By Prince Bill M. Kaping’a Political/Social Analyst
When President Michael Sata came under a barrage of stern criticism from some of us regarding the appointment of his kith and kin to key government positions; he retorted thus during one of his swearing in ceremonies, “I don’t balance tribes, I balance brains!”
What do we make of this?
We don’t have to be geniuses or indeed consult the Sangomas to help us fathom whether the man people loved to refer to as King Cobra was bluffing or not. This was nothing but absolute attempt to camouflage the ugly head of tribalism and nepotism rampant in his government, and he got away with it. Those of you with the memory of an elephant would recall that in 2012 or there about, I was almost locked up for high treason for churning out an article, “Sata’s Family Forest Explained” detailing the stinking whiff of nepotism and tribalism in the PF regime. Edgar Lungu was Minister of Home Affairs at the time. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, you should have seen on ZNBC TV main news. He was banging and slamming his shiny mahogany desk and seething with uncontrollable rage as he urged the investigative wings to bring the culprits to book!
Anyway, once the millionaire businessman cum cattle rancher turned politician Hakainde Hichilema swept to power, he went out of his way to assemble a cabinet which is representative of the national character by nature – unlike in the past, all the regions of our great nation are represented in the current establishment.
But lo and behold, if we analyze the performance of some of the ministers, it leaves one wondering whether tribal balancing is indeed a blessing or a curse. It’s as clear as day light that some of the minsters aren’t delivering at all. We feel pity for the president that he has to maintain dead wood in cabinet lest he’s accused of purging certain tribes from government.
Let’s take Minister of Information and Chief Government Spokesperson madam Chushi Kasanda for instance; does she still exist? The madam hasn’t been keen to grab the bull by its horns feature on live phone-in programmes to explicate government policies! She’s rather comfortable dispatching written press statements from the comfort of her office. When the nation is grappling with numerous challenges such as load shedding, increase in the price of fuel and essential commodities, we expect Kasanda firing on all cylinders trotting to every radio and TV station debunking the lies and innuendos that the enemies of progress are peddling against the New Dawn Administration.
We come to achimwene bambo Mtolo Phiri the Minister of Agriculture; does he really understand what is expected of him each time he reports for work? The distribution of farming inputs for the current farming season has been chaotic and shambolic to the say the least! We expected Phiri to jump into his work suit and gumboots and embark on traversing the countryside to ensure that inputs are getting to the farmers in good time. What has been situation on the ground? Farming inputs have been getting to our people halfway into the farming season! Who does that?
The energy sector is even worse! It had to take the entire President to excuse himself from his busy schedule to intervene in the energy crisis. What was Peter Kapala doing all that time? Why was he finding it a challenge to dash to Kariba Dam or Maamba Collieries on a fact-finding mission to appreciate the magnitude of the problem and propose alternative solutions?
The president has a passion for this country, there’s no question about it. The man is in a hurry to address the stinking mess left behind by the previous regime. Unfortunately, though, most of his ministers don’t seem to move in synergy with him. They are either lost at sea or busy enjoying the trappings of power to make up for the lost time in the wilderness.
We would like to appeal to the president to immediately undertake, not only the performance appraisal of his ministers and aides at State House, but also seek to know which of his officials are engaging in corrupt activities. If it is so established that Minister XYZ has failed to perform to expectations or they’ve indeed become instant millionaires boasting of fleets of cars, mansions and colossal sums of cash in offshore accounts, the issue of tribal balancing mustn’t even stand in the way! We expect heads to role.
For instance, there’s been a lot of petty talk bordering on the demotion of the Presidential press aide Anthony Bwalya with some alleging that he’s lost his job based on tribe. However, Economic Front leader Wynter Kabimba has shared intelligent sentiments about the same. Speaking in an interview with the press, the former PF Secretary General says Bwalya must have crossed the red line for him to lose his much-coveted job at plot 1 and not some rubbish called ethnic grounds! It’s unfortunate that some opposition party leaders and their blind followers have gone wild spreading lies that can further polarize the nation. UPND media and the entire government machinery, please wake up!