By Pamela Bwembya
SOME REASONS WHY I WILL NOT VOTE FOR ECL AND PF
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1. ECL breaks the constitution whenever he wants (to his advantage) and examples abound…the illegal ministers, failure to let the speaker act when his election was petitioned. ECL does not respect our constitution. Proof lies in his allowing the police to detain opposition members without timely handing them to our courts as stipulated by our laws. ECL quietly released Spax Mulenga over a rape case and possible involvement in gassing and murder.
2. ECL is more interested in enriching himself and not the country. Proof of this is in his rapid accumulation of personal assets and, the plain rise to opulence of some family members.
3. ECL is a tribalist who has uttered words to that effect when addressing crowds in Eastern province. He has never punished ministers who have used tribalism as a tool in by elections.
4. ECL condones corruption and uses it as a critical tool to get things done in his favor. I am yet to fully understand how a bench of respected judges would become part of an effort to deprive a citizen of a fair hearing during the 2016 petition…or how non-PF leaders seem to get stiffer sentences than PF members. In fact, we have a murder case that occurred in Kaoma in which the deputy SG of PF was an eye witness and yet the president has been unable to encourage his men in uniform to do what is required of them. ECL is the kind of CEO who gets a report from an internal audit department that suggests that some managers are stealing from the company but the CEO sides with the accused while vilifying the audit unit.
5. ECL punishes civil servants that antagonize criminal operations of those he works with. That is how the police officers in Chingola got transferred after a PF IPS was arrested in connection with the gassing that indirectly killed about 50 citizens.
6. ECL mistakes his personal and party interests for national interest. Examples include retirement in national interest of officers and civil servants after doing what they are employed to do.
7. ECL openly intimidates the judiciary and allows his party officials to do the same. This is not good for a well functioning government.
8. ECL uses his brilliance to scheme against competitors within his party and outside the party. Such brilliance would help Zambia if it was targeted towards the best positions for Zambia in international dealings. ECL will borrow money and personally sign for loans without the involvement of parliament.
9. ECL does not seem to appreciate that the civil services and security wings must only benefit from a well-performing private sector. ECL will boast about building houses for security wings without realizing that such actions need to be backed by an efficient and expanded tax system. Zambia can have the best equipped and most motivated security wings, but if the citizens are not empowered to support the officers effortlessly, the business environment gradually becomes toxic. Thieves get away with theft of public funds and the cost of protecting citizens increases while officers make things even harder for citizens by demanding bribes from both the accused and the accuser.
10. ECL loves luxury….Ferrari in the sky, new suits, new shoes, being seen to be rich (dishing out freebies from unknown sources), overpriced massive infrastructure developments (that already need urgent repairs). The man believes civil servants and police officers that have three cars at their homes are a sign of a good performing economy and not corruption or wastefulness. Zambia does not make cars, not even needles or razor blades. Priding ourselves in imported finished goods is a sign of failure to understand why our people have no jobs.
11. ECL is a danger to our country because, the more we allow him to rule us the more wrongs he is likely to commit knowingly or unknowingly, the more afraid of losing power, and the more dictatorial he might become.
12. ECL has been mutilating our constitution to give himself a chance to avoid being investigated for possible crimes. BILL 10 aimed to dilute our constitution to an extent that would make changing critical laws using a simple majority in parliament. The current CYBER BILL is a snippet of what would have been happening frequently had Bill10 passed. Allowing ECL to win in August is likely to bring back BILL 10 in another form (The minister of Justice already promised that).
13. ECL abuses his power to manipulate electoral processes. Presidential visits that prevent citizens to campaign for their party candidates, closing of air space to local flights are perfect examples. ECL does not belief in democracy and the skewed number of registered voters in PF strongholds is a good example. He has taken away citizens rights to vote and probably given it to people that are not eligible to vote.
14. ECL IS NOT GOOD FOR ZAMBIA, the sooner ordinary citizens realize this, the better. Two litres of milk is now costing K40 instead of K14. Another 5 YEARS of ECL will turn grass into our favorite vegetable.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE REASONS WHY I WILL NOT VOTE FOR ECL this August.