No one should die in search of a better life.

The death of 19-year-old, first year UNZA student, Munsanka Makwambwa, who allegedly committed suicide by drinking doom – an insecticide, makes sad reading. Why on earth should someone be driven to death because of failure by those in authority to make right decisions. Bursaries are for poor people like her and not sons and daughters of politicians and top civil servants. I ask the leaders one question: where is your conscious on matters such as this one?

Nelson Mandela showed us the better side of political leadership and humanity which should continue to inspire us. He once said, education is the great engine of personal development. “It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another."

What has led to the death of this young life is down to corruption and misplaced priorities. You have continued to induce bye elections and fund them but fail to fund education, health and other such sectors. 

Corruption is the silent killer which seems here to stay. In June this year at morning Masses in the Vatican, Pope Francis spoke against corruption, reiterating his message against corrupt people in power which he first gave at a morning Mass last March attended by 500 government officials and incumbent and former lawmakers. As if he were addressing Zambian officials and members of ruling class, Pope Francis warned the government officials against abandoning the path of God’s love and liberating salvation for the dead-end road of self-righteous corruption.

Pope Francis made his March 27 remarks at an early morning Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica, some hours before US President Barack Obama paid him a courtesy call at the Vatican.

The Pope used the readings to point to “The ruling class—the doctors of the law, the Sadducees, the Pharisees”—who “were closed up in their ideas, in their ministry, in their ideology.” These leaders refused to heed the Word of God, he said, and even justified their rejection of Jesus by claiming that he was “a prince of demons.”

The Pope said corruption in politics, in business and even in the Church “hurts the poor who always pay the price for the gain of the corrupt others.” Pope Francis noted that to the corrupt, God has clearly said that He will bring disaster on them and their families.

He said, corruption vexes God and scandalises people because it exploits, enslaves, even kills the vulnerable while those who commit this crime are focused solely on money and power.

The Pope said “The corrupt are traitors who steal and kill, who exploit the innocent, but they do it at a distance with gloves on so that they do not have to get their hands dirty.”

God curses these people, but he said they can, just as Ahab did, repent. Ahab tore his garments and fasted and humbled himself before the Lord.  The corrupt must repent and make amends for what they have done.

The Pope concluded by reminding the faithful that our duty as Christians is to ask forgiveness from God for those “people we read about in the papers” and “pray for their conversion of heart and for the grace that we may never become corrupt ourselves.”

If you’re one of those corrupt officials in the bursary committee, the Pope’s message speaks to your conscious. You must feel guilty that you have contributed to the death of this young lady we read about. 

What we read in today’s Post Newspaper about Finance Minister, Hon. Alexander Chikwanda concerning Chinese nationals and their “love for corruption” should not be taken lightly. It is a reflection of what goes on in many government institutions where rigid systems have been put in place to perpetuate corruption. It is everywhere, in education, at the pension fund, passport office, RTSA, police, in the judiciary – to mention a few. What we need is serious action from those who govern us to get rid of corruption and serve the lives of the majority poor.