It is amazing how some people in our society are perceived not to be entitled to speak on matters that affect all Zambians irrespective of ethnicity, religion, race or social status.
For some time now, we have looked in awesome wonder how some people in the Mwanawasa Government see it fit and logical to attack clergymen and women whenever they give their objective views about any given situation as if they are not entitled to this freedom of expression as citizens.
The only time these people are allowed to exercise their right to speak is when what they are saying sounds like good music to their ears!
However the moment they say something true but contrary to what some people would like to hear, all hell breaks loose and they are under attack!
This denial of the right to speak has unfortunately extended to former heads of state. And the one that has suffered the most is our national statesman and first Republican president Dr K.D. Kaunda. Who says when one is former head of state one ceases to have their right/freedom of expression? The former head of state has on several occasions been victimised for having said one thing or the other.
At one time it was very disheartening to see a repeat programme on ZNBC television depicting Dr. Kaunda as having instigated Zambians to belong to UDA/leave the country at the late Anderson Mazoka’s funeral, simply to humiliate our senior citizen and for that matter our former head of state.
Whether he said it to mean just that or not should never have been the point of concern in that he as a Zambian has the right to express himself freely. The fact that he is the father of the nation, the more reason why people should let him speak on matters that generally affect all Zambians.
Thus instead of antagonising Dr Kaunda people in and out of power should make use of his continuous and vast experience/exposure whilst he is still with us. In as much as during his reign he could have had a fair share of what some people may term as bad/poor policies but that does not make him a write off to comment on public matters after all we all learn from past mistakes.
Moreover whatever harm/damage Kaunda could have done to this country in 27years Chiluba did ten times over in just one decade. And what Kaunda achieved for Zambia in 27 years is a record that not even Mwanawasa can beat given the same period of time at the pace at which we have been moving.
Therefore for President Mwanawasa to castigate this man in such a way is being unfair. For who else apart from Dr Kaunda should be given chance to speak on national issues looking at his track record of more successes than failures locally and internationally?
One thing most of us adore about this man is that he is principled and has foresight. When he told Zambians to be wary of people like FTJ in 1991 we thought he was only speaking that way because he was an interested party. But just look at what happened to our nation’s economy after that, a total collapse.
There are a number of times when Dr Kaunda has shown support for the policies that the Mwanawasa government has come up with and in this case, he was not asked to keep quiet because what he said is exactly what these politicians longed to hear.
However when Dr. Kaunda’s views are contrally to what President Mwanawasa wants to hear then the former president is under attack.
We have heard how these politicians in MMD have alluded to how ungrateful Dr. Kaunda has been, considering that under the Mwanawasa government he has received a number of his entitlements as compared to when Dr. Chiluba was in power. In other words, they expect him to trade off his birth right of being a free citizen of Zambia for the sake of material things which for that matter are his entitlements, how absurd can people be!
One thing the Mwanawasa government needs to be reminded of is that for the first time perhaps they are dealing with a politician that is principled and dignified and is not driven by hunger/poverty like most of these sorry excuses for politicians/cadres. They are perhaps accustomed to dealing with poverty stricken/ chancers in politicians’ skin. Who would kiss the ground the president walks on for free and worst still upon being shown glimpses of the Promised Land they are ready to throw away the very last of their principles, dignity and pride. Later on if all that is asked of them is to keep their mouths shut on public matters. When are these politicians going to realise that Dr. Kaunda’s loyalty is not for sale but should instead be earned like in the case of any credible and principled true patriarch of this nation?
The man’s loyalty cannot be bought period; personally I think he has demonstrated this in more than one way/the other! So then, when do these people get off and give Dr Kaunda a break!
He like any other citizen of this nation does not need the permission from anyone, be it President Mwanawasa or Tetamashimba to speak on matters that equally affect him and the future of this nation.
Therefore if his pension (of which Dr Kaunda is fully entitled to as former head of state) was one gimmick used to ensure his silence then it’s unfortunate for it has not worked out as planned. Therefore the remarks by president Mwanawasa to take away his pension for advising the nation to only export maize stocks once there were enough stocks in the national reserves is rather very regrettable. For most of us, it’s only logical that before one starts to sell their farm produce to outsiders they make certain that there’s enough to sustain the entire household.
Or else why export if as a nation you will not remain with enough food and thus end up importing what you exported except this time at even a greater cost.
The reason for exporting unless this has changed with the coming of the Mwanawasa government has always been as a result of a surplus in a given commodity.
