Zambians are tired of sweet nothings

By Daily Revelation Editor

UPND deputy secretary general Gertrude Imenda says it does not matter whether the projects which were started under the PF administration were being commissioned by President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND administration.

According to Imenda, what was most important was that Hichilema was finishing to construct the projects which his administration inherited from the PF administration.

She was reacting to former president Edgar Lungu who said earlier on Saturday at the Citizens First rally in Samfya that the UPND was an opportunist party which was commissioning the projects started by the PF government.

“So bala isa kuno ku Samfya muku mibepa ati nabaleta amenshi, nabaleta amenshi. Yalya amenshi nifwebo twayaletele (They will come to you, to say that they brought you water, it is us who brought the water), katyetye mwenda mwalimwa (opportunist individual without shame)” said Lungu during the rally.

We agree with Imenda’s observations. In a civilised society actually, Hichilema commissioning the projects should not actually be an issue, as those who are wise know that government is a going concern. There are projects which the PF also commissioned which were started by their predecessors in the MMD. Therefore, it should not be a problem for those in the PF to see the projects they started being commissioned under the UPND.

If we take it that politics is about serving the public good, then there should actually be no issue about who starts and who commission’s any public project because ultimately the beneficiaries are the people. The same people politicians claim to serve. If anything, Lungu should actually be happy that his successor from another political party is finishing the projects which he started. It should be a source of joy that something Lungu’s administration worked so hard for had materialised into a finished product.

Probably, Lungu is upset that Hichilema is failing to acknowledge his administration’s role for the works he is commissioning, while lambasting him as having run a failed government. Indeed, that is also about the same civility we are talking about. There is simply no harm in acknowledging another person’s work. But against whether there is an acknowledgement or not, that still doesn’t change the fact that government is a going concern. If Hichilema doesn’t acknowledge, surely the Zambian people are wise enough to appreciate the people who started the projects. They are also wise enough to tell who finished the project. And they are even more appreciative that they are benefitting from the facility brought about by their taxpayers money. While appreciating the people who launched the projects, national projects should not be viewed from an individualist perspective but a national and public interest perspective.

Most of us were not born by the time Dr Kenneth Kaunda was constructing important infrastructure such as the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) for instance, but we all benefit from that project, without even sparing a thought about who built the structure.

Rather that pinning ourselves on such petty issues, there is much more our leaders should concern their energies with for the betterment of the society they claim they want to lead. We should actually reach a point where as Zambians we start to demand a lot from our leaders whenever they appear before us, otherwise we shall continue going in the same circles where we continue to buy into simple lies such as ‘the cheap fuel from Saudi Arabia’, or that mealie-meal will be bought at K50 per 25kg bag, fuel at K12 per liter and that fertilizer will be purchased at K250 from K700 per 50kg bag.

There is a lot right now besetting this country that should demand our energies, especially the energies of those seeking leadership. There are a lot of issues. From the ongoing crippling loadshedding and high cost of living, to the corruption and very high fuel prices and now aflatoxins in our mealie-meal. We feel that those who are offering themselves up for office, should not mainly concern themselves with rightly raising those problems affecting the country, but they should also be more concerned with the solutions they would provide to the problems if they were elected into office.

And those in government, rather than blaming everything on those who were in office before them, should concern themselves with the solutions. After all they offered themselves up for office on the argument that things were bad in the country, and that if they were given the opportunity they would improve matters in the ‘Bally will fix it’ type of ‘methodical’ leadership that was going to be unprecedented since the foundations of this Republic.

Therefore, rather than offering Zambians sweet nothings, let those seeking national leadership concern themselves with solutions. Zambians are fed up with political slogans and songs. They want solutions.