ABOUT USELESSNESS: A CASE OF GIVING PROBLEMS TO THE PEOPLE WHO EMPLOYED YOU TO FIND SOLUTIONS
By Sean Tembo – PeP President
1. Yesterday, l was taken by surprise by President Hakainde Hichilema’s impromptu announcement that he was going to address the nation. I wondered what about? Then his address came. He announced to the nation that the country requires K23.5 billion to mitigate the effects of the drought, and said that his Government had only been able to raise K1.3 billion, leaving a deficit of K22.2 billion.
2. Two things immediately struck me at that moment. Firstly, it occurred to me that the President had declared the drought as a national disaster more than 3 months ago, and just left the matter at a declaration, with no proposed solutions on how his Government was going to mitigate the effects of the drought. In other words, the President and his Government have been calculating how much will be needed to provide relief assistance to the affected population, for more than 3 months, meanwhile the affected people are either sleeping hungry, or in the case of the rural population, sleeping on wild roots. Are those really the attributes of a serious President who cares about his people?
3. The other thing that struck me about President Hakainde Hichilema’s address yesterday was the fact that after he indicated how much his Government needs to provide relief assistance for drought victims and that he has a shortfall of K22.2 billion, he ended there without providing a solution of where he intends to get that money. In other words, instead of providing a solution to the problem facing the people, he was giving the problem back to the people without a solution.
4. A serious President was supposed to say: “we have a deficit of K22.2 billion for us to provide relief assistance for the effects of the drought, and my Government has decided to re-align the National Budget by cutting down on expenditure for sectors A, B and C so as to mobilize the required deficit of K22.2 billion which is urgently needed to save lives by providing relief assistance to our population that is hard hit by the effects of the drought”. That would be a President offering solutions to the people who employed him to do exactly that. But alas, Hakainde Hichilema does not have any solutions, and is only able to offer a restatement of our problems.
5. The President should ask himself what it is he is offering the people in return to the many perks that the people of Zambia have provided him as Republican President. The food he eats at his home is provided by the people of Zambia. The suits, shoes, shirts etcetera that he wears are provided by the people of Zambia. The private jet that he uses to galavant the world is provided by the people of Zambia, together with the hotel bills for the seven star hotels in which he stays when he goes out of the country. The reason the people of Zambia are so generous to provide President Hakainde Hichilema with all the perks that he enjoys is because they expect that he will provide solutions to problems which the nation faces from time to time.
6. If the people of Zambia knew that their President is unable to provide any solutions to their problems, am very confident that they would not be willing to extend to him the perks that he currently enjoys as Republican President. And the issue of the current drought is as big as the national problems come.
7. When we had the last big drought in 1991/92, President Fredrick Titus Jacob Chiluba did not give the problem to the citizens. Instead, he worked quietly and found a solution. Next we just realized that there was yellow mealie meal and yellow flour for our bread and buns. In other words, President FTJ Chiluba had found a solution to the drought problem. He had done exactly what the people of Zambia had employed him to do.
8. By restating the problem of financing the mitigating measures of the current drought, instead of providing a solution, President Hakainde Hichilema is proving to be a useless President. He is not useful to the people of Zambia. At this point, all well-meaning citizens should ask themselves why we should continue to endear the President with the many perks that he has been enjoying.
9. Why should the people of Zambia continue to prove free food to a President that is unable to find solutions to the current drought. Why should the people of Zambia continue to prove free suits and other clothes to an impotent President? A President who is unable to birth any solutions for the nation? A eunuch. A liability. A President who consumes so much from the people but gives back so little?
10. More than 3 months after declaring the drought a national disaster, President Hakainde Hichilema and his Government have not delivered a single bag of relief food to any household across the country. Is this President serious? Is this President mentally fit? This level of uselessness is indeed unprecedented. Anyway, let me end here for today before he sends his Zambezi Squad to come and break down the door to my house. Let him go look for that K22.2 billion and provide relief food to all citizens affected by drought. We don’t need problems from him, only solutions. Every job has benefits and responsibilities. In order to enjoy the benefits, one must first discharge the responsibilities. It is immoral for Mr. Hakainde Hichilema to only enjoy the benefits of being Republican President and yet abscond from discharging his responsibilities. Go do your job sir !!!
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SET 17.04.2024