Decent, Informed and Ethical Politics

On 19th November 2009, Mr. Watson K. Lumba (photo below) was convincingly elected as new Solwezi member of parliament. He contested the same seat in the 2006 elections, and was beaten by the late Benny Tetamashimba by more than 4000 votes. This time around, it was a different story, as the UPND/PF pact demonstrated that it will not be a pushover in the 2011 elections.

Lumba is a dear brother in Christ, and gave a stirring maiden speech in parliament, which I share with you my readers. Let us pray that our brother will live up to the ideals and values that he so eloquently outlined in his speech. To you brother, I wish you success as you serve your constituency and the people of Zambia.

WATSON K. LUMBA,
MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT- SOLWEZI CENTRAL
MAIDEN SPEECH TO PARLIAMENT

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to make my maiden speech in this august House.
Mr. Speaker, Firstly, I want to begin by thanking you most sincerely for giving me this opportunity to deliver my maiden speech to this august house.
Secondly I want to salute and say thank you to the people of Solwezi Central Constituency. It is my honour and previlege to represent and serve them all as their Member of Parliament. I express my appreciation to them and my commitment to work conscientiously towards the achievement of our shared objectives.

I thank the many supporters, of various political thinking, who supported our candidature, the United Party for National Development (UPND), the Patriotic Front, MMD Party members who were not able to come out in the open, and particularly the longstanding and dedicated electorate committee workers who have stood with us and worked so tirelessly. This result is a credit to their efforts. I see it as a portent for 2011. To the other candidates, I thank them for providing me and my party a tough contest. They fought and marshalled a tough campaign and I was declared the victor because of them. To the many hard working people of Solwezi that worked tirelessly for the other candidates, I wish to thank them for their earnestness. I want to say to them that I will be their Member of Parliament too, and will represent their interests as vigorously as I can. I look forward to working with them all.

Mr. Speaker, I also thank the President of my Party, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, his colleague Mr. Michael Sata, of the Patriotic Front, my Campaign Manager Honourable Katuka and the entire leadership of the UPND/PF Pact, for their confidence in my candidature and for tirelessly directing an informed, issue based and spirited campaign. The unity shown by the UPND/PF members from the top leadership right down to the grassroots portends well for the future of this country.

Mr. Speaker sir, Allow me to thank my wife, Patricia and daughter, Racheal, my family, and my close friends—people whose love and support I have depended on. Finally, above and under all this is God’s love and enabling grace. I am grateful to the Almighty for this privilege to serve his people in this way.

Mr. Speaker, as Member of Parliament for Solwezi central, I follow a string of illustrious predecessors whose political history and contribution to this country is immense. There was Mr. Humphery Mulemba, Dr. Ludwig Sondashi, inter alia, who served Solwezi Central Constituency with distinction. Allow me now to pay particular homage to the memory of my immediate predecessor, Honorable Benny Tetamashimba, who passed into eternity in September 2009. Mr. Tetamashimba will be remembered as one of Solwezi Central Constituency’s great Members of Parliament. I honor his memory (MHSRIP).

Mr. Speaker, deciding to enter politics didn’t come natural to me. Some of my family members and close friends argued against it. “What are you thinking?” they asked. “You’ve got a family, a successful career, why jettison all that for a life in politics?” Their view reflects the same frustration any attentive listener hears across Zambia, that our politics is not listening or responsive to people; that out politics is “dirty”. My decision ultimately came down to believing that I can make a real and positive difference—something that has motivated my life; and something that I have done elsewhere.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to pick, for my extended discussion the state of politics in our country. Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. It is about the power of the state as applied to individuals, the society in which they live and the economy in which they work. Most critically, our responsibility in this Parliament at Manda Hill is how that power is used: whether it is used for the benefit of the few who have access to power or to the many who give those few the power. In this my first speech I want to speak on the fundamental principles that I believe should govern the exercise of political power and the reasons, therefore, that I am a member of the United Party for National Development (UPND) and why I have sought election to this parliament. I want to speak on how these beliefs shape my approach to some of the great policy challenges now facing our young nation. I also want to speak on some of the practical problems facing the local community that Iam now privileged to represent in this august house. I believe that ideas are important, Mr. Speaker. Ideas shape behaviour—the behaviour of governments, of bureaucracies, of business, of unions, of the media and of individuals. As is it written in the old Book of Life, the Bible: “Whatever a man thinks, so is he”.

