Dear editor,
ALLOW me a little bit of space in your esteemed newspaper so that l give more examples of people in wrong positions, the ones l called (in Part One) ‘square pegs in round holes’.
There are lawyers who know that a given case does not stand a chance in a court of law but will tell their unsuspecting client that the case is defensively strong just to make money. Such lawyers would make the case drag on thereby maximising their income.
Among engineers, as well, we have many square pegs in round holes. Most engineers are not proactive. There is extensive road construction going on in Zambia; consultants who sign completion certificates for shoddily done roads should have their practicing certificates withdrawn.
Probably the longest list of wrong people in positions should go to traditional healers where everything is possible. Their purported ‘achievements’ range from curing all diseases to making people rich even though they themselves are as poor as a church mouse. Some even claim to make academic examinations passable; some claim to bring back lost lovers or property. Surprisingly, even at this advanced stage in human development, some people still flock there to get the ‘services’.
Even among law makers, there are square pegs in round holes. No matter how much development the PF Government is bringing, some ‘honourable’ members of Parliament are still seeing darkness and continue to make unsubstantiated claims on the floor of the august House. Some erroneously think that being in the opposition means opposing everything being done by Government. The only thing they do not oppose is getting their allowances from the same Government they are against.
Among the much-respected royal highnesses, we also see isolated cases of square pegs in round holes. Allowing early marriages and taking too much to the bottle are signs that all is not well at the palace. And the well-intended government subsidy has attracted every Jim and Jack to aspire for chieftaincy thereby exacerbating succession wrangles in many a chiefdom.
Probably, the fastest growing list of square pegs in round holes is found among the clergy. Churches are mushrooming. Some clergy are claiming to have such miraculous power as to just touch a person and that person’s challenge or problem will be gone. Just one touch and down the ‘patients’ fall, ‘healed’. One wonders why such ‘blessed’ clergymen do not just go to our hospitals and perform their miracles.
Another area which has attracted wrong people, wrong users, is the internet and its social media. With hidden identity, some people are bent on posting misinformation, falsehoods and insults, all in the name of freedom of speech and expression. What the social media abusers don’t realise is that email is tied to phone number which is tied to national registration card which is tied to domicile. ZICTA is capable of tracing all social media abusers especially that sim cards are by law required to be registered.
Expecting to find a situation where all suitable people are in right positions is like living in Utopia.
FRANCIS KALIPENTA
Serenje