shared Lake Kariba especially in the Siavonga area.  The shooting of unarmed Zambian fishermen by Zimbabwean border secity forces is unacceptable. These shootins have been ongoing for some time without any action from the Zambian government. It is surprising why the Zambian government has not taken steps to prevent these attacks on innocent Zambians. Zimbabwean fishermen have strayed on to the Zambian side of the border on numerous occasions but there is no record of the Zambian security forces shooting at them. Zambian security forces cannot continue to be nice guys in the face of terrorism perpetrated by Zimbabwean security officers. There is need for the Zambian security personnel to retaliate and show them that Zambia will not continue to play second fiddle and keep watching while Zambians are being maimed by Zimbabwean criminals on the other side of the border.

The Zambian government must step in and engage their Zimbabwean counterparts in urgent talks about stemming the terrorist behaviour of Zimbabwean border security personnel. Zimbabwean security forces must not be allowed to extend the genocide they committed against their own people to Zambians. If the Zimbabwean government cannot stop their wanton attacks on Zambians, Zambia must take decisive measures to ensure that repeat attacks are stopped. 

Tribalism in Zambia: A Scourge

When the author of this article raised the issue of tribalism in Zambia way back in August 2008, the article had a humongous fallout from people who labelled this author as being tribal. The majority reacted by heaping invectives and scorn on this author and but it was clear that they had failed to understand why the issue was initially raised. There were also many Zambians who acknowledged and supported the author that tribalism had aggressively started to make ugly inroads back into the Zambian society. The author at the time argued that tribalism was heinous as qualified citizens were denied jobs and opportunities on account that they were not of the same tribe or ethnic group and their interviewer.

During the leadership of the venerable former president Kenneth Kaunda, Zambians co-existed without tribal boundaries. Zambia was more of a One-Nation than a many nations that it seems to be now. Tribalism was resurrected and enhanced during Chiluba's reign. But that goes for corruption which became more entrenched and refined during his leadership.  Tribalism is taking place in different ways like favouring relatives and tribesmen for jobs that they are ill-qualified for. The most important thing is to recognize that a Zambian is Zambian regardless of their ethnicity, tribe or regional grouping.

President Rupiah Banda has come out at the right time to express his total disgust for tribalism and that is a quality of good leadership. Every leader who is anybody in Zambia must take it upon themselves to start preaching against the scourge and words must translate into deeds. It is important for the Zambian leadership to confront tribalism head-on inasmuch as the scourge is retrogressive.

As Civil Servants Cartel and Politicians Plunder

Much of the public discourse concerning the running of government, ministries and its support institutions has been on the the issue of financial mismanagement especially the embezzlement of tax payers money by the private sector, civil servants and politicians holding offices that grant them access to public funds. Civil servants involved in the schemes have formed highly organized cartels that are capable of circumventing all the financial accountability and security safeguards that are in place. The theft of ZMK10 billion from the Ministry of Health is a perfect example of the level of organization the civil servant plunderers have put together. The President hit the nail on the head when he stated that it is not possible for one person to steal K10 billion alone and that more are involved. Obviously, someone initiated a purchase order of some sort, another prepared a requisition, and signatures were appended along the chain until someone put the final seal of approval and a cheque or cheques were issued. The implication is that many people are conniving in such schemes to swindle the government of public funds and there is a high possibility that more money than hitherto uncovered may have been stolen.

It's not only the Civil Servants that are involved is embezzling government money but also government leaders. Some of them, as the media has reported before, undertake several unnecessary trips to their constituencies and never retire imprest on return. This is another form of corruption that needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, corruption has been extended to the National Constitution Commission (NCC) where commissioners are reported to be receiving their allowances without performing their duties. This explains why the Commission has been sitting for more than two years reviewing the constitution without anything to show for in order to continue defrauding government and defraud as much money as possible before they finalize the constitution. This goes to show that some of the men and women sitting on the NCC lack integrity and is the reason why they are resisting the inclusion of article(s) that would strengthen the law against corruption and financial indiscipline. 

Investigations on corruption must be extended to all the people that have constructed mansions in New Kasama and in many parts of Lusaka. Some of the people who now own the mansions are Civil Servants whose incomes can hardly afford them a one roomed shack. 

As corruption has worsened and become an institutionalized cartel, there is urgent need for all upright Zambians and other stakeholders to support President Rupiah Banda in the fight against corruption. It is very encouraging to note that the President desires to take the fight against corruption to a whole level. To enhance the fight against corruption, the President will be required to clean up such institutions as the judiciary, and the Zambia Police Service which is alleged to be one of the most corrupt institutions in the nation. Sweeping and more stringent changes to law are long overdue which changes would eventually transfer the burden of proof to the accused criminals. The Zambian government must urgently legislate new and stiffer laws and sentences that would act to effectively deter the would be plunderers. It must be emphasized that such laws would have to apply equally to the leadership as would to ordinary citizens.

Zambia BlogTalkRadio News Flash - Dennis Liwewe and Great Kalu

The New Zambia BlogTalkRadio has announced an upcoming engagement with Zambia's most celebrated soccer commentator, Dennis Liwewe. Mr. Liwewe will be a Special Guest on the new Zambia BlogTalkRadio on Saturday, May 23, 2009. The Show has been scheduled for 10:00am EST (New York Time) or 16:00 hours (Zambian Time). Every sports fan is advised to please tune in to the show by calling 1-347-237-4270 or by going to http://www.zambiablogtalkradio.com/ to sign in and listen to a live podcast of the show.

On a related note, Kalusha Bwalya, Zambia's world famous soccer wizard and now Football Association of Zambia president, will be another Special Guest on the show. Zambians are advised not to miss this rarest opportunity to talk to our Great Kalu. All Zambians in the Diaspora and at home are advised to tune in to listen to Great Kalu at 08:00am EST (New York Time).

What an incredibly rare soccer bonanza!

International Currency Conversion Feature Added!

We are pleased to inform our esteemed readership that we have added a new feature on our Blog to help you perform your currency conversions while visiting our Blog without exiting the site. We endeavour to continue making improvements to make your visits to our blog a pleasure.