And as a noted Economist John Maynard Keynes wrote in his General Theory:
“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slave of some defunct economist.”

Keynes notes here that we are all influenced by some ideas. The crux of the matter is whether those ideas are founded on sound ideas or based on some false notions.

Debate, therefore,is about fundamental ideas, particularly ideas about the how political power must be used in developing our young nation and the proper role of the state in the economy and society, is critical to an informed discussion on policy in this House. Unfortunately, this is lacking. For as long as I can remember, it has become fashionable in our young country to accept that politics do not deliver sustainably and lack imagination; the notion that hard work doesn’t pay; the death of principled positions; the triumph of neoclassical economics which are less understood even by their proponents; and the politics of non-issues which are devoid of any discernable ideological position. We continue to waste time and resources on non-issues. Put crudely, it is the degrading view gaining ground in our nation that says “forget the ethics and morals, everything goes, the end justifies the means”; and also that “everything is up for sale at the right price”. In Solwezi, however, the concept of the highest bidder secures clearly failed. Politics on this argument becomes little more than theatre—a poorly staged public performance necessary to convince the electorate that the country is moving, or needs a new management.
Mr. Speaker, I disagree, and I disagree fundamentally. I believe that there remains a fundamental need for us as a people of Zambia to clearly define and articulate our national interests that transcend party affiliations. Under girding such national interests should be ethical and moral issues that include setting for ourselves to honor virtues of hard work, honest, trustworthiness and decency.

I believe that there remains a fundamental need for us as a people of Zambia to clearly define and articulate our national interests that transcend party affiliations. Under girding such national interests should be ethical and moral issues that include setting for ourselves to honor virtues of hard work, honest, trustworthiness and decency.

Mr. Speaker, at this stage in our national development, it is unavoidable that politics plays a very important role in determining the direction of our young country. And this is precisely where the use of the political power becomes very important. Our people want to move from underdevelopment to development. Individually, this is a lifetime journey. But for politics to lead, it must of necessity contain some basic fundamental moral values and correct knowledge. How can we hope to develop when our politics are used not to serve the larger public good but the people in politics? How can we move this young country forward if we do not possess the basic understanding of the sound tenets of governance such as democracy, liberty and economics? Mr. Speaker, the rest of the world is marching on forward through globalization, with or without us. If Zambia will not stand up to be part of this march, it will be sucked in nonetheless.

How have we done in the past few years on this account of making progress? Admittedly, Zambia has made progress, but it is the progress that we should be ashamed of because we could have done much more. Progress in some areas, like in growth in the trade and non-traditional agriculture sectors, has been negated by backslides in the quality of education and health systems amongst others. I wish to suggest Mr. Speaker that this is due to our failure to articulate clearly our national interests and putting these in priority. Our fate as a nation is bound together and no section of our society can prosper sustainably while leaving behind the vast majority of people in ignorance and abject poverty. This is where ethical politics come in. Our government has a role of ensuring that we begin to put in place an organized Zambia. Why is it that as a country, we are more disorganized now than pre-1991? My view is that we have wrong politics.

Mr. Speaker, allow me to digress and give some aspect of my life story that inspired me to seek to serve the people. I come from a family of 14. My father, who is 79 years old and he has spent the last 40 years as a pastor in the Christian church. Growing up in that family, we were taught, as many in this house I am sure were, values and virtues rooted in scripture that called on us to love God first and then our fellow man. I therefore believe that without a sense of wanting to serve fellow man, man used generically to include woman, politics becomes devoid of its soul. But how can one serve man without love for him/her? And how can one love man without the love of God, the giver of true love? Mr. Speaker, I strongly believe that service to our fellow Zambians and our country should be informed by principles of virtue that will once again make our people proud of themselves. It is only when we believe that we can and should take care of our neighbours that we will have a fearless energy to drive this country forward. With this, we must reject an infamous proclamation of one of the leading western leaders of the last two decades when she said that “ there is no such thing as society.”

