Edward Chisanga
The loud knock on my study room door woke me up from a rare slumber I was enjoying while asleep for almost one hour. It was Toto, my stepson who was disturbing my sleep. He had the wisdom to come in response to the request I had made the day before.
After thanking him, I began by asking him, “Son, this country has a serious problem concerning decaying morals. Look right, look left, look forward, look backwards, you’ll notice a string eroding those morals. The decay has touched every nerve and blood cell. It is in every department of our society. It is seen in public institutions, private sector, workplaces, private life, in children, in adults, in women, in men, in leadership, in the led, in street kids, etc.”
My son responded, “Everyone cheats. People are being killed, robbed, raped, divorced, recklessly drinking, pinching, robbing, driving carelessly, disobeying traffic rules and driving at red traffic lights, leaders amassing wealth from public resources, forging official documents, etc. Look at the roads, Minibuses drivers are controlling streets and roads. They don’t respect road rules. Cars are driving at red lights instead of stopping. You’re a driver who respects road rules, is driving and suddenly, another car overtakes you without asking you. Car drivers drive with their phones in their ears. What’s going on?”
“That is exactly the question I called you to answer. You were old enough during President Kaunda’s rule. What lessons can you draw from that?”
“Good point dad. Many good lessons. Kaunda married once. We don’t have stories about his secret indulgencies except for one daughter who was my neighbour at Bank of Zambia flats in Lusaka. Neither do we know whether she came outside marriage or was born before. Notwithstanding, he had wise character. Perhaps more importantly, his public life was exemplary in that he is not associated with corruption like thefts. His Ministers and others appointed by him were not corrupt. He was a firm and strong disciplinarian. We hardly had thieves, generally, men respected their wives and women, children walked the streets without harm, and no child was seen drinking Kachasu or other dangerous drinks. As a result of this good leader, most Zambians were well behaved. Many things were in order.”
“And President Chiluba’s time?”
“He divorced his wife for another woman. That was the genesis of moral decay in the country. It opened a pandora box or a prolific source of trouble in the country. Corruption was introduced, public thefts began, divorces increased, overly-womanizing by public officers began, abuse of public property and resources began, hunger and hatred became part of us, we began to see people involved in road accidents beaten, even killed simply to rob them of money, personal items, etc instead of saving their lives. Lies increased in homes, offices, among adults, and even children. That largely explains why many Zambians, not all have lost morals.”
“Then Mwanawasa came.”
“He tried to restore good morals but they were too deeply implanted in us. He tried to stamp out corruption and public stealing of funds. As President, he had one wife and we never heard of stories about his misbehaviour with other women. But he operated under an already corroded system with corruption. His predecessor, President Banda, his successor also had one wife during his Presidency and we don’t have bad stories about him. Corruption was present including inside the State House. He did not change our way of life even if they were bad because lies, misuse of public resources, household moral decay, abuse of children, thefts of public resources, etc continued.”
“What about the Lungu Presidency?”
“He ruled with a legacy of many bad things. There was no state or rules at all. If ‘elite capture’ often runs government and controls citizens’ lives, under Lungu’s rule, ‘cadre capture’ reigned. Our lives were largely controlled by unruly cadres with little or no education. Was there a state when cadres could simply grab innocent peoples’ land, property and other things unabated? Was there, when cadres simply fed on public funds unstopped? The President literally divorced his wife for a foreign woman and his Ministers and others followed a similar route by overly-indulging unbridled. He and his team simply walked into the Ministry of Lands and altered books in order to award themselves state land. They overturned rules and grabbed chiefs’ land unchallenged. Although a large part of the citizens remained steadfast with good morals, many lost it.”
“What about the new leaders of President Hichilema?”
“It is not fair to state anything so far because they’re still very new. He is preaching good values, good governance, zero tolerance for corruption and respect for rule of law. We have a lot of time to study and understand them.”
“As usual, many thanks my son for these insights.”
