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The letter from
Chingola about the roads gave me the inspiration and courage to
write to the Lowdown.
I am a resident
in
Lusaka
who believes that each citizen should be proactive in the
development of our nation, towns and, of course, suburbs. To this
end I wrote to my earlier member of parliament Dipak Patel. To my
surprise and dismay, he hasn't even had the courtesy to respond to
my letter. I would like you to publish my letter which I submit
below. Maybe we will get a response this way.
Dear Dipak,
Good morning. I
trust you are well.
I am a resident
of Woodlands Extension which I believe falls in your constituency. I
am not familiar with the organisation of the constituency regarding
wards etc but even if this falls outside your area I hope you will
still support this idea of mine. There are two things I would like
you to lend your support to
The
Harry Mwaanga
Nkumbula Road
This road has
fallen into a sad state of disrepair. I am being very realistic when
I say that to expect or wait for government, either local or
central, to repair this road is a pipe dream despite the fact that
we pay our taxes conscientiously (at least I hope most of us do!).
The funds and perhaps the inclination are simply not there. So then
who is going to repair the road and when? I believe that the
citizenry of the nation must learn to play a proactive role in the
development of their nation; to work with government as partners is
the only way forward. Therefore the people who border this road and
the surrounding areas and other road users, in particular the
mini-buses must take up this responsibility. After all we are the
ones who have to use this nightmare of a road day in and day out. My
proposal is that the groups I have mentioned above contribute some
amount of money over a period of time For instance K50,000 per month
for three months or K50,000 over a period of three months. Whatever
amount is collected, perhaps you could match it as your personal
contribution as Member of Parliament. Then since you have the
resources and authority to put this plan into action, you could talk
to a road contractor and they have a look at the road whatever the
shortfall that would be the contribution of the road contractor - a
way of giving back to society. Development is everybody’s baby. You
know the demographics of the area. I am sure if we work out a plan
based on that, the road can be done up this year. And go on until
all the roads in your constituency are done up. This can work. I
look forward to hearing from you
That notorious
JM-this
is a structure just opposite Living Waters
I can only
speak of what I see from my privileged position just behind JM.
Dipak, this place is an eyesore. The inside smells. The area around
it is unkempt. The empty packets of Shake Shake are thrown around.
The bar owners don t even have the inclination to keep the place
clean. A pit could be dug and the rubbish buried but no they must
litter the place.
There is
definitely alcohol/substance abuse among the youth that patronise
the place. Just take time to drive down to JM on a Saturday or
Sunday afternoon particularly when schools are closed; you will be
disgusted at the goings on. Alcohol and cigarettes are sold to
minors; these same minors fondle each other in public. The level of
immoral conduct is appalling! The violence is another thing. The
building just needs to be shut down. If this thing is a temptation
to our children then let it be shut down or forfeited to the state
like Sidney Chileshe’s farm. Our children are the future of this
country. Please help us save our children from this fate.
So many people
complain about the road; about JM; but complaints are not enough.
Something must be done! I am sure the area has a lot of problems but
for me these are the most pressing.
I look forward
to hearing from you
B Chongo,
Email
In his recent
articles (Lowdown, May and June, 2004) your correspondent
Christopher Rowan has joined those dubbing Tony Blair’s Commission
for Africa as the new hope for Africa. But what hope?
Africans joined
the so-called free world of the USA and UK to fight Hitler “for a
world of many freedoms”, but the Atlantic Charter rather than
loosening the colonial grip tightened it even harder. The Marshall
Plan passed far and above; various UN Development Decades have not
yielded anything other than T-shirts and street celebrations. Even
the Willy Brandt North-South Commission’s Programme for Survival
much heralded as “perhaps the clearest embodiment of enlightened
consensus on a new international order” died in silence and regret.
Yet in Zambia we put so much hope on it (see for example Report of
the ILO Basic Needs Mission to Zambia, 1981). These international
initiatives have only resulted in deepening our poverty and indebt
ness. So what can Zambia and Africa expect to gain from Blair’s
Commission? Can Blair’s Labour outwit Harold Wilson’s? We have seen
it before, raising our hopes high only to let those hopes crumble
under the sheer weight of despair and inaction by Labour, who have
the knack of being resourceful in opposition but recalcitrant in
government.
Thirty years
ago, in 1975 at Kingston, Jamaica, Labour’s Wilson, then Her
Majesty’ Prime Minister, as Blair is today proposed establishment of
a Group of Experts, affectionately misnamed the Ten Wisemen, to
propose the restructuring of international financial institutions
and fair pricing of raw materials from the developing world. The
occasion was the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting for which
Wilson prepared a 100-page text World Economic Interdependence
and Trade in Commodities. What became of that initiative?
Anybody’s guess. And now Blair wants to take us round on another
merry-go-round! Camdessus had all he needed to do anything he willed
as Managing Director, IMF but did nothing for Africa except blocking
African initiatives, so what’s the fuss? If he couldn’t do it then,
how can he do it now as Chirac’s errand-boy. And we know that the
only time in recent history the UK and France have fought on one
side was in advancing the fiasco on the Suez so this too can only be
a fiasco, especially with Brother Jonathan on the opposite side.
Note that it is the failure of the US to provide additional
resources that has seriously incapacitated both the World Bank and
IMF. And how many times has the G8 chair landed in London and what
have been Africa’s gains, nil. Moreover Blair’s Commission is
nothing more than a collection of so-called “Cooperating partners”,
a euphemism for beggars. For his part, Blair’s political power has
been over-rated, he is like Eden after the Suez crises; his own
voters don’t trust him. Please Zambia don’t waste your time and
hopes on Blair. We stand to reap more by revamping our task force.
Yuyi Libakeni,
Lusaka |
July 2004