Tariro Shiziba writes
STATE HOUSE IGNORANCE – OR STATE HOUSE ARROGANCE?
I could be wrong. But then something just feels wrong.
With due respect to all the recognition our government paid photographer has acquired, something needs to be done.
One would always think that working at State House introduces you to a certain kind of a code on how to not only conduct yourself in public when with the head of state but also in private.
CHELLAH TUKUTAH PHOTOGRAPHY or Chellah Tukuta?
First of all, we need some clearance.
Is Chellah on government payroll as an employee of the state or Chellah Tukuta Photography as a business was hired to be taking photos at state house.
I ask so because I find it unprofessional to have photos being paid for by the state branded with a private label. For all I know those photos should belong to all of us if we’re paying for them. Anyone should be able to use them freely because they’re public property. Of course the not so good photographer can be credited when those images are used.
But someone should correct this. The photographer should stop placing his label on the photos if he is employed and paid for by the state. But if it’s his photography business that was hired then he is right to do that.
PRIVATE SHOOTS
We live in a world where everyone needs a side hustle.
But someone working for state house as a presidential photographer ought to conduct his private hustles carefully and mindful that that can expose him to security threats too. Maybe Zambia is just special.
Here is what I mean, as Presidential photographer one would think Chellah is exposed to a certain level of security clearance. I suppose he can meet with the president, his family and workmates almost anytime anywhere.
Now sophisticated criminals in todays world are capable of planting an assassination to the head of state using the photographers camera.
They are also capable of planting anything on him or to his camera or phone or laptop that can access all private conversations and classified information.
Is the Presidency safe with all those zooming in and out were seeing from the photographer? Don’t blame anyone if we keep wondering how certain audios are leaked from State House. Tell your workers to watch their interactions!
MENTAL HEALTH OR ARROGANCE?
The past few days our photographer has been practically offending people, publicly shaming artists, social media influencers and others and playing high level childishness in trying to prove one’s achievements. Remember last year the same treated us to an award he had self accused himself of being awarded nominee by some organization. A few days later we saw the same organization write a letter denying Chellah was nominated to any award by their institution.
Does State House stand for that kind of arrogance? The president should make no mistake to think that the quality of his workers around him can impact how people think about him.
Anyway, the past few hours that’s he’s have probably spent watching some YouTube tutorials on how to shoot beautiful images and how to edit photos without making people look like they wore different colors so that he could improve his skills and deliver what he gets paid for, our guy has been busy posting everything he says he has achieved. Now you must understand the genesis of this battle to appreciate its context.
I have failed to understand why he’d spend an entire day and an entire night bragging. Am not sure State House is so unconcerned about this.
But then his postings the past few hours have made me think too hard.
Then one remembers, how some few years ago Chellah went through some rough patches in life. Behaves in very unquestionable ways. We saw images of him that no photographer would win any award with. People sometimes hardly move on from their past. Especially if something makes them trend. They may seem to be enjoying popularity on social media but deep down inside they are hurting.
And now the question remains, could we all be ignoring sone serious mental health issues and taking it all for fun?
The behavior he exhibits, should he be dismissed sone day, we should not be shocked to hear he’s threatening to post private messages or photos of anyone in senior government positions including the President.
Going forward, we need to have people go through some form of integrity test for them to work for state house. We also need some serious policies on how people working for state house can conduct themselves on social media and run their private business.
Otherwise, we need serious mental health experts resident at State House to attend to staff. And we can all unite and help Chellah become a figure we are all genuinely proud of.
Other than that, we could be dealing with State arrogance.
Happy Sabbath
#YourBushPhilosopher