Mr. Speaker, Zambia has natural vast resources that we need to harness. But I fear that the Government is taking too much of a minimalist interest in the management of the exploitation of these resources, and the income therefrom. We had better take charge and control of proceeds from these resources or else we are doomed. I am sure it is clear to us all Mr. Speaker, that the often heralded foreign investors will leave Zambia one day once these resources are finished. And we will be left with large holes in the ground and serious environmental issues. My call is that politics and leadership should be used to get our fair share of these resources.
Mr. Speaker, as people, we are all the product of our own experiences and the ideas with which we have been confronted. These are the simple experiences and unremarkable beliefs which cause me to sit proudly here rather than on the benches of those opposite. I believe unapologetically in an active role for government in leading the development of this country. I believe that this activist role should have, as its foremost guiding principle, a commitment to equality of opportunity that is real rather than rhetorical. It is a principle that should permeate all that we do in education and health, water supply and sanitation and mining, to mention but a few sectors. I also believe that the government must actively look after those who, through no fault of their own, cannot look after themselves. Our economy is small and weak, and therefore I believe that the government while fostering its growth must regulate it.

I also believe that any government in power should not just turn in on itself, but instead have a fundamental responsibility to pursue the public good, first locally, then internationally, in the promotion of national and regional security, democracy and economic development and the protection of the planet. These are the fundamental beliefs that continue to drive our Party. Ours is a dynamic, and not a static, movement. Our beliefs are clear but their applications to the policy challenges facing the nation require creativity and experimentation. Our Party is a combination of experience and youth. Through this it possesses the intellectual horsepower and the policy craft necessary to carve out an alternative vision for the nation as well as a program of action for the realisation of that vision.

Mr. Speaker, We are not afraid of a vision in the UPND, nor are we afraid of doing the hard policy work necessary to turn that vision into reality. Parties devoid of any ideological stand (and by ideology we mean a well thought-out political and economic system) will tend to react to issues; are caught unawares by the obvious and offer no solutions to the complex challenges of the 21st century. If Zambia must survive in this century, we need new thinking.

We are a decade in this new century, the nation is confronted with an array of opportunities and challenges of bewildering complexity in the economy, in education, in the environment, in the collapse of our local communities, in the structure of the local government and, perhaps most importantly, in the deepening contempt with which the institution of political infrastructure, is held. We are at present in a period of unprecedented global economic developments which at the same time are uncertain, driven by fundamentally unstable international financial markets. To meet these challenges, we need new politics and new thinking people in government who are dedicated and imbued with moral-ethical political and intellectual energies.

The first fundamental challenge for this country is to learn to feed ourselves. Feeding ourselves is fundamental to anything else that we may wish to do. It is not only a matter of national pride and confidence but of national security as well.
The second fundamental challenge facing our nation lies in our nation's education system. Education is both a tool of social justice as well as a fundamental driver of economic development. I believe that the nation needs a revolution in its education system. We have state curricula of highly variable quality and a decline of critical subject areas such as science. Some schools teach science without laboratories. We have a demoralized teaching profession whose energies are now dissipated in school administration and fee-driven tuitions rather than in syllabus delivery. We can call for and receive all the foreign direct investment in the world, but with an ill-educated population, we will reap the whirlwind.

I believe that if we are serious in our national rhetoric about having the next generation of Zambians attaining and driving a middle income country by 2030, then we must, through the school system, equip them to do that. I understand that my remarks will be met by the inevitable chorus of, `There is no money,' but I ask the question: `As a nation, can we afford not to?' I believe that equity and economic development demand it. In a global economy, a first-class education is one of the few forms of real security that the state can provide to its citizens. An educated citizenry may be the main key that we need to make progress as a people.

Mr. Speaker, Zambia once had an enviable position regionally and internationally. Lusaka used to be a must-stop destination to influential world leaders. Our first and second republic leaders stood shoulder-to- shoulder with their peers. Not only did we pride ourselves on our achievements, but we were also respected as an effective international citizen. This is no longer the case and we ask ourselves: “what happened?” The answer may again be related to our current politics. We have allowed ourselves to assume mental dwarfism that refuses to think critically and beyond our narrow self interests. We are content to visit political Tuntembas translated as tea cants or prefabricated sheet corner stores when we can get more from political malls with their polished knowledge. To get back to that place requires leadership—leadership that the current government appears demonstrably incapable of providing. Our future challenge is to build across this nation a robust domestic constituency in support of Zambia's future international engagement, one that will not be neglected by inferiority complex.

