Kellys Kaunda
POLITICIANS AND MISTAKES
Because they are human, political leaders are bound to make mistakes. Because they are not necessarily experts in their assigned roles, they are bound to make mistakes. Because they are politicians, they would want to come out knowledgeable and give a sense of confidence to their supporters. Because the democratic space was only reopened in 1991, the majority of people ascending to positions of power are no different from interns assigned sensitive roles.
So, President Hakainde, Vice President Nalumango, Cabinet Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, District Commissioners and Ambassadors will, from time to time, make mistakes in various ways that include the diagnosis of policy problems, and perpetuation of common errors that the public may have always believed as the truth, among others.
True to their identity as Zambian politicians, they will not walk back their statements and apologize. But not to worry, the world will not come to an end on account of that. Thanks to social media and other sources of news and information, you could learn something that politicians cannot teach you.
For instance, to assume that private-sector performance metrics can work in the public sector without significant modifications as advocated by government is a fatal mistake in public policy. Any well-schooled and educated policy advisor will tell that. To think that a piece of land occupied by an embassy becomes the sending country’s territory is incorrect. No diplomatic school of repute will ever teach that. If you are an international relations student, DO NOT EVER WRITE OR SAY THAT!
The ongoing shortages of drugs in hospitals is yet another example of how elusive service delivery is, a well-known and often studied phenomenon in implementation literature. Politicians keep pushing the envelope creating the impression that they have matters under control and everybody else, especially critics are ignorant.
Other than the cabinet that FJT created after the 1991 elections, most cabinets we have had since then have had new entrants to governance and assigned to portfolios where they have had no experience. To add salt to injury, the only qualification you need to enter politics is just a basic general certificate of education which, by its very definition, does not give you any professional skills. Consequently, we have many policy makers, who are supposed to provide strategic direction, that are in essence pretenders to the throne because they bring nothing of substance to their assigned roles.
And the only reason they survive is on account of political supporters who cannot care less about professionalism, expertise, efficiency and yet, as victims of poor service delivery arising from poor leadership, they are the first to suffer and cry for help.