Insensitivity to public outrage

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 07:44:05 +0000

Vox populi, vox Dei- The voice of the people is the voice of God.

That is why we are amazed that the President has chosen to ignore serious reservation and in some cases total outrage about some of the people he has chosen to embrace and even elevate in the public sector.

 This could not have been better exemplified by his decision to send Wynter Kabimba, the  Acting Vice President to address the anti corruption day on his behalf.

This was not only demoralizing to the Anti Corruption Commission staff but to the entire general populace who watched in awe and disgust the despicable conduct of Wynter at the ACC offices. The conduct was totally unbecoming of the Acting Vice President, let alone of a lawyer and State Counsel at that, little wonder the Law Association of Zambia joined the chorus of condemnation which the President has chosen to ignore.

By that single act of designating Wynter to officiate at an ACC event any pretension of any further investigations into the US$500million oil scam has been put paid.

No officer at the ACC will dare antagonize the prospective President.

The President has also told off the Law Association of Zambia which spoke out against the unruly conduct. This is an organization comprising of eminent lawmen and women who deliberate over statements they make. They do not speak in vain.

The President has to learn to listen to the people  because the voice of the people is the voice of God. Vox populi, vox Dei

Listening to the people is for his own good as well as the good of the nation.

Wynter virtually terrorized all the staff at the ACC offices from top to bottom. He was at all times aware that Cameras were focused on him and perhaps because of it, made a meal of the incident, shouting down the hapless officers who did not expect such display from a senior Government officer.

This is not how senior officers conduct themselves.

The scenario was close to the shameful manhandling of Major Richard Kachingwe former National Secretary of the MMD.

Anybody who saw the footage on television was taken aback because senior officers are expected to conduct themselves with dignity and decorum.

 As regards the Anti-corruption day, the speech read by Wynter was drafted by the very same staff he shouted down.

 It is therefore very difficult, if not impossible to expect any of them to conduct the kind of thorough and comprehensive investigation into the US$500million Oil scandal.

Zambians will therefore never know what transpired in the less than arm length transaction in which Wynter who was chairman of a Government  Commission of Inquiry into the Energy Regulation Board and his decision to form Midland Oil. What information was he privy to which resulted in the formation of Midland Oil? Zambians will never know the exact relationship between Wynter and the two Kenyan shareholders of Midland Oil. They will never know the influences that forced kenobil a Kenyan company that challenged the Trafigura award in court to later give up after being bought by Trafigura.

Finally Zambians will never know the exact nature of transaction that resulted in the award of the US500miillion Trafigura oil award.

In the absence of the freedom of information, there is no way we are going to know what transpired because the Zambia Public Procurement Authority is as toothless as the Anti Corruption Commission which now stand by as large  scale graft by way of massive single sourcing takes place.

 From what has happened so far we know that the President has made it clear to all and sundry that he does not care a hoot about the allegations leveled against Wynter and all those who are known collaborators in schemes that have robbed the country Billions of Kwacha.

The voice of the people will matter in the future.