Kambwili urges Musokotwane to acknowledge corruption in govt
By Salim Dawood
The Post Mon 27 Sep. 2010, 14:50
DENYING the existence of rampant corruption and abuse of public resources in government is like denying that a human being does not go to the toilet, Roan Patriotic Front (PF) Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili has charged.
Reacting to Minister of Finance and National Planning Situmbeko Musokotwane’s statement that opposition MPs should desist from inciting donors to withhold their aid by alleging that there is rampant corruption and abuse of public funds in the country, Kambwili said the best the minister could do was come up with better ways of dealing with corruption instead of issuing irresponsible statements...
Enough of this garbage!
Mwata's Remarks
In ancient times, when our proud forebears roamed the earth, panhandling was a craft for the lazy, the peeons. Such terms as real men, and true women, were coined to illuminate unfettered quest for success at both individual and collective levels; the desire and ability to work hard and solve their own problems. They had the will to face problems head on. Self-sufficiency was a virtue. The idea of rite of passage was rooted in that concept. No rational thinking parents would marry off their daughter to a man who had no means of earning his livelihood. No, not a beggar! They called such a man kawayawaya mupanda buci.
Conversely, men based their choice of a bride on the family's notoriety for success; they sought maidens from families with a tradition of hard-work. Family members demonstration of self respect, earned them admiration and respect from others. They lived their values and valued their lives. Beauty has always be the attention grabber of course but the spirit of work counted more. Umwanakashi ni chinokole lisembe lya mukuba, simply meant that the maiden may be beautiful but she was not marriage material.
Married men boasted about the beauty and strength of their wives. They took pride in their societal knowledge, social skills, and abilities to perform with excellence any work before them. One would often hear a triumphant man exalting himself in such terms as, "ne muka naChibeka...!" Even the name Chibeka says something about the power of thought of the parents. Or "ne shiChibeka...libili na litatu!" Men felt proud of their families and they wanted the world to know especially in moments of success. Their peers would also acknowledge their achievements and remark, "e ndupwa sha kupilamo shilya..."
And when the Agro revolution reached them and they started mixing the old ways and the new ways, it was common among community members to praise their neighbors, "ba limi balya" or "ni mwana chilime ulya...!" And collectively, the clan would be characterized as "uluko lutobela." The reputation of a family was elevated to something from which others sought seeds. "We lubuto ula bipa we! Kanshi cikolwe nshi cafwile kunsala?" A parent would complain when his child begins to show signs of laziness. "Tata ali ni nka ya milimo...nampo nga ni ntunga nshi uyu afumishe icipasho?"
There is no argument we come from a proud and hardworking people. They never depended on anyone for anything. They provided for themselves the three basic needs; cloth (ifilundu), food (ubutala) and shelter (amayanda).
They also knew how to party. They ate, drunk and danced like there was no tomorrow, in thanks giving to imilungu, for the new crop and good health.
The lazy among them had little chances of finding a marriage partner, that is if they would find one at all. So, economic prowess was a factor in limiting the contribution of the lazy people to the gene pool. Natural selection, the differential reproduction of genotypes, worked against bu mbokoya. And those who died without contributing to the gene pool, were buried with their butt plugged up with umuseba wa nyanje. What a way to go, huh?
It was a disgrace to be lazy, to beg, to depend on others. It was shameful for an able bodied individual to not provide adequately for oneself and family. Dependency (ubupushi, bu kalombalomba) on other people was spat on.
My question to Zambia and Zambians is, where is your pride? When did you abandon the ways of your forebears and become beggars? Allright, every once in a while a person falls upon hard times, but when are you going to get up and go on your own?
I did some checking and I found panhandling as a percentage of Zambia's annual budget:
2007 19%
2008 17%
2009 23%
2010 15%
How can you make begging an essential ingredient of your national life? Have you no shame?
