Pilato Critiques Primitive "Bowman Approach" To Covid-19

Activist Fumba Chama, also known as Pilato, has critiqued the approach taken by Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo in trying to enforce compliance with Government rules and restrictions relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Pilato, Lusambo’s approach is primitive and inefficient, but in part the result of a leadership vacuum.

“If Presidential decrees or laws depend on an individual to whip people into obedience then the state systems have collapsed and we are all advised to call our grandparents in the village and tell them that we are in trouble. In Zambia we have 10 provinces and only one Bowman Lusambo. If he is in Cairo Road kicking asses then what happens in Kafue where he can't be at the same time he is in Lusaka?” the musician asks.

His full critique reads as follows:

“The Problem with the Bowman Approach is not how he decides to whip or who he whips but how he thinks that laws or presidential declarations must be enforced. I wish to submit that his ways of enforcing the Presidential declaration are primitive and not efficient at all and here is why?

Statecraft is the art of managing the affairs of the country and this must be done through well designed systems. These systems are collaborative in nature to ensure that there is efficiency and effectiveness in the management of the state affairs. If Presidential decrees or laws depend on an individual to whip people into obedience then the state systems have collapsed and we are all advised to call our grandparents in the village and tell them that we are in trouble. In Zambia we have 10 provinces and only one Bowman Lusambo. If he is in Cairo Road kicking asses then what happens in Kafue where he can't be at the same time he is in Lusaka? Can Bowman be in Lusaka and be in Chinsali at the same time to ensure that the Presidential decree is obeyed? If he cant then his approach is primitive.

Government has structures weaved in what I called a system, if this enforcement of the law or decree was done through government established systems, we would have been assured of efficiency in making sure that those who have refused to be sensible in this crisis are dealt with righteously and by now they would have been gripped with the fear of the lord without paying tithes.

The problem we have been faced with in Africa for a long time now is the "powerful man syndrome" where leaders become very powerful than the system they are supposed to be guided by, we have powerful leaders but weak institutions. We have men of action but institutions of inaction. If the only way we can prevent the spread of this Covid 19 is by Lusambo's whip then our problems are bigger than the red sea we would need Moses to strike the sea and Bowman to strike our bums for us to pass through this crisis. We do not need powerful leaders only but powerful institutions and systems that should guide all those that work for the government. Leadership of powerful men and women is not sustainable because when they are gone, everything goes back to zero. But systems remain.

I do understand some of you my friends have applauded this simple approach in dealing with a very complex problem. I understand this appreciation for him, it is because he is trying to fill a leadership vacuum that can only be filled in by an elected president. There are certain actions by the state that can only be triggered by the president and in moments like this you would expect that the president would make certain decisions to make sure that lives of the people are safeguarded in a very systematic order. Instead of these kangaroo jumps we need a more efficient approach in ensuring that lives are safe even in places where Bowman is not present.

Mr. Bowman Lusambo is daily moving up and down while we are told to stay home, what if he has been exposed to the virus in the process?

Has anyone checked his temperature yet?

Does he think that wearing the ECL hoodie is protection enough from the virus?

Be smart stay home, don't be like Bowman.”