Maravi

Kunda and his self-created problems

Kunda and his self-created problems
By Editor
Sat 02 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT

Rupiah Banda thought that running a country was a game. Rupiah came to enjoy himself. Everything that he has been doing in the last one year suggests that he is not somebody who is in total control. This is what explains George Kunda. George has found himself in a position where he is practically not answerable to anyone. He believes he is the expert.

Because of Rupiah’s weakness, George is not being made accountable by anybody. And George is going to bring down Rupiah’s government the same way that he singlehandedly almost made Levy Mwanawasa unpopular in the 2006 election. Levy had managed to win the confidence of the people over the fight against corruption when he went to Parliament in 2002, but that was lost when George started practicing selective justice. That is what is there even today.

George does not expect to have to accommodate divergent views. He is determined to ensure that the government charts its own course and ignores public opinion. It is this that will make them pay dearly. George wants to use the law enforcement mechanisms in our country to silence the different views.

George is going to make Rupiah so unpopular. But it is not George to blame. Rupiah himself needed such a fellow. What he does not seem to realise is that such a fellow will destroy him. We say this because Rupiah thought that forgiving Frederick Chiluba would make him popular with the public. But where has this left him? So George and Rupiah are birds of a feather; they will destroy each other.

George has got a problem that is independent of us. Even if The Post was to disappear tomorrow, George will still have these problems. He can complain about our editorial comments and call us all sorts of names but what can he say about the many other people that have denounced him, that have rubbished him, that are critical of him and his ways?

There is Edith Nawakwi. She was campaigning with him for Rupiah last year. Edith is certainly not under our control and direction. She is an independent-minded person who makes her own decisions and does her own things. But today, this same Edith is denouncing George and his boss Rupiah.

What has gone wrong? Of course we know that there were investigations by the Task Force on Corruption concerning the Carlington deal. And those investigations were completed and all the charges that were supposed to be brought against Edith were dropped by George and his friends because she was believed to be with them, to be their ally. Tomorrow, the Zambian people should not hear that George and his friends are trying to bring back the Carlington issue against Edith because she is now opposed to them.

We would not be surprised if they did that because they have been abusing the judicial process to free their friends from prosecution and to victimise their political opponents through unjustified prosecutions.

The Zambian people will not accept any attempt to use the judicial process to silence Edith. And how can George explain the criticism he has attracted from Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda? Can George accuse Brig Gen Miyanda of being under our control and direction? Brig Gen Miyanda is a solid man who makes his own decisions, a man who can’t be pushed around by anyone.

To convince Brig Gen Miyanda to proceed in a certain direction, you have to have your facts correct and your arguments have to be very persuasive. As such, his position on George cannot be said to be driven by petty politics or jealousies.
There is also Ken Ngondo who has gone for George. They were working together with Ken last year. What has gone wrong?

The Law Association of Zambia also doesn’t have kind words for George. And this same George has denounced the Law Association of Zambia and its leadership. Is it The Post that has caused all this?

The Zambia Congress of Trade Unions, Transparency International Zambia and SACCORD have also come out criticising George. Can they also be said to be under our control and direction?

Professor Michelo Hansungule has also been very critical of George. Can George attribute this criticism to us?
Many opposition leaders, including Michael Sata, Hakainde Hichilema, Given Lubinda, have denounced George in very harsh terms. What has this got to do with us?

As for the media bodies who have denounced George’s evil media regulation scheme, The Post is part of the Zambian media and is well represented in the Media Liaison Committee but does not dominate the proceedings of that committee. Although the Press Freedom Committee of The Post has excellent relations with the Press Association of Zambia, it never tells them what to do. We are not one of those who criticise individuals usually vilified by their opponents for the sake of it. But, in the same token, we are not going to be silly as to refrain from saying something that we are duty-bound to say.

George and his friends have been abusing power and public office, they have been abusing our country’s judicial process. George himself has even been abusing his parliamentary privileges by going there to throw innuendos against us, knowing very well that we cannot sue him because of the immunity he enjoys when he speaks inside there. And because of their tyrannical mentality, they enjoy abusing power and imposing their authority on others.

