Select your leaders wisely
Select your leaders wiselyBy Editor
Tuesday January 15, 2008 [03:00]
Tribalism is really an evil that we have to overcome. For our nation to live and prosper, the tribe must be subordinated to it. If the tribe is put above the nation, then the nation will not survive, will not live and prosper.
Therefore, whatever type of politics we engage in, they must foster unity in the nation. We believe we must be mindful of this one thing, whatever the trials and the tests ahead. The ultimate strength of our country will lie not in the infinite resources or boundless wealth, but in the unity of our people.
This we deeply believe. This is why over the last 16 years of our existence as a newspaper we have put the unity of the people first. We have put it ahead of any divisive regional, tribal or partisan politics.
And in these times as in times before, it is true that a house divided against itself by the spirit of faction, of party, of region, of tribe, of race, is a house that cannot stand. There are attempts to divide the Zambian house now.
There are divisive manoeuvres among us every day. And holding the trust that is ours, as a responsible national newspaper, we cannot disregard the peril to the progress of the Zambian people and the hope for all our people.
So, we would ask all Zambians, whatever