SPEAK OUT: CORRUPTION IS RAVAGING OUR LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS
By Faston Mwale, SP Deputy General Secretary – Political
It is a fact that Zambia suffers from a chronic form of corruption. Since 1991 when Zambia embraced neo-liberal capitalism as a dominant ideological framework for shaping public policy, corruption, cronyism and wanton looting of public resources has been escalating and simultaneously ravaging our lives and livelihoods while ruthlessly enriching those in control of state resources. When we said that the UPND would become far worse than all previous governments in terms of corruption, many disputed this posture and thought that we were just being malicious. Today, the mounting levels of corruption involving huge sums of public money proves the point that the UPND is nothing else than a corrupt cabal.
We have said it several times over that as long as the President refuses to disclose his asset value, fighting corruption would be difficult. In fact, the refusal by the President to declare his assets and liabilities is in itself sufficient to create an authentic impression of corruption in his government.
Sadly, in the face of the deepening crisis of corrupting and wanton looting of public resources by those mandated to be the stewards of our public wealth, Zambians have maintained a silence that closely resembles a strange form of docility. It also sad that corruption is no longer a thematic priority in public discourse. Religious institutions, trade unions, traditional establishments, civil society organization rarely issue statements on corruption. Is it because we do not understand that corruption is cancer that undermines the productive capacity of an economy, or it is out of fear that we have been cowed into silence? Where is the collective that once played a vital role in ensuring transparency and accountability on public resources? Today, individuals who courageously denounce corruption are targeted for arrest and excessive detentions.
It would be naïve to think that the staggering rates of poverty we are experiencing today are entirely connected to the vagaries of a drought weather phenomenon. In the main, our predicament arises from corruption and poor forward planning by those who otherwise must be the custodians of our collective wealth. We must not be drugged with illusory statements from untrustworthy politicians that are designed to send us into slumber. Widespread systemic corruption where bribery is the rule of survival must be condemned. Keeping quiet in face of deepening corruption means one thing: It is that we are complicit to the act of corruption.