Something is wrong at State House

By Edwin Sakala

The statement attributed to President Michael Sata by his Special Assistance for Press and Public Relations George Chellah suggesting that, we in the opposition are uncooperative, is quiet annoying. If indeed, what Mr. Chellah issued to the press was truly said by President Sata then, something is terribly wrong at State House.

It is either the president is uninformed or someone within the line of duty does not tell the president what is going on in the country regarding efforts the opposition is making to get hold of him for discussions.  If someone is not doing his job at State House then, the president own safety and that of the whole nation is at stake. As a result of lack of information, the president will wake up in the morning to make usual pronouncements which will endanger the security not only for this country but his own as well.

We could not believe the president alleged the opposition are unwilling to corporate with government, when not long ago we wrote to him requesting him to facilitate the inter-party dialogue for all political parties including the ruling Patriotic Front (PF). The letter was received by one of the security personnel at State House who said it was to be passed on to Mr. Chellah so that he could pass it on to the President.

We were initially informed that Mr. Chellah was to receive the letter on behalf of the president but for whatever happened, he delegated one security personnel to get it on his behalf. We were in the presence of the media personnel reliability informed that, the letter was handed over to Mr. Chellah and Mr. Chellah acknowledged through the press that, he received our petition. According media reports, State House was pleased that the opposition was interested to dialogue with government on matters of national development.

To suggest that, we are not co0rporative and have a strange appetite for aggression and attempts to create panic and despondent is an act of insult coming from the Head of State. We could have tolerated this if it was said by another person other than the president because President Sata is in possession of our petition in which we petitioned him to call for an inter-party dialogue to discuss issues affecting us as a nation.

We must say, what the president attributed to the opposition fraternity opposed to his way of doing things is completely opposite  but true to him and his PF government. It is him and his government who are not interested in dialogue to discuss issues affecting the nation. If he was interested, what he is complaining of could have been resolved along time ago.

We must indicate to him that, one of the reasons why we called for an inter-party dialogue was our realization that there is a lot the opposition and government can do if they came together to discuss issues affecting the nation. In his own wisdom, he opted to snub our call for inter-party dialogue. The president did not even have the decency to acknowledge receipt of out petition

However, on this one we could give the president benefit of the doubt because there is possibility that his Public Relation Officer did not given him the letter we wrote him for the purpose of what he is complaining about. We therefore challenge him to ask his boy Chellah, he will be given the letter we wrote to him not long time ago.

Given the scenario above, we are justified to say, it is president Sata and his political agents who are not willing to corporate with the opposition because they think they know everything. That is where they are getting everything wrong. We urge him and his PF government to swallow his pride and apologize for the calumny he issued against us. We are peace loving people in the opposition and this is the prayer we have for the nation.

It is our prayer that President Sata and indeed all the opposition parties must realize that there are many issues of national concern which demand that all political parties in the country must urgently address above personal and partisan interest. For a change national interest must be priories. Zambia can’t afford to continue with the current unproductive and primitive politics of hate, trickery, bickering and harassment of opposition leaders to become a norm.

We must all realize that there is no justification for the current suffering in our country because Zambia is a very rich country blessed with a huge pool of natural and human resource but we have created the current poverty because of our lack of vision as a people.

As ZDDM we are confident that Zambia can be turned into a heaven on earth if we all got our priorities right and shared a common vision as a nation. Political parties are a vital component of our democracy but it is important that we all meet to agree on common issues affecting our people and nation.

Zambians should not continue to suffer and die from poverty related causes in the midst of abundant wealth.

In national we call on President Sata to make the year 2013 a turning point for Zambia by facilitating an inter-party dialogue meeting where all the political parties can give Zambia a common vision which it lacks and a way forward on how the nation can use the abundant wealth it already has to benefit the majority population which is suffering and dying as if the country is at war just because politicians are busy serving selfish interest.

 Edwin Sakala

President  ZDDM