Be careful how you respond to Ambassador Gonzales! His speech reflects Washington’s official stance, not his personal views.
Recent attacks on outgoing U.S. Ambassador Michael Gonzales are getting too emotional and personal, they lack diplomacy. Before things go too far, let’s understand what he said, who actually said it and what it means.
When Ambassador Gonzales speaks, he is not giving his personal opinion. He is delivering the official position of the United States Government. If you have interacted with US officials sent to countries, one thing you will know is that they are highly professional and trained and burly speak their mind. In short, they are like robots.
America’s power comes from strong systems that last longer than any single person. In Zambia, we often have strong leaders but weak institutions. I saw the difference clearly:
In 2011, after Zambia’s elections, our embassy in Pretoria was in total panic, confusion and at a standstill. I suspect that was the case in every Zambian embassy When Michael Sata won.
But when President Trump won the 2024 election, I was at the U.S. Embassy in Lusaka. Everything continued normally. No chaos, no panic. Ambassador Gonzales (a Biden appointee) was calm. The work went on.
That is what strong institutions look like.
It is for this reason that his farewell speech must be handled diplomatically.
Ambassador Gonzales talked about corruption using the words like “successive governments.” He was not here during UNIP, MMD, or PF governments, but he was speaking for a country that was. His message carries the voice of the Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations.
He reminded us that America has given Zambia over $6 billion in the last 20 years for health, education, and development, including PEPFAR, started under President Bush and continued by every president after. These are American taxpayers’ money.
His strong warning on corruption is not a personal attack. It is a clear condition from the American people. “If you want our help, show good governance and fight corruption”.
He even gave the example of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) funds suspended before when governance was poor, and reviewed again if things go wrong. This is how America works: help is not automatic. It must be earned.
Unfortunately when Minister of Foreign Affairs responds, he doesn’t respond from an institutional memory perspective. His personal which is undeplomatic. The response should be a response that when recieved in Washington fixes the problem and doesn’t stall diplomatic relations.
When you attack Ambassador Gonzales, you are not just fighting one man. You are challenging the official position of the United States across many presidents and both political parties (Republicans and Democrats).
This isn’t the first time Zambia has had differences with a U.S. Ambassador. On each occasion, however, the response made the difference. Under President Edgar Lungu, Washington was diplomatically asked to recall Ambassador Daniel Foote after remarks that offended Zambian customs. The request was handled Diplomatically, Washington took no offence, and Foote was promptly withdrawn. Under the UPND administration, Ambassador Gonzales was asked to be recalled for protecting taxpayers’ money. Washington denied the request. An ambassador doing their job should never be seen as a problem.
This is not the time for insults and anger. We need calm, facts, and smart diplomacy backed by Instutional memory especially that the current President of US has shown worrisome behaviours that tend to put the worlds peace at risk.
The UPND unfortunately distances itself from PF, MMD and UNIP when handling issues of diplomacy but Governance doesn’t operate like that. Once you are in Government you speak from 1964 to present by both defending, protecting and taking responsibility.
The Gonzales message is bigger than the messenger. Let’s respond wisely.
Michael M Mulusa
The Voice