Retaining Edgar Lungu and the Patriotic Front next year will be the worst mistake Zambians can make.
And as we head towards August 12, 2021 elections the words of Martin Luther King Jr should be ringing in our ears: “We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice…Leaders who can subject their particular egos to the pressing urgencies of the great cause of freedom…a time like this demands great leaders.”
These are crooks and not leaders. They don’t deserve our votes. We have had enough time to assess them and know who they are. And as Mwenye Musenge correctly observes, “It is high time that in 2021 when people will be voting they should seriously consider what they have benefitted from this government. When you go out and distribute ubunga (mealie-meal), then what have you sorted out? Have you eradicated poverty? For how many days are they going to enjoy that meal? We will make Zambians realise their worth, make them know that their worth goes beyond the K20 given to them by the PF only when they need their vote. We want to make our people understand that the only way they can develop is when we have leaders who are focused at serving people rather than themselves. Giving to churches, giving to individuals, buying buses, buying cars and giving to markets is what they know, and they call that development. I don’t think that’s how things are supposed to be. For me, the PF has failed to deliver and it is important that the Zambian people quickly rise up to look for an alternative.”
The coexistence of harsh disapproval of corruption and the limited electoral consequences of malfeasant behaviour remains a conundrum in our politics. While elections should be used to hold our politicians accountable, it is not unusual for our people to vote for corrupt politicians, they only mildly punish corrupt politicians.
If this behaviour continues we won’t manage to get ourselves out of poverty.
Michael Sata has bequeathed us a formula of how to deal with election bribes – Don’t kubeba! We will need to bring back Don’t kubeba in 2021 elections.