Mr. Speaker, I am in this place, first and foremost, as a representative of my local community, Solwezi Central Constituency, which has done me the great honour of electing me as their representative. My time here will be dedicated representing the interests of, the humble and hardworking people of inter alia in Kiafukuma, Kimasala, Kamiteto, Kyawama Mushitala, Zambia Compound Sandangombe and Kapijimpanga.
In these communities, there are three main challenges that I wish to bring here. The first of these is health. The existing health infrastructure is poor and inadequately equipped. The health centres are also sparsely distributed resulting in people walking long distances to access them. The second issue is poor road infrastructure. We all know the poor condition of the Chingola – Solwezi Road. This road should pay for itself given the economic activities of the two towns that it links. The other roads are equally in poor condition and need urgent attention to facilitate the rapid economic activities taking place. The third issue is the low access to clean water supply and sanitation. Many people depend on hand-dug wells which maybe unsafe and of a poor water quality. Poor sanitation too is of major concern and is responsible for preventable diarrhoea diseases especially in infants.
As for education, the story is no different. Infrastructure is in a dilapidated state, no desks, few teachers and a very de-motivating learning environment. Community schools have sprung up in many areas but unfortunately these are not regulated and therefore unlikely to be offering education of an acceptable quality.

Mr. Speaker, one of the major employers in my electorate is Kansanshi Copper Mine, which is responsible for hundreds of jobs. The story of the interaction between the mines and the community is a sad one, and I am not seeking to blame anyone but have no choice but to place the blame on someone - the government of the day. What we are seeing is that the benefits in terms of jobs and other benefits are not being shared equally. I would wish to call on government to look seriously in the matter of how to create a win-win situation between the people of Zambia and the foreign companies exploiting the mineral wealth.

Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether I will be in this place for a short or a long time. That is for others to decide. But what I do know is that I have no intention of being here for the sake of just being here. Together with my colleagues in the UPND/PF it is my intention to make a difference; starting with decent politics; informed politics, and ethical politics.
God bless the Republic of Zambia.

Thank you Mr. Speaker.
 

Christmas Then, and Now

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)

I have lived in many towns in Zambia, but no town holds a special place in my heart the way Luanshya does. Luanshya, that once beautiful garden town, and home to the first large scale copper mine in Zambia still remains my favourite, although the town is now a pale shadow of its former glory.

What has prompted this train of thought down memory lane is not the significance of Luanshya in the history of copper mining, nor the declining fortune of the once gem of the Copperbelt. My mind, however, has been forced to race back to the 1980s for an entirely different reason – Christmas. Yes, Christmas.

I was privileged to be born and raised in a Christian home. My father was an elder in my local evangelical church in the suburb of Roan. From a young age, I understood what Christmas meant because my parents told me. Although no one knows the actual date on which Jesus was born, it is a fact of history that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” (Galatians 4:4). And the supposed day that celebrates the birth of our Saviour was one that was heralded in our home with the spiritual significance it deserved.

Weeks and months before Christmas, the sounds of Christmas would already be buzzing in the air, on our black and white television, and on the radio. We could not afford a Christmas tree, neither was our house filled with the smell of fresh cranberries and gingerbread cookies. But something that never missed every Christmas was fried chicken, biscuits (our American friends call them cookies), cake, juice (the famous Mazoe), fruits and soft drinks. These are not things we had every week, and so having them all the time was like celebrating Christmas everyday!


A night before Christmas, my parents would gather the family together. We sang Christmas carols, read the Scriptures, prayed and drunk hot tea. And somehow, I remember that it always rained on the eve of Christmas. We never touched any of the special goodies until the actual Christmas day. The temptation for me to wake up in the middle of the night and tiptoe to the kitchen to feast upon some of this food was always high, but the punishment such misconduct attracted was a strong deterrent from attempting such nocturnal escapades.

The next day, we all looked forward to going to church. The scriptures were read, and more Christmas carols sung to remind us of the meaning of the blessed birth of the Baby Jesus. And then we watched a play of the nativity story performed by some of the church members. This would be very exciting and the humour from the actors in re-enacting of the birth narrative made it come arrive in a contemporary way. Though I must confess that looking back, there was a lot that was added to the play which had no biblical warrant. But, that was Christmas the Luanshya way! After the service, we made our way back home for the special treat. My parents would invite one or two families to join us. We ate and feasted, and had fun.

