METRO CAB AND MILES SAMPA MP: AN EDITORIAL We had so far avoided commenting on the initiative taken by Honourable Miles Sampa MP as Member of Parliament for Matero Constituency to empower Youths in his constituency, because we were keen to fully understand the effort and what it meant for his constituents. In the interim, we have witnessed and heard diverse views about and on how others have interpreted this initiative or reacted to it. Many have reacted to it as a party political issue and have quickly engaged in politicking over the issue to suit their political stand and affiliations; others have reacted to it as an abuse of office and privilege questioning how he has managed to “bulldoze” Indo Zambia Bank into giving him a loan / advance against his gratuity from which he stands to profit. There have been some detailed analysis about the payment plan and exactly what will be realized by METRO and consequently Miles Sampa and how they see this as an exploitation of the ‘vulnerable’. Our understanding of this matter and consequently our opinion is fashioned on the premise that this is an initiative taken by a serving member of parliament for his constituency and have divorced his role as a functional member of the executive. It is EVERY Member of Parliament’s role and responsibility to originate, encourage and foster an environment in which initiatives to serve his constituency take a front seat in all his doings. In this respect Honourable Sampa’s initiative is welcome and laudable. One wonders whether there would be such a fuss if he had sunk boreholes or distributed mealie-meal. Representatives of the people must endeavour to think outside the box and take steps to not only deliver political speeches and party political rhetoric but actually DO something for the people. There has been and still exists a bad culture of Zambians wanting handouts and freebees instead of being co-opted into contributing to their own wellbeing and development. When the cry of “Boma itiyanganepo” is made, the expectation is that one should sit back and be a recipient of a fish and not bother to be taught how to fish. This is counterproductive! For all the different political views we may find ourselves on the opposite side of Miles Sampa whether in the past, present or future, his efforts are a good example for other MP’s who always give an excuse of CDF as the issue why no development takes place in their constituencies. Let us move from narrowing the role of our MP’s to that of just being critics of a sitting government, to actually be the inspiration for development in Zambia. It was clear that the beneficiaries of the METRO initiative were not PF ‘cadres’ but applicants from within the constituency chosen by raffle. Indo Zambia Bank (IZB) should also be commended for its role as a business interested in actively getting involved in local development issues. Whatever the merits or demerits of the arguments that Sampa may have used his ministerial office to coerce IZB into a ‘campaign ploy’ the issue still remains that he has done more than most and certainly inspired an innovative way of tackling unemployment and youth empowerment for others to emulate. Many of those crying foul have only criticism and no alternative plan as to how this venture can be made to be sustainable in order to benefit more people in Matero Constituency if not by the method employed by the MP. It is uncharitable to just speak without demonstrating a better or winning strategy to address the need. As of the writing of this editorial it is learnt the repayment time has been slashed from 3 years to 2 years and weekly cash in reduced from K600 to K500. We congratulate the Honourable MP and urge him to maintain the non-partisan stance of selecting recipients as all the residents of his constituency are his responsibility and not only his fellow party members. Keep up the spirit Honourable Sampa and good luck with your work in the constituency and consequently in impacting Zambian development. Zambian Day
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 20:09:35 +0000
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