Friday November 14, 2014
(Editorial Comment)
CREATING CONFUSION
PRESIDENT Michael Sata was correct, maybe he had a premonition.
He may have anticipated the disorder and anarchy we are witnessing and hence his decision to break away from the cartel and repose trust elsewhere, but his effort may have come too late.
That is why we would advise Zambians not to underestimate the capacity of the cartel to create confusion, anarchy and ultimate despondency in the country. From all accounts, the President was a troubled man as he left Lusaka for London.
Our well-being as a nation must have been uppermost in his mind. He knew the dangers we faced and hoped to protect us.
That unfortunately was not to be.
What he feared most is happening. Those who wanted to usurp his power and authority have not given up. They have redoubled their efforts and will stop at nothing to achieve this goal, regardless of the cost to the nation. If it means instability and anarchy they will have no qualms to fan it.
What may appear to be a localized skirmish within the ruling Patriotic Front party will ultimately blossom and affect the rest of the nation. It is a mistaken notion to believe that instability will remain endemic to the ruling party.
What appears endemic could very easily engulf the country, hence the need for all Zambians to take a very special interest in what is happening and more importantly why it is happening.
The confusion is a deliberate ploy to throw us off the real issues facing our country. An invisible hand is at play fanning and promoting division and schisms where none really exist. The aim is to divide and rule and seek the weakest path to power and control.
Attempts will be made to scandalize and besmirch all the strong candidates who may pose the danger of exposing and prosecuting the serious financial crimes committed against the people of Zambia.
For years political favour, fear and sheer intimidation prevented law enforcement agencies from investigating and prosecuting clear cases of crime.
This time round the danger and cause of anxiety and worry is that Zambians may choose a leader with courage and tenacity to pursue financial, professional and moral transgressions to the ultimate end which includes prosecution in courts of law.
They are petrified because they have engineered injustice and are afraid that what they have done to others will be done to them, hence the preoccupation to sabotage and therefore derail the democratic process by abusing the links they created in the system.
Zambians must stand steadfast and call the bluff.
Zambians have every right to know why they are locked in an exploitative fuel price mechanism that is nothing but sheer robbery. Somebody must explain why Trafigura was paid double the world price and why indeed we are still paying above world prices to the detriment of ordinary men and women whose lives have been made unbearable by the high cost of living partly attributed to the high fuel prices in the country.
Zambians will never know the truth about this matter and many others if they allow themselves to be hoodwinked into voting for a compromised candidate who may promise to overlook these serious transgressions.
Zambians have every right to know where the money being splashed around in these elections is coming from. Is this some of the money owed to the Government? Is it the result of corrupt deals for which the ordinary Zambian is paying?
The truth will be known if the right person is placed in the office of the President.
He or she will constitute a commission of inquiry into the matters that have puzzled most Zambians. We shall all know how institutions of governance were corrupted to benefit a few greedy people.
The truth will set us free, but only if we as citizens choose to work together and see the subterfuge for what it is, an attempt to throw us.
(Daily Nation)