Then came the time that was the best expression of Christmas for me - getting the Christmas presents. We would receive clothes or a new pair of shoes, a new set of bed sheets or a blanket. Oh the happiness and joy that our parents brought to our hearts. We had heard stories about Father Christmas (I didn’t know him as Santa Claus until many years later). We heard stories about him coming down the chimney and leaving presents for children. Well, we didn’t have a chimney in our house down which Santa would come, so the Santa thing was just what it is, a childish myth. Thank God for my parents who taught us never to believe such myths. They showed us love and affection, and through them I was able to see, though in an imperfect way, the love of God for sinful humanity. We enjoyed the moments together as a family, but greater joy, my father would reminded us, was to be found in the fact that the eternal God stepped into time and became Emmanuel, “God with us.”

How different my Christmas was to the one many people celebrate today. It is very sad to see how Christmas has become commercialised. The world seems to want to shut out the real meaning and joy of Christmas. Today, Christmas is celebrated more as a sales frenzy than as the most important birth in history. Did you read about a London law firm, which is offering Christmas gift vouchers for divorce advice? The firm’s founder said she had been amazed at the response to the vouchers. “They seem to appeal to an enormously widespread spectrum of people looking for that ‘must have’ gift for Christmas,” she said. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6833434/Law-firm-offers-divorce-gift-vouchers.html

As outrageous and ridiculous this may sound, it is just a true reflection of the commercialism that has hijacked the real meaning of Christmas. What an inappropriate or worse still, insulting gift one can receive during such a season.

As you celebrate Christmas this year, it is my prayer that this astounding truth that lies at the heart of historic Christianity might grip your heart and point you heavenward to the architect of our Salvation. It was in order to save us that the Son became man. He assumed a genuine human nature in order to: perfectly obey God’s law, suffer and die on the cross as a vicarious atonement and rise again victorious over Satan, sin and death.

Youth Conference at the Tent of Meeting

Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
ye soldiers of the cross;
lift high his royal banner,
it must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory
his army shall he lead,
till every foe is vanquished,
and Christ is Lord indeed.
(George Duffield)

As the political and economic climate in Zambia continues to inspire less hope to many Zambians, there is much to disturb and grieve us, but when the well over 200 youths from the Reformed Baptist churches across the city of Lusaka met on Saturday, August 22nd at the Lusaka Baptist Tent of Meeting, there was not a gloomy or despondent face at this one-day conference. It was a great sight to behold! (See picture below)


The theme for the conference was "The Fruit of Knowing God," and was derived from Daniel 11:32 - "And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits."

The speakers were Pastor Victor Kanyense of Mount Makulu Reformed Baptist Church and myself. (See the speakers pictured below).



In the first session in the morning, Pastor Kanyense set the tone by placing the text within its immediate and general context. He then gave a lucid exposition of what it means to know God. In a country where more than 70% of the population boast of being Christians, this is an imperative message to deliver. This country needs the biblical teaching concerning the true knowledge of the living God which results in a vital, intimate and living relationship with God through His Son.

And knowing that the true knowledge of God is eminently practical in nature, the afternoon session was dedicated to the practical application of the truths taught in the morning session. I handled this second session. George Whitefield (1714-1770) once said: "A true faith in Jesus Christ will not suffer us to be idle. No, it is an active, lively, restless principle; it fills the heart, so that it cannot be easy till it is doing something for Jesus Christ." In the context of the the last three chapters, a messenger from God speaks to Daniel about a time of great spiritual conflict. And about halfway into the eleventh chapter, the prophetic camera zooms upon a wicked ruler, interpreted by scholars as Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163 BC). He was a cunning, powerful, cruel, greedy and godless leader. He corrupted the sacred things and polluted the sanctuary of God. Pagan worship and pagan agendas ruled the day. He carried out a systematic campaign to blot out every trace of Jewish religion, and introduced the thought and culture of the Greeks. He persuaded the apostate Jews to become his allies.

