UPND OUGHT TO BE CAREFUL

WE have never advocated for the purging of civil servants from the system on account that they were appointed by the former regime and we do not wish to start this crusade now.

There are better causes we have championed and won, all for the benefit of the common man on the streets and one of them was an attempt by chain stores to manipulate the Ministry of Agriculture into importing onions from South Africa by making baseless projections that the country would run out of the commodity within two months.

We knew where this was coming from and who were championing it. We also knew some rotten groundnuts in the Ministry of Agriculture that wanted to cash in big over this issue. When it was not fashionable to do so by some media houses to wage the war because they were getting business from the very chain stores, we singlehandedly held the bull by its horns and the will of the people prevailed.

Since then, we have never imported onions. The same chain stores that were claiming that onions produced by local farmers were of low quality started stocking the same onions they condemned. We don’t take credit for this. Credit must be given to the people who stood up and stopped the rot. Our role was simply to bring out facts like we have done in the past three years that we have existed as a tabloid and our resolve has not changed.

To put things in perspective, it is our firm belief that the civil service must remain unadulterated despite the change of Government because we believe that if we are going to have a situation where each party that comes into power victimises those it found in the system, we will lose traction and the institutional memory and once we take this route, we will lose it as a country.

However, our concern is on those elements who have failed to come to terms with the fact that those who appointed them are no longer in power; the bunch that has continued to frustrate the system because it cannot let go of those it went to bed with and have continued exchanging notes with them on how to mess up the system.

Our issue is on those that are purposely sabotaging the Government at the expense of development; the misguided charlatans that are denying the citizens of this country the services that their Government must provide, all in the name of politics.

Not long ago, the Ministry of Health was a hive of scandals; whether real or perceived. Documents that incriminated those that make decisions in the ministry were flying at lightning speed into the public space to justify that there was nothing wrong in that ministry previously.

The aim was to make the Honeybee scandal look like child’s play. People begged the UPND Government to get rid of people behind the mischief but it took a year if not two, just to get rid of those elements and by the time that was done, the damage caused was irreversible.

When we told this Government about the mischief that was going on at the Passport Office previously where documents were forever missing if you did not oil anyone in the system and it took almost four months just to get a harmless passport, again, no one took us seriously.

Actually, those in the system even went as far as misleading the Minister of Home Affairs into making a statement that the problem at that office was caused by inadequate printing material but we knew all this was a lie. By the time a few changes were made to the Passport Office, the disloyal elements already had a field day.

Not long ago, the Minister told the nation that the issue was addressed as passport booklets had been procured but we challenge anyone to go to the passport office today and see if there is anything that has changed. It is a total mess.

These are just but a few examples of how the UPND has allowed itself to be ridiculed because of its laxity and the slow pace at which it is putting its house in order. Today, even the fight against corruption is seemingly becoming an academic exercise in futility because high-profile thieves are roaming free and making noise because they have boys and girls in the system who are still in charge and all they have to do is simply get files with incriminating evidence and destroy them. The next time suspects are in court, it is either the files are missing, or the videos have been edited or deleted and there is no prosecutable evidence.

How do you go to court to prosecute someone who is in control of the system better than you and expect to win? Look at all the high-profile cases involving corruption or abuse of office and see how most of them have cascaded into a melee of kalulu and giraffe stories and brought shame to those in Government and you realise that the UPND Government is doing itself a disservice.

When citizens witness such developments, it shakes their faith in the system. The public places its trust in prosecutors to diligently pursue justice and uphold the rule of law. Incidents like these undermine that trust and lead to skepticism about the fairness and transparency of the legal proceedings. If prosecutors cannot protect crucial evidence, it raises doubts about their capabilities and, in some instances, leads to suspicions of complicity with the accused parties.

Some civil servants have been given too much leeway to bite at the Government yet when citizens cry about inertia to act, they are told to be patient and it is this patience which has brought about all the kerfuffle and at the end of the day, the people who are jubilating are those who have looted our national coffers with impunity.

As things and, those who should have gone to jail or made to pay back what they have stolen may not be punished. Instead, they are now taking turns to ridicule the fight against corruption because they know where they are standing. It is a case of mumbwe pakulila, pali uko ashintilile amatako.

They have ganged up, using the same stolen resources to wage a serious campaign against the UPND in 2026. At this point, it matters less who joins them. Their preoccupation is to remove the UPND from power and they should not be underestimated. They care less about who leads them as long as he will insulate them against prosecution.

What the UPND seems to have forgotten is that elections are won or lost on perception. As days are rolling into weeks, months, and years, we are galloping closer to the next election and soon, it will be an election year and mostly, elections are not about who is telling the truth or who has the best message. About 80 percent of elections in Africa, Zambia included, are won or lost on perception.

It is not always about how much you campaign because if that was the case, the UPND would not have won the 2021 elections because they had no one to talk to. They were caged like common criminals and isolated like patients with leprosy in the olden days while Edgar Lungu went about campaigning freely. The UPND and other political parties were reduced to road shows and mask-distribution exercises because those were the days when our country had slowly drifted into dictatorship, the kind only witnessed in countries like Uganda.

The PF lost elections because they stopped listening. When Zambians were complaining about political violence, lawlessness by cadres, corruption, and reckless borrowing, the PF was busy playing partisan politics and turned a blind eye to the suffering of the people. It was the dununa reverse arrogance which got them booted out of power and we thought the UPND by now should have learnt valuable lessons from the PF’s predicament.

The kid gloves and the slow pace at which the UPND is dealing with truant elements in the system all in the name of institutional memory may come back to haunt them. The best time to correct the wrong things happening under their watch is now because tomorrow may be too late.

These incidents underscore the urgency to address and root out corruption within the country’s Government institutions. Promises of reform and cleaning the system need to be translated into concrete actions. It is crucial that authorities and stakeholders engage in a thorough investigation of these issues and hold those responsible to account.

Failure to take decisive action will only erode public trust further and perpetuate a cycle of corruption and impunity. The UPND Government must demonstrate its commitment to upholding the rule of law and ensuring a fair and transparent legal process by thoroughly investigating these incidents and implementing necessary reforms to prevent such occurrences in future. Only then can justice be truly served, and the nation can move towards a more equitable and accountable future.