Politics and politicians are the same everywhere

I should say that politics and politicians are the same everywhere and who suffers most are the people that put them in their positions and the same people who are supposed to benefit from their service. On the other hand, people or the constituents are similar as well. The way people in Chama district reacted during the forum was not new to me because I have seen and observed the same reactions in the Philippines. Like what wise people say in the Philippines, “the movie was already shown” meaning they have witnessed the same event. However, despite this, I believe that the constituencies have all the rights to question the leaders they have put in their position because people have the right and deserve the best service they should get from their leaders.

What brought me to Chama was an activity of one of the programmes of Caritas Chipata under Governance. As M&E advisor, I am trying to move around to monitor the progress of implementation of activities in the different districts and parishes of the Eastern Province. The activity was dubbed “Sharing of Council Plans” wherein the District Council shared its plan to the people and in return they get the opportunity to ask what their council is doing. Too much protocol was observed during the activity. Courtesy calls were done to the Council Secretary and the District Commissioner. If my information serves me right. District Council is the counterpart of our “Sangguniang Bayan Chair” or the Vice-Mayor; however he was selected among the councilors of the district. District Commissioner on the other hand was the counterpart of “mayor” in the Philippines. The reception was good and very welcoming. The DC recognizes and appreciates what Caritas Chipata is doing in their district. However, for Caritas Chipata it has to assess whether it is creating impact to the grassroots community. Like all other local government units in the Philippines, the people were so eager to ask their leaders about what they are doing for their people or constituencies as they are called here. However, like politicians in the Philippines, when their ego is touched, they also react. The Council Secretary almost lost his temper when engaged in a debate for constructing a toilet called “ablution block” at the wrong place.

The opening remark of the DC was very long which affected the other scheduled activities. Like other TraPos, the speech contained his accomplishments but what struck me most was his remark on development, wherein he said, “your complains about heat in Chama district will turn into cash” because according to him, exploratory activities have been done wherein minerals have been found and soon investors will start mining their place and therefore, it would bring employment and revenue. It was sad to note that mining in Zambia is the answer to prosperity. I cannot refute because who am I to do it. If only they are educated about the harmful effects of mining. Simple logic: Copper mining has been in existence for so many years in Zambia but looking at the economic plight of the people and the country itself, did copper mining uplift the economy of Zambia and its people, the answer is obvious, otherwise development organizations won’t be around to help them in development which are mostly basic services.

What struck me was the constituency office in the district which is within the town centre ad within the proximity of the people. The constituency office is the counterpart of the District Representative’s Office in the Philippines. The Member of the Parliament (MP) who is the congressman/congresswoman in the Philippines has satellite office in the districts manned by two staff, administrative officer and assistant. Based on conversations with people, this is to bring the MP closer to the people and the task of the staff is to update regularly the MP about what is happening to the constituency. However, asked how effective it is and responsive to the needs of the constituents, I’ve got mixed reactions from people. Some positive and others were negative; however, as a point of reflection for me: in the Philippines, I have not seen visibly any office of the District Representatives that people elected. Their offices in the Philippines back in their districts are usually found at their residents which often manned by people who know nothing about bringing the leader closer to the people or manned by staff whose interests are the implementation of infrastructure projects.