Democracy is about strengthening state institutions

By Daily Revelation Editor

From the outset we wish to agree and re-emphasise on the remarks by United States Ambassador to Zambia Michael Gonzales that democracy is not just about preparing for the next elections but more about creating institutions that serve the people regardless of election outcomes.

Gonzales talked about the importance of democratic institutions, judicial systems and a free press in ensuring the government’s served the interests of the people.

In a democratic dispensation, people elect leaders who must now be more preoccupied with the execution of their vision, rather than employing all their efforts on self-preservation.

If there is one common theme between the country Gonzales represents and Zambia, is that both hold elections when they are due, and have both witnessed transfers of power from ruling parties to the opposition.

However, in Zambia, those who are elected to power mainly focus on self-preservation, where instead of strengthening state institutions to serve the public, they embark on creating an environment that will make those institutions subservient to serve their personal interests.

To achieve their vile goals, they appoint spineless wimps of all hues and sizes who serve their worst instincts and narrow desires. One doesn’t need to look no further than the craziness going on in state institutions such as the police, judiciary, Parliament, civil service and parastatals to see the rot in these public institutions. Can anyone really consider institutions such as the police to be truly serving the interests of the public?

Today, as happened in previous administrations, we hear of a very strong hand from State House directing how certain police and court matters must be handled. This is against the lofty promises from those who are elected to office that they would clean the operations of these state institutions. However, true to the conmen the politicians in Zambia truly are, once they have been voted into office, their promises simply disappear in thin air as they embark on the process of defiling the operations of the same institutions, they said they would clean up.

President Hakainde Hichilema made a lot of promises during his time in the opposition in terms of how he was going to work towards entrenching democratic ideals in this country, where the state media for instance would be allowed to operate independently and cover all voices fairly. He promised that the state institutions which were being abused against him by his predecessor Edgar Lungu would operate differently since his was a new dawn. He has repeatedly told his police Inspector General Graphael Musamba against detaining people more than is required by law.

But are those things happening? The recent two-week detention of journalist Thomas Zgambo for instance in police custody, was it on account of Musamba’s failure to heed Hichilema’s directive? If so, should Zambians then consider Hichilema to be a weaker President for not taking any action against Musamba? Or we might actually be wasting time blaming Musamba when the okay to do what he is doing is coming from elsewhere.

The happenings at the Registrar of Societies for instance and the misbehavior at Parliament, is that something that can excite confidence in the minds of reasonable Zambians that they are serving the interests of the public? Definitely not! Unless probably you are among those whose heads are buried in the sand and do not realise that the battering these institutions are suffering will end up affecting them in the long run also.

Hichilema should seriously reflect and take a leaf from his sworn nemesis Edgar Lungu, who is today complaining about these same state institutions, when he could have simply taken steps to address their operations to effectively serve the interests of the public. Hichilema must seriously undertake to remake these institutions to serve public interest to avoid living in mwamoneni once his days in power are over.