ADVICE TO THE PRESIDENT FROM A FORMER MINISTER.
INTRODUCTION
I didn’t realise how many people read our stories on Zambian whistleblowers. Neither did I realise how impactful our articles have been.
A week never passes without bumping into somebody who mentions and congratulates me on the brilliant insights in our articles.
Since I love my peace and quietness I sometimes want to hide and not take credit for the knowledge in the articles .
I have met politicians, economists, media people etc and every encounter leaves me with more ideas and the desire to write more..
Last month I met a senior legal Counsel who mentioned that the UPND system, including the Secretary General of the UPND, reads our articles and wants to meet me in person .
Be ready for more stories that will mushroom as a result of these encounters .
ANALYSIS,
ENCOUNTER WITH THE MINISTER
He approached me and mentioned that he has been briefed by his children that I write awesome and impactful stories and wanted to find out what my background was? I said I am thankful to learn that people actually read our articles but I don’t have any background worth talking about. I added that my writings are purely out of passion which I take as a pastime. I have been an autodidact freelance writer from the age of 19 who has written for both the public and private tabloids.
He went on to mention how thankful he was to the President because his wife had just been appointed in the diplomatic service. He further complained how his wife had been sidelined by the PF government..
Mr Mulenga ( not his real name) said writers like us have a lot of influence on both the leaders and the people. He advises that we need to use our influence to help the President improve and guide public policy . He said the first area where we need to help the President is on the Barotseland issue. Mr Mulenga says the only way the barotseland issue is going to rest is by calling for a referendum based on the actual geographical boundaries. He said the only way the people of barotseland will be settled is by allowing its people to vote for or against the independence of barotseland. He also mentioned that the President has shown political will for the people of western Province by appointing its people to key positions and initiating developmental projects. So the idea of barotseland being neglected is neither here nor there.
The other issue that he talked about concerns the welfare of cadres. He emphasized that cadres are the backbone of any political system and neglecting cadres is politically suicidal.
He mentioned that during the MMD era cadres were well looked after. Same with the PF though cadres in the PF era overstepped their boundaries by lacing their activities with violence.
Ba Lungu afwilisheni ba Kateka he begged because the President means well for the country but he needs to be advised.. He also congratulated the President for building and encouraging a professional and disciplined civil service.
TRIBAL DISCONTENTMENT
Talking about the civil service I would like to add by bringing in another important perspective. As writers we have the ability to sniff whatever goes on in all areas of the governance system. And we have the ability to advise accordingly. Our advice is never malicious but to ensure that the government is on track. We are in this together and we want to ensure that the change that people voted for is materialised.
There is growing discontentment among the civil service with regard to the working atmosphere. Since we don’t have access to the information law it is extremely difficult to get the side of the government but we have been told that most of the key positions such as that of the Minister, Permanent Secretary and the procurement staff have been given to personnel coming from one region.
Furthermore, we have been told that the official language in government ministries is slowly changing from English to Tonga. This is proving difficult for people that emanate from other regions to have conversations within the government establishment..
Have we ever noticed that Hollywood movies that do not have the minorities are resented by the African Americans, Latinos and Asians. A resentment will naturally appear if racial and tribal balancing is not addressed.
CONCLUSION,
The New Dawn Administration has a huge task to ensure that the mistakes that were made by the PF administration are not repeated. The country has witnessed high levels of reverse tribalism and the earlier this issue is looked into the better.
A lot of well meaning Zambians are doing everything possible to advise the Presidency but most of their efforts are being blocked because of a number of factors such as the know it all attitude, a bad reading culture and presidential aides sitting on information ( this will be a story of another day).
I submit.
John Noel Lungu.
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