Zambia without a president
Zambia’s State House
There are only two questions concerning the August 2016 general and presidential elections in Zambia: Who and why? These are no small questions, dear countrymen. All the hopes of a changed Zambia hinge on these two questions and the way we answer one determines how the other is shaped. Before we discuss the two, let me prevaricate over the elephant in the house, “Presidency in Zambia.”
Indeed, there are very few countries where the president is just less than divine, Zambia is one of them. The trust in a person called a president is everything in Zambia, and this does not matter whether the person is educated or undedicated. The electorate in Zambia seems to believe that politics is all about the president, full stop. This belief imposes both a challenge and responsibility on the person who carries that title. The nation, therefore, falls or rises, on his or her shoulders. What he does or omits to do are important. The policies he or she articulates are important. The vision he or she espouses is important. And the programs he or she countenances are important. What is not important is the political party to which he or she belongs and the background or tribe from which he or she may come. These three last characteristics, though embraced by a section of our society and, in fact, practiced by some, are absolutely retrogressive and a shame to the brand we call Zambia.
Who? Does Zambia need a president? I think that Zambia may not need one for only two reasons. One, there is no difference whether there is a person called president in State House or not. In fact, if one went missing or was dead, we would not know. The thing is, even in his or her absent Zambia would still continue. Two, there is nothing developmental or new that a president brings to Zambia. Whether with or without one, there will still be no development, no economic breakthroughs and perhaps, some violence! But things will still remain the same: poverty, disease and illiteracy. Therefore, no-one should tell us that the president is important in Zambia. We may spend millions of money on campaigns; we may insult each other on the trail, and yes, some may even kill others because of a vote. But what have we achieved through these barbaric means? At least going by what Kaunda, Chiluba, Mwanawasa, Banda, Sata and Lungu have done, a president may just be a figure-head.
President Lungu
HH
Tell me if this will change with the election of Mr. Hakainde or Mr. Lungu this time around? Tell me if we shall finally vote for a president who will martial the Zambian forces and intelligently manage the scarce resources to create a dignified legacy and “a free from lack and poverty” Zambia? Tell me if we are voting for real change this time around? If not, we will again manage to put in State House a name, a president, but not a leader who can move the nation forward.
Why? A president is not just a figure-head in presidential democracy; he or she is a visionary, a worker, a manager, a leader. He or she sees the future and creates conditions for improvement. A president is not a glorified king, he or she is an instrument of change – so that where there is no direction, one is provided; where there is no hope, confidence is commanded; and where there is no development, legislative and administrative plans are hatched to alleviate the need. There is a “why” to the presidency and Zambia should be mad enough to demand that the president works for growth and change. People should not vote for a president because he is pretty, flamboyant or highly visible or well-liked. Indeed, one can be all these but if he or she lacks the gravitas and political will to engineer change, he or she will enter history just a number.
Is this the time when Zambia elects a person with solutions to Zambia’s economic and political problems? Is this the time that the people should wisen up and prefer quality of leadership to triviality and vanity? Is this the time to embrace real change – that puts food on the people’s table; change that brings employment to the people; change that lowers mortality rates; change that eliminates malaria and provides immunity to communicable diseases; change that frowns upon corruption and fosters cooperation and patriotism; change that takes care of teachers, doctors and nurses, drivers as well as grocery owners, marketeers and social workers; change that empowers the youth to innovate, to create, to problem-solve, and to indulge in abstract conceptualization towards technological catch-up; change that pleads for the plight of children, the dignity of women, the sanity of the elderly and the longevity of the citizenry; change that manages the natural resources intelligently, with corporate responsibility, and with environmental consciousness; and change that with quality educates the masses, with resoluteness defends and protects the rights of the minority, and with decisiveness tackles poverty and creates avenues for prosperity for all!
Mr. Hichilema, Mr. Lungu, if you can engineer all or most of the aforementioned; you will finally give Zambia a president to be proud of.
By Charles Mwewa, author and concerned Zambian!