Walk The Talk
Jubilee Centre June 29th, 2009
The recent press conference at which President Rupiah Banda instructed the senior government officials to use government vehicles for the intended purpose; reduce on foreign travel; and hold government workshops in the ministry boardrooms as opposed to the current use of hotels and guesthouses should be welcome by all Zambians. What was missing in the speech is how much will this initiative save? For the President to walk the talk that is accountable he needed to tell the nation how many billions of Kwacha were being wasted from abuse of vehicle use, unnecessary government workshops and extravagant travels to China and other nations.
To hold the elected leaders accountable to walk the talk requires courageous journalists. Many journalists who were at this press briefing would be the same ones who would have been there when Mr. Banda’s predecessor-Dr. Levy Mwanawasa gave the same directives over a year ago-when Mr. Banda was the Vice-President. Why did they not ask him as to why his forerunner’s instructions were not followed? Why did they not ask him what he was going to do differently that would make the senior government officials follow his instructions this time around.
Secondly, to hold the elected leaders accountable to walk the talk requires courageous citizens. Poverty; hunger; deaths-especially with the ongoing work stoppage by the nurses in the last several weeks; HIV/AIDS; the pollution of environment; unemployment; tribalism; education; global-crunch. These are questions that fill our newspapers and which peace loving ordinary citizens in buses, universities, workplaces, funerals, markets and other public places are discussing all day long. How did the President conduct himself on these issues? Did he give hope for the future? Zambia is not a hopeless case. We have men and women who are determined to wrestle themselves out of their predicament. What we need are courageous men and women who will hold our leaders accountable to walk the talk of sacrificial service.
Thirdly, to hold our elected leaders accountable to walk the talk requires courageous servants of God. Servants of God know that the living God of the Bible is the God of creation as well as God of the covenant. God’s concern extends beyond his own Christian community to the whole human community. He is a God of justice and compassion and He desires these to flourish in every society. How did the President address issues of justice and compassion? In Amos we read that judgment will fall not only on his own people (Judah and Israel), for disregarding God’s law and oppressing the powerless, but also on the surrounding heathen nations too. How did the President feature in the area of justice and compassion? We need courageous servants of God who will proclaim supreme kingship of Jesus Christ in order to deny that which our elected leaders covet most, namely the absolute homage and worship of the citizens. We need courageous preachers who will hold our elected leaders accountable to walk the talk of justice and compassion. It could be that leaders too may look up to Jesus for directions about their virtues, standards and practice. “Lord preserve and prosper Zambia, in Jesus name. Amen.”
Lawrence Temfwe
