NEW HERITAGE PARTY MESSAGE TO PUBLIC SERVANTS – CHISHALA KATEKA

NEW HERITAGE PARTY MESSAGE TO PUBLIC SERVANTS –

31st October 2023

The New Heritage Party wishes to bring to the attention of the nation, a matter which is very cardinal to the enjoyment of the full rights and citizenship of Zambians. This is a matter that impinges on Zambians access to satisfactory service from Public Servants in the Civil Service and the various other arms of Government.

This is a matter that calls upon our Zambian technocrats and professionals that hold strategic Public Service positions, especially in the Judiciary, in the Security Services – particularly in the Zambia Police Service, Anti-Corruption Commission, FIC, Drug Enforcement Commission as well as Professionals in many other critical areas, such as the Office of the Auditor General, Registrar of Societies, Zambia Electoral Commission, the Independent Broadcasting Authority and other oversight institutions, whose decisions affect the country and its future, either negatively or positively and in most cases permanently.

This is a time, more than ever before, that brave patriotic Zambian professionals are required to come out and defend the positions that they have been given.

New Heritage Party is calling on all our professionals to act in accordance with their oath of office with their stated Terms of Reference and Code of Conduct in their jobs. They must follow the law to the letter in those positions as doing this is the best safeguard that you have against those that will try to manipulate you.

Our Public Servants cannot be partisan and they cannot put their regional or personal interest ahead of the national imperative. They are in those jobs in trust for the Zambian people. The ability of our system of governance to operate efficiently is dependent upon these professionals, who are paid for by the tax payer, to do their job professionally on behalf of Zambians and who they therefore must serve as a matter of priority. The current situation, whereby the Public Service has deteriorated in terms of professionalism, in terms of partisan conduct and in terms of illegal conduct by our technocrats and by our Senior Public Servants, is not and cannot be acceptable.

When a Public Servant aligns themselves to the ruling elite, they lose focus, they lose their compass with regard to their mandate.

Cases in point are many.

We have the conduct of the current, Inspector General of Police, who has taken it upon himself to be the guardian angel of the ruling party and is taking on the Opposition Parties. He is spearheading a politically motivated campaign against opposition figures, using Police resources that are paid for, primarily for the protection of citizens, by the Zambian tax payers. He has weaponized the Police against these Opposition Political Figures and their Parties. He is now a law unto himself, who can decide when, where and how Political Parties conduct themselves. That is not the job of the Inspector General, nor the Police.

The Police are a security providing institution whose operations are to enforce the law firmly and fairly in order to create a safe, secure and peaceful environment for social and economic development for all. It is to ensure that citizens live peaceful lives and are thus able to go about their daily lives and business in a tranquil environment. They are supposed to ensure that ordinary citizens, be it in Chibolya or Kabulonga move about freely and live peaceful lives without worrying about negative elements in society. When Police arrest an Opposition Leader, we have seen the routine – the law is not followed – abductions, being held for a longer than prescribed timeframe in cells, transferring them to some unknown destination in a remote holding cells making it difficult for their family and their lawyers to find them or have access to them.

This is akin to being in apartheid South Africa or Nazi Germany – Zambia is not a fascist state.

We have Judicial decisions that are highly questionable and embarrassing for our Judiciary and now, for the first time in our country’s history, we have an Auditor General’s Report that can no longer be relied upon. Zambia is seriously bleeding financially with money meant for Zambians being looted with impunity. Glimpses of leaked portions of the Auditor General’s Report show this rampant theft of our public resources is rife.

Those brave men and women who stand up to the system have seen themselves lose their positions for flimsy and trumped-up reasons especially under the cover of the so called “being retired in National Interest” clause, carried on by successive Governments including the current Government. This should and must be stopped.

In the area of elections, which is even more critical, we have seen the abuse of the mandate of the Electoral Commission of Zambia. This is why as a Party, we insist that the current arrangement whereby the appointment of Commissioners to that critical institution which is in the hands of one person and that person is a participant in elections, has to be stopped and a new modern, fair and just system must be substituted. We refer you to the conduct exhibited by the Commission in the Kabushi and Kwacha by-elections. It became very clear that those of our citizens that have been put in charge of this institution, are highly compromised and cannot be entrusted with managing our General Elections.

Few of our intellectuals, even in universities, are able to challenge clear misconceptions in our society where clear misunderstandings of the law in the running of our society abound. We have charlatans, cadres telling us about interpretations of the law with regard, for instance, to the former Head of State and his entitlements, telling us about the law concerning the right of association or the right of assembly and we sit quietly and allow them to dictate the direction that the country takes. We have a lot of misinformation, floating about in our communities, which is not being cleared up by our professionals.

Concerning the health of our people, as an example, we are told that suspected GMO maize is being brought in to feed the nation whose negative consequences we shall only see in the years to come. Which is why GMOs are not fed to human beings in Europe for instance. We are not hearing a voice from our scientists to weigh in with their professional knowledge to protect the Zambian people because they are more concerned with their well-being, whose professional standing matters less to them than keeping their jobs. They would rather not risk the same for the sake of national interest. This is unpatriotic.

What all this amounts to is the degrading of the gains that have thus far been achieved in the Fifty-nine (59) years of being independent.

We must recognize that Zambia is not a Banana Republic. She has played a significant role in the liberation wars, she has stood proud on the world stage and played her part, standing up for the dignity of the human race. Our National Anthem speaks very clearly to who we are as a people. We stand proud and free, a nation of dignity and peace. It further speaks of us rising like our noble eagle in its flight – soaring above problems and challenges. That is where we ought to be. We must not lose sight of this. But this can only be achieved when we unite. The National Anthem speaks of ‘Unity’ – Let us all her people join as one in defending what we fought for…not taking part in Zambia’s destruction.

The New Heritage Party wishes to give this word of caution to the nation; Zambia has the potential to become a great nation in more ways than one, however we shall not achieve this with a compromised Public Service. This current state of affairs will not end well for our nation. Our Public Servants must rise to the occasion. They must stop being afraid for their immediate gains. – they need to safeguard their integrity because they have ‘what is right’ on their side. Zambia needs men and women of integrity to stand up for what is right. We have had such men and women of integrity in the country in the past, men and women who have stood up against state tyranny to protect our Constitution, to protect the wealth of this nation and to protect the lives and property of ordinary citizens.

This New Heritage call goes to all Public Service Officers that are not executing their duty in line with their mandate. We want to encourage you to do the right thing always and make Zambia proud. The decision of a courageous man or woman in a strategic office, can alter the direction of history. See what happened in Malawi when those brave Judges ruled correctly that Mutharika had not won the election. That was a milestone in liberating the people of that country. The same happened in Kenya.

We now ask; where are those brave men and women in the Judiciary who will make the right judgement because it is the right thing to do, at the Registrar of Societies who will refuse to register Party Officials coming from an illegally constituted Convention, at the Anti-Corruption who will go for a sitting Minister who is giving out corrupt contracts to his friends and family? Where are those brave men and women at ECZ who will call out wrong doing? Where are the brave Police Officers who will stand by what is right and will refuse to fire guns at fellow Zambians, who will refuse to short circuit due process to aid and abet an irregularity by taking finger prints on a public holiday?

Where are those brave men and women that will serve the Zambian people? We call upon you once more to examine your conscious and serve and save Mother Zambia

CHISHALA KATEKA
President – New Heritage Party