Letter to the President
Greetings Mr President . I hope you are well.
I imagine you have read this malice, published by Koswe, a Facebook page run by State House individuals who are known to you. This malice is aimed at scandalising me over my criticism of some of your leadership actions. I request that you prevail on your officials to avoid taking this path of character assassination or personal attack. I have never turned personal in any of my public criticism of our leaders, both you and those who came before. I am always respectful and civil and I always stick to the issues that matter most.
You and your supporters have the right to criticise my opinions on any topic. What you don’t have is the right to maliciously scandalise me especially on rogue pages that are linked to State House.
Attacking my person does not address the content of the criticism, risks undermining your administration’s democratic credentials and puts me in harm’s way including by way of political violence, especially in a society where many have been encouraged to believe that criticism of the government is not only wrong but should also attract punishment.
No democracy is without critics and no government anywhere in the world believes itself to be perfect. If your officials believe l am mistaken on any issue, they should argue the merit of their case rather than attacking my person and my apparent motives. A more helpful response to my writings would be to pay attention to the content of my criticism and address the identified flaws, or to employ competent people who can respond or explain your or the government’s actions. Political speech and debate should be respected and protected as you yourself promised you would do once you ascended to leadership.
Successive ruling parties and their supporters fail to realise my simple approach to public commentaries: to hold to account elected public leaders in office, whoever these may be. Once they exit, my attention shifts to the failings of the new leaders. This often makes me appear like I am working with the opposition. As a result, successive sitting presidents tend to mistake me for an opposition supporter when all I do is to share my opinions on matters of governance.
When I pointed out critical failings of the state under president Rupiah Banda, I was accused of supporting the opposition PF led by Michael Sata. When I pointed out critical failings of the state under president Sata, I was accused of supporting the opposition UPND led by you. When I pointed out critical failings of the state under president Lungu, I was again accused of supporting the opposition UPND led by you. Today, whenever I point out critical failings of the state under your leadership Mr President, I am accused of supporting the opposition.
In all these instances, my supposed support for any of the presidential candidates are a matter of public record, making this characterisation entirely false. I regard my writings as an indispensable part of our democracy and l will continue playing my role the same way I have been doing in the past and present.
I would like to believe that I have been consistent in my criticism of the failings of our leaders, starting from Banda, to Sata and Lungu, and now you. And I am never personal in my criticism of our leaders. I focus on the issues that matter most and use respectful and civil language.
I am not there to change regimes. I only share my opinions on governance issues. I am a requited lover of Zambia, a defender of democracy, and a critic of all politicians and their political parties, in and outside government, when I think they are straying from the path of democracy and the promotion of the common or public good. That is all. You, our leaders and your supporters, will do well to engage the substance of what I say as opposed to attacking my person. As I said, a more fruitful relationship is to exploit my independent criticism and opinions while protecting my independence.
I implore you and your team, Mr President, to learn to appreciate the importance of feedback on government performance by citizens. Contributing to national affairs through public commentary and discourse is not a partisan affair; it is civic or patriotic duty.
The effectiveness of any government is amplified when it has the support and guidance of its academics, political economists, policy analysts, and other data-driven stakeholders. These professionals and academics play an important and critical role in steering discourse and promoting accountability towards enhancing government functions and delivery. They help bridge the gap between politicians and citizens by providing crucial feedback about the effectiveness of government actions, programs and policies. This kind of feedback is crucial.
I conclude by repeating that contributing to meaningful discourse is not partisan, but essential in promoting accountability and transparency towards enhancing government peformance. I hope my communication to you will align your actions to protecting this critical role of citizen speech as you promised during your campaigns.
Best wishes
Sishuwa
The most unfortunate thing is that HH has failed to grow up. Even in government he’s remained as childish as he was when in opposition. There are many examples we can give on his embarrassing actions on many fronts. On his swearingin, he invited both the Presidents in government and the opposition leaders that he used to fraternize with. This was the first embarrassment as that wasn’t a UPND Party function. To date he’s maintained those ties as seen in the case of Zimbabwe. Rogue media houses like Koswe and the Watchdog that spread so much propaganda and hatred are still said to be close to him. You can’t run government on propaganda and hatred. Anyway it’s up to him to learn something or not to. He isn’t the first President nor the last.
Where does HH come into this? You Zanu-PF cadres just go to zim and see what freedom feels like. Stop patronizing innocent people in Zambia. Your friend here, calls the president all sorts of names, now that the tide has turned unto him, he wants to plead innocense and humility.
I must say you are addressing a wrong person. HH looks decent but his inner thoughts are no better than those who scandalize, maim and those who harass those who don’t agree with him. He actually relishes and supports savagery.
He has eliminated PF caderism and replaced it with Upnd savagery.
The Supreme leader Ayatollah Bandit Hakainde Hichilema is just a demagogue Politician….He is very petty and lacks leadership skills…ZAMBIANS MADE A VERY BIG MISTAKE VOTING FOR HIM
I remember warning this young man about hh and upnd prior to 2021 elections. He didn’t listen to me but I now forgive him for his ignorance. Hh spends all his time obsessing over what is posted on social media. He has himself admitted to spending hours a day on social media. How can such a childish insecure president reduce price of mealie meal
This UK based Kaizar Zulu wannabe fr@ud is still around?
Jigga continue wishing I was with you in your c0lonial masters land. I would never move to a land of heathens. If I were going to go into exile my first stop would be in within africa. If you have nothing worth adding to my comments then just shut your ugly smelly mouth
The difficulty is that apart from politicians and the clergy, there are fewer voices critical of the current leadership. Most NGOs are funded by the West and reluctant to bite that feeding finger choose not to notice any GRZ mismanagement and abuse yet. Some leaders come to build Walls of Jericho, from where they throw arrows through untraceable online well oiled mercenaries like Koswe and ZWD at “bitter and jobless” citizens like the lone wolf, Sishuwa. He is a victim of circumstance.
Very unfortunate! But I said it as it is without any malice.
Very well articulated… could be shorter. Don’t worry about these who can’t bring forth ideas to argue intellectually. The fact they are hiding behind the keyboard means they are insecure cowards. Soldier on mate and keep doing what you are doing.
HH is a massive disappointment. I really put my hope on this man that he was here to change things for the better. But nothing has changed. He continues in the same path as previous presidents and their regimes. He is surrounded by b00t lickers.
They say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Fuseke, and what do they say about failed business men who promise heaven on earth but fail to deliver when in power? Very dangerous liars. The Zambian people will show you the door in 2026. Continue supporting with your f00lish tribe
SICHUWA
Keep writing. When people resort to insults rather than use put their points across, it means they are buffoons
When the hunter becomes the hunted. The problem in Zambia is that these so called governance critics lack basic substance. Sishuwa is complaining about Koswe’s attack on his persona, forgetting that he’s the same thing indirectly. He has been attacking HH’s leadership capabilities throughout his presidency. He gets just one attack, Sishuwa goes around crying like a 5 year old. “If you can’t take the heat. get out of the kitchen. “