And in the midst of this wicked political and moral climate and chaos under this ruler, the messenger assures Daniel of this great promise: “They that know their God shall be strong and do exploits.” From among the Jews, there were those who refused to buy into the flattery and corrupt influence of the wicked ruler. They displayed great determination to resist every form of compromise.

And from these faithful remnant's intimate knowledge of God proceeded remarkable effects or fruits that the youths were exhorted to emulate, namely an untiring spiritual energy - "they shall be strong" and expanded spiritual accomplishments - "and do exploits." The young people were challenged to manifest the fruits of such an intimate knowledge of God from Daniel 11 and from the rest of the book.

We live at a time when there is so much in our culture that is anti-God. The trends and systems of thought opposed to biblical truth are increasingly becoming popular, and fewer and fewer Christians, especially the youths, are holding their own against this godless culture. The media, society and friends daily bombard young people's and exert relentless pressure upon them to conform to the worldly system. There is the pressure to lie, to steal, to read dirty books, to watch filthy movies, to lose their virginity, get into marriage through cohabitation, to dress immodestly, etc.

It was so heartwarming to see the young people enthusiastically hung on to every word that was preached. If there is any hope of pushing back the torrential waves of popular culture from our doorsteps, it lies in our young people that are full of God and the Spirit, and are determined, with God's help to fight every foe within, still lodged in our redeemed humanity, mortifying sin everyday. They must also stand on firm ground, and dig their heels in as they fight back the foes without, from victory unto victory, being mindful that this is not kids' playground. There is a high price to pay.

As I drove back home that Saturday, it was with a satisfied heart that out of the huge number of youths that attended this conference, there are not a few who are prepared to take a stand for Jesus and be the valiant soldiers of the cross. It is my prayer and hope that this event will soon turn into an annual event similar to the Copperbelt Annual Reformed Baptist Youth Rally.

Promoting Family Religion

The following is an edited excerpt from an article A Call to Family Worship written by Dr. Ligon Duncan and Dr. Terry Johnson and published in Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship, ed. Philip Graham Ryken, Derek W. H. Thomas, and J. Ligon Duncan (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2003) 317-338. Dr. Duncan is Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church Jackson, Mississippi and Dr. Jonhson is Senior Pastor, Independent Presbyterian Church Savannah, Georgia. I was privileged to take some courses with Dr. Duncan at the Reformed Theological Seminary where he is an Adjunct Professor of Theology.

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When all is said and done though, some of the profoundest things we can repeatedly do to promote a heart for God in our children are also the simplest things.

First, sit together at church. Go to church every week (even on vacation), fifty-two weeks a year, year after year, and sit together. That is it. I guarantee it will have a profoundly beneficial spiritual impact. The family ought to be in corporate worship faithfully and in it together. Children can get with their friends after the services, but in church, the family ought to be prime. Do not underestimate the power of the ordinary means of grace in the life of the family.

Second, work to have a Lord’s Day. Live as if Sunday is the Lords, not yours. View it as the “market day of the soul.” Don’t let the day become cluttered up. Avoid unnecessary labor and travel. Anticipate it with enthusiasm rather than bemoaning it. Make going to church the high point of the week. Let yourchildren know you love it. Do special things with them on that day that you do no other (e.g., Dad: cook them breakfast, wake them in a special way, spend relational time with them in the afternoon, read them spiritual books and stories, make ice cream sundaes for them after the evening service and the like).

Third, attend evening worship. If we believe the whole day is the Lords day, then it ought to be framed with worship. Morning and evening worship in the Reformed tradition is the single most powerful and effective total congregational discipleship program in the history of Christianity. I have never known a family that was faithful in Sunday evening attendance in an evangelical church, that, when the great crises of life came, did not weather the storm and walk in faith, and persevere.

Fourth, memorize the catechisms. It is a proven method. It is simple. It is content rich. It teaches our children the language of Zion, as well as the precious doctrines of the Bible. It increases memory ability and capacity for thinking.

Fifth, worship together as a family at home. Praise, pray, and read the Bible together as a family at home. Why should we do family worship? (1) Because we are stewards to God of our children, whom he has graciously given to us. Ps 127:3 tells us how we are to view them “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD.” How will we account to him of the soul-care that we are to give these precious trusts? (2) Because God has commanded us to train our children up in the Lord in the home. As we have already seen in Deut 6:7, God says, “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” (3) Because the home is the seedbed of piety and religion for the church (1 Tim 3:4–5, 12).

