WE feel the Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council (NGOCC)’s condemnation of the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) is an issue of the pot calling the kettle black.
We are quoting this English idiom that refers to a guilty person accusing another of the very things they are also guilty of.
An equivalent idiom is the ci-Bemba proverb that states that ‘ifiwa fisekana impapa’ or ‘bakolwe basekane fipato’ – which both refer to guilty parties thinking the other side is guiltier.
While we feel the NGOCC is right in condemning LAZ for failing to interpret the laws in the Constitution properly, the gender organisation is also guilty of partisanship.
Last year, the NGOCC politicised First Lady Esther Lungu’s charity works in Western Province despite failing to condemn or challenge previous first ladies who did similar works.
Last month, the same NGOCC which is blaming LAZ for not guiding the nation properly on the Constitution misled the public when its executive director Engwase Mwale charged that the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) was to blame for the never-ending contention that she claimed had arisen from the current amended Republican Constitution.
Speaking in Bemba when she met six-member organisations in Mansa, Ms Mwale said the ruling party had mobilised its legislators in Parliament to pass the cherry-picked clauses in the Constitution to suit their political agenda.
Ms Mwale stated that for as long as the citizens allowed politicians to continue to formulate the laws of the land, they would always do so to satisfy their partisan interests.
Really Ms Mwale?
In March last year, NGOCC issued a misplaced statement in its provision of checks and balances to the Government by calling on women not to vote for the PF in 2016.
This was surprising since the PF Government has an unprecedented record in appointing women to key decision-making positions.
Our good council has also been noisily silent on the United Party for National Development (UPND)’s choice of Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba, a self-confessed wife batterer as the running mate to the party leader Hakainde Hichilema.
It is such double standards that have led to the public disrespecting NGOCC since it has become a platform for publicity-seeking feminists who like hearing their voices.
On the other hand, LAZ is also as polarised as the NGOCC since individuals claiming to represent the association are issuing statements championing personal interests or the interests of the political parties they support.
We are dismayed at the mediocrity and partisanship pertaining in the legal fraternity, Church bodies, academia and even the media.
The professional bodies representing these ‘professions’ are polarised and exude mediocrity that is hinged on personal aggrandisement instead of collective responsibility that characterised such bodies in yesteryears.
There is need for organisations like LAZ and the NGOCC to go back to the drawing board to up their game since we have a template here in Zambia when such bodies commanded respect.
The Church at one time spoke with one voice and was never polarised along political factions as is the case now when it is difficult to make a distinction between a clergyman and a politician.
The LAZ is understandably being attacked from several quarters since the body has deliberately chosen to share ignorance with the populace instead of guiding the nation on legal matters.
We are reminding these bodies that the public is watching and what has been seen is nauseating.