The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Lusaka, Zambia | THE INDEPENDENT | Zambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba has resigned, stating on facebook that he took the decision because of massive corruption in government and rising unemployment in the country.
In a Facebook post, Kalaba said he has dumped his cabinet post. “There comes a time in a person’s life when it becomes necessary to die to self for the good of others and if not for that reason, at least to stand for one’s cherished ideals and values,” he said in his post.
“We cannot proceed to manage national affairs with cold indifference when the levels of corruption are swelling and being perpetrated by those who are expected to be the solution.”
Kalaba has held the position for the past four years and confirmed in his facebook post that he has dropped his resignation letter as Foreign Affairs Minister with President Edgar Lungu.
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KALABA POST IN FULL
I HAVE RESIGNED
There comes a time in a person’s life when it becomes necessary to die to self for the good of others and if not for that reason, at least to stand for one’s cherished ideals and values. I have just dropped my resignation letter as Foreign Affairs Minister with President Edgar Lungu – a position I have cherished and held for over 4 years.
I have taken my decision to resign as Foreign Affairs Minister with a heavy heart but quite succinctly with a clear and resolved mind. I have no shed of doubt that this was a necessary undertaking and an unavoidable one looking at the path our country has taken – a path of insatiable greed and shame which is clearly unacceptable and unsuitable.
My fundamental belief is that my allegiance should not be with a position, Party or Person but it must be with the country and its people. My conscious and everything I am have directed me to choose the country over my individual comfort. To some, this may appear like an act of defiance, yet to those close to me, to those who have watched me wreath in perpetual pain and mourn over my country, this may more or less be a relief because I have finally found peace in my mind and heart even in the face of losing the comfort that the position of Minister brings to give both expression and action to what I believe in.
In any case, I accepted this appointment in the first place as a gesture and avenue to serve my Country but when that becomes difficult due to incongruence of values and objectives, there could only be one outcome. This outcome is what I am repeatedly convicted of by my own conscious especially at night when I go to bed to face my own brokenness.
We cannot proceed to manage national affairs with cold indifference when the levels of corruption are swelling and being perpetrated by those who are expected to be the solution.
Our youths are wallowing in poverty without a clear plan for them while business preferences and opportunities are always tilted in favour of outsiders, reducing Zambians to mere spectators in the economic affairs of the State. This cannot be allowed to continue. We need to go back to the original agenda of our Party the PF, where the poor and not the corporates must be at the centre of all our decisions. It would appear that the poor Zambians have ceased to be the reason we are holding power. Materialism and the propensity for money has taken over and is arrogantly at the centre of many decisions being made today.
What I wish most for the youths of Zambia is opportunity and success. All I desire is for each and every Zambian to make their own success story – the story they deserve, one that allows them to raise their heads high in a country where effort, work, planning and selflessness will become the hallmark of our people.
I have elected to join the many sidelined Zambians by remaining as an ordinary Member of Parliament representing the gallant people of Bahati. Some will call it politics and yet some will call it sacrifice. Whichever way you choose to look at my action, one thing is certain, I can no longer be a silent listener to the whispers of greed and indifference making rounds in the corridors of power.
Contrary to what a number of my colleagues claim, I believe that the failure of the Zambian political and economic management does not lie in the individualistic nature of a lot of our politicians, but it is the result of oppressing this individualism to a level where there is consistent effort to suppress individualistic dynamism in preference for collective carelessness and indifference.
When people begin to feel overwhelmed by fear for speaking the truth, it is time to realize that critical fundamentals have shifted. We all have a role to play in making things right. This is my little contribution – Zambia is our Country, we need and must reclaim it Back.
That is very fond of you minister. You are indeed a true African patriot- wish we had leaders like you, Africa would have been very far by now.
I am not privy to the dealings in Zambia. But my thinking is that – simple resignation on its own is not enough either to fight corruption or to provide employment to the youth. To be honest, corruption in these ‘poor’ countries cannot be fought by grandstanding or to be more succinct, by imitation of western value systems, including their so called ‘multi party democracy’ and rule of ‘their’ law.
We in Africa, need to get very very tough on dishonesty, laziness, incompetence and sectarianism of whatever form: even if it means we have to erroneously punish a few ‘innocents’ to redirect the bulk our societies.
Secondly, our governments should not be expected to provide direct employment to everyone. Poor and badly managed as they are, this expectation is similar to asking a cow to dance Waltz. All we should ask from them is an enabling environment for us to work to our best of abilities – and perhaps reward excellence in genuine physical wealth creation for our nations. It is us, especially those who claim to be ‘enlightened’, who must be creating and growing employment. We should be spending less time gossiping, procrastinating, complaining, boozing and lazing about.
Cheers,
Pan Africanist – Dr. Eng Kant Ateenyi Kanyarusoke – Cape Town