Politics, Power and the Pocket

I recently read an article entitled “Political Leaders in Africa: Presidents, Patrons or Profiteers?” It was written by Jo-Ansie van Wyk, a lecturer in International Politics at the University of South Africa (Unisa), Pretoria. This excellent article is hosted on the website of the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) www.accord.org.za/downloads/op/op_2007_1.pdf. Our own Mr. Lee Habasonda is the executive director of the southern African chapter of ACCORD.

For those interested in African politics and leadership, this article is a must-read. This is the article that has prompted the line of thought you are about to read in my recent blog post. Reflecting on the current political leadership being exhibited by our present government, one does not need to eternally scratch his head, looking for an answer to Jo-Ansie van Wyk’s question in the title of his article. The last six months of Zambian’s political landscape have burgeoned into a colossus of unbridled corruption and irresponsible public expenditure.

Reading in the media about the sittings of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), chaired by the competent Hon. Charles Milupi, you feel like wanting to jump out of your skin over the numerous incidences of abuse of public funds that are addressed by this committee. Year after year, the office of the Auditor General highlights serious financial irregularities in the management of public funds. Take the example of the K6.9 billion revenue from the Ministry of Home Affairs collected in 2007, and was only banked in February 2009! Where was the money all this time? Who had custody over it? What did they use it for? No doubt someone must have used it as capital for his business, or put it in a personal account, earning interest over money that should have been used on needy areas of our national economy.

But the one saga that has flared people’s tempers is the K10 billion stolen from the Ministry of Health. And the figure, we are told by the Auditor General is actually close to K30 billion, or even more. For a country that is on life support economically, to lose such a colossal amount into individuals’ pockets is nothing short of economic banditry of the highest order.

But how has corruption become so deeply entrenched into the fabric of our society? Are we not able to rid ourselves of its putrefying stain? Of course as Christians we know that from a depraved mind emanates all kinds of sins, and corruption is just one such manifestation of human depravity. If people’s only motive to enter the public service is to feed their penchant for luxurious lifestyles, they will rape our resources to the last Kwacha given the opportunity. And if you do not have a responsible government made up of men and women with principles crafted on the anvil of selfless service in the interest of the people, the corrupt will roost and reproduce themselves in such an enabling environment.

If people’s only motive to enter the public service is to feed their penchant for luxurious lifestyles, they will rape our resources to the last Kwacha given the opportunity.

That is what happens when men and women with a serious poverty of moral and ethical restraint fuse themselves with politicians destitute of political will to fight corruption; you get the illegitimate children of systemic and chronic plunder and political and judicial indifference. What we have in Zambia is a political power debacle that can be traced to the marriage between depraved charlatans and political profiteers, resulting into a gargantuan charade of elitism which is not serving the country at all, but has brought about an internal economic haemorrhage that is gradually taking our country’s life away. And maybe that’s why our government has bought the hundred hearses from China, not only to escort the poor Zambians to their graves in “dignity,” but symbolically to announce the death of our beloved country. The Nyanja words (not very legible though) on the back of this minibus sum up the dire situation we are in: “BANE VITHU VAVUTA.” (friends, life is hard).


What must we do to get ourselves out of this mess? We need a mass revolutionary change of mindset. The kind of change that will serve as a catalyst to bring about decency on the political and economic front. I believe that Zambia is not a lost cause. We have the available human resources that can resurrect this country from the endemic scourge of corrupt governance. Let us allow intellectual rationality, reason and honesty to provoke every informed Zambian towards the ascendancy to the mountaintop of hope, progress, and long anticipated new chapter in our history.

As we approach 2011, the year of elections, let us face this issue with austere truth. Which political party must we bring to power? Is it capable to deliver on the promises and inspire hope? Is built on a strong foundation of transparency and zero tolerance to corruption? Is it humane, reasonable and accommodating to divergent views? Let us do away with leaders suffering from chronic ideological emptiness. Myopic, uncultured, visionless and directionless politicians must not be given any place in our political dispensation. All they care for is power and their pockets. Let them slither into the archive of failure. God save Zambia.