We have good relations with many institutions in this country, not only those in the media, but it has never occurred to us to tell anyone what they must do. Moreover, we know the zeal with which every progressive organisation, every independent organisation – not those they hire to speak for them, to defend them, to denounce their opponents – in this country defends its rights and prerogatives. We are consulted by many individuals and institutions in this country, including some in government, but we have always refused to tell them what to do.

We know what we have to do and we respect the rights of others to choose the ways and means of waging their own struggles even if they are part of the struggles we ourselves are waging. We would tell them: ‘You cannot ask for our opinion because it’s you who have to go out there and struggle, it’s you who are going to suffer, to make sacrifices and endure the pain or hardships; it’s not us. We know what we are prepared to do; but that’s something you have to decide yourselves. We shall support your decision.’

That is the maximum expression of respect for the individuals and institutions we collaborate with, and not an attempt to impose – based on our knowledge and experience and the enormous respect they feel for us – the weight of our point of view. In such situations, we don’t even think of the advantages or disadvantages their decisions entail for us. It’s their decisions and so each one of them should adopt their own line.

We know George can’t understand all this. In every harangue of his evil intentions and deeds, he sees our hand. And yet the same fellow is saying “if you are made of jelly, don’t write about others”. Does George really mean what he is saying? Or dishonesty has completely won him over that now he doesn’t even hesitate to say things that even he himself does not completely believe in? Our courage is beyond question. George does everything under the protection of the state or parliamentary immunity.

We don’t have any of such things; we are open to attacks at any time. Our only weapon is the truth. And this is not a secret weapon; it is a weapon we are ready to share with anyone who is willing, including George himself. We don’t need to go round telling lies about anyone. After all, George and his friends have more means at their disposal for exposing and denouncing any lies that are told about them.

The problem they have with us is that we have been very truthful in our expositions of the crimes of their league. Truth is a very strong weapon and we recommend it to them. If they want to win even the next elections, we are advising them to resort to truth because with truth, there will be no force or opposition they will not vanquish.

The greatest problem they have is dishonesty: they are liars who want to lie about everything and everybody. Probably they have misunderstood the meaning of propaganda. Propaganda does not mean telling lies. But every day, they are using the state-owned and government-controlled media to lie to the people, to deceive the people about us and others. It won’t work, it won’t do.

And George knows very well that unlike him, we are not cowards. We have been able over the last 18 and half years to prove our platitudes by sacrificing our skins. What haven’t they done to us in this regard? They have resorted to all evil schemes, including the abuse of the judicial process, to silence us. But we are still there doing our work as if nothing is happening to us.

We are the most hunted individuals in this country, but we still walk the streets with our heads high. Why? It is simply because the truth is on our side. Again, George and his friends will not understand this because they think lies are everything – they can’t live without lies, manipulation, deceit and calumny. If they did, how are they going to explain all these evil schemes they engaged in?

Opposition to and distaste for George is growing by the day. George should be honest with himself and ask himself what has earned him this opposition, this distaste and take corrective measures. If he doesn’t, his ending will be disastrous. He can pretend and go into denial on other things, but on this one, just as much as he has failed to hide those other things, he will not succeed. People will see him for what he is and what has afflicted him will be visible for all to see.

And people are starting to see George for what he is – a liar, a manipulator, a selfish person, a petty-minded and excessively jealous individual. This is why today everyone is denouncing him. For his own information, and we are telling him this for nothing, his standing even among his friends in government is very low – they don’t like him. If they were to vote for a Vice-President today in Cabinet, he would probably have only one vote from himself, if not two with that of Rupiah.

George has got many problems to deal with, including those that have nothing to do with politics. Even looking at him, George is a finished man who should feel sorry for himself and should stop provoking others who have nothing to do with his self-created problems. We are not his problem and we were not there where he was creating all these problems for himself.

He shouldn’t hate us for things we have nothing to do with. We are not petty-minded like him, if we were, George would have difficulties leaving his bedroom to face the public. And it is said that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones – if you can’t take blows, don’t throw blows. We have no problems helping George overcome his problems if he changes his ways towards public issues and others. People with a sense of humanity positively think of their community and others even on their death beds.

Labels: EDITH NAWAKWI, GEORGE KUNDA, GOVERNANCE, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 11:38 AM