Pilato writes……
IT IS NOT A POLITICAL AGENDA
Good leaders are often destroyed by their good supporters. These good supporters are those that offer unconditional support to them sometimes even when they are wrong. No single leader enters political power with arrogance, they manifest it once the environment is conducive for them to do so. To say Bishop Alick Banda today is advancing a political agenda is wrong and must be challenged. What Bishop Banda is doing is what Fr. Umberto did during the MMD reign. It is what Fr. Miha did during the Chiluba and Mwanawasa’s reign. It is what Bishop Telesphore Mpundu did under the PF. To assume that everyone who talks about the well-being of people and the country is advancing a political agenda is wrong. This is the same mistake that the MMD made, this is the same mistake that the PF made and this does look like the same mistake that the UPND will make.
When you say “the president is a listening president”, what exactly is he listening to if not to these critical observations by the Bishop?
When you say you are a listening party or government, what are you listening to, is it just from the praise singers?
The branding of people as political agents or sponsored or anything like that doesn’t work. Find the substance in what the critics are saying. Instead of making the same mistake that your predecessors made, decide to do better.
My advice to the UPND as a party and the Government is, STOP seeing every criticism as attacks. Not everyone is attacking you, people are expressing themselves from their point of views. Instead of branding people, just address the concerns raised. It is difficult for the Bishop or any meaningful leader of a Church to preach heaven before preaching earth to them. The heavenly question is connected to the earthly realities. The Bishop is not attacking you, he is saying things as he is seeing them happen, if he is lying, prove that to the people. If he is not lying, he is giving you an opportunity to see things from his perspective. That’s what the freedom to expression does to leaders, it allows you to see things from a different angle. When people question, it is because they need answers. When they doubt, provide clarity. When they become silent, be concerned.
The PF did a good job at silencing everyone and calling all of us as political agents. Where are they? Is that the route you want to take within the 8 months in power?
Stop seeing attacks, view these as expressions of how people are perceiving you and your government.
