Today's letters

Sun, 22 Jan 2017 11:54:54 +0000

Have you been to school? Dora asks GBM

Dear Editor,

I refer Agriculture Minister Dora Siliya’s comments on Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba (GBM) as a frustrated soul who is trying to heal from the defeat the UPND suffered at the hands of the PF in the 2016 general elections by resorting to slandering and maligning others (“Dora mocks GBM”, Daily Nation, January 19, 2017).

With all due respect to the disillusioned UPND billionaire

businessman, I consider his alleged attack on the Agriculture Minister that she was not fit to hold her office and should, therefore, go back to the newsroom where she came from as an unprofessional breach of two important ethical principles in political debate: proportionality and decency.

On proportionality, it suffices to say that constructive criticism in line with providing checks and balances is an accepted method for the pursuit and economic advancement of the nation.

Conventionally, verbal attacks in the media provoke a verbal response while confidential written attacks in a specialized provision of checks and balances attract a corresponding response.

The Agriculture Minister stated that she was appointed to her position by President Edgar Lungu whom she said represented the majority of Zambians because he believed in her abilities.

Furious about GBM’s attack, she said that her history indicated that she came from the newsroom as a journalist but wondered whether GBM had any form of academic and career background.

Perhaps fearing the adverse publicity this was generating, GBM has since gone quiet on the matter.

A considered GBM’s case and academic background of Chifwani Primary School in Kasama to nowhere else education wise perhaps?

Consequently, the media forum was a suitable and appropriate place for Dora Siliya to challenge and indict GBM.

Besides, if she was not satisfied with a verbal exchange in a media forum, she could have gone a step further to argue her case in a one-on-one dialogue with GBM at her official place of work.

But for GBM to have gone to a cartel-controlled newspaper, to cast aspersions on the Agriculture Minister was a gross violation of the proportionality principle in a political debate.

On the principle of decency, political disagreements are expected to respect the fine line between political space and personal integrity.

Shockingly, GBM’s of the miscued belief that defaming others was the best way of attracting sympathy and empathy from Zambians after his desire to be the country’s vice-president was rejected by voters through the ballot.

This is completely ridiculous. Dora Siliya has neither been a petty intellectual nor petty politician.

She’s a premier political leader and woman of influence and substance who has spent a great part of her career encouraging younger political upstarts to aspire for respectable leading positions in the former and current ruling parties. By extension, she deserves a public apology from GBM.

Mubanga Luchembe,

LUSAKA

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Guy Scott full of hate circuits

Dear Editor

Thank God nobody will ever take comments from the likes of broken down politicians like Guy Scott seriously.

We all know that Scott will die hating President Lungu because he wanted to make history for re-colonising Zambia to become a white President over an African country.

Is this not what Mr Robert Gabriel Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe was referring to at the funeral of  our late  President Michael Sata that we should be wary of some of former colonial masters with intense political interests?

Mr Mugabe said some will come as farmers while others in many forms while their ultimate aim is to rule Africans once again.

Scott tried to grab power from Lungu but God would not allow that. Lungu had to get it back.

So it is clear for me this will injure Scott up to his grave and I can’t understand why this drained old man cannot just retire quietly to his farm.

There is no doubt the likes of Scott will die with poison in their hearts because that is what they made of.

And did you know that the feeling of hate come from depressed brains?

Yes it is true. Dr Amanda MacMillan was once quoted: “Depressed people are often withdrawn and antisocial. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t like other people, but it could mean that their brains don’t process feelings of hate in a normal way.”

So the so-called warnings from Scott to whoever he wants to please, for me, are neither or there. He is simply a bitter man for obvious reasons.

It is all easy to see that Scott is all intent to bring more divisions in PF ahead of 2021 but I can bet he will fail again.

I am sure that by the time we get to 2021, President Lungu will know who is with him and those pushing other agendas and the plot wisely.

Let those gifted with hot air continue blowing it. Who knows knows, it help kill Amy worms or bring us more rains to run our hydro power stations.

President Sata was right when he settled for Lungu to take over the leadership of PF because he knew very well the minds of others. And this is why PF is still in government today.

President Lungu should just ignore his detractors who are busy working through newspapers because that is all they can do.

PF die-hard, LUSAKA

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Finnish envoy hit nail on the head

Dear Editor

I totally agree with Finnish ambassador to Zambia Timo Olkkonen that only vibrant opposition can bring sanity to Zambian politics.

Certainly the current opposition which only knows insults, tribalism and hate speeches is a big let-down and disgrace.

Our current opposition has failed to offer checks and balances to the ruling PF because it is just concerned with getting into State House.

We have all seen that its main pre-occupation is to unleash contemptuous attacks on President Lungu even over matters he has no control except for being PF.

My earnest appeal to the opposition is that they should take the advice of Mr Olkkonen seriously is they are to be pertinent to Zambia’s political landscape or risk being confined to the benches forever.

It is true that a vibrant opposition, like the ambassador has rightly said, puts the ruling government on its toes in the spirit of democracy and not otherwise.

But what we have in Zambia today is a leaden and frustrated opposition.

Thomas Muchimba,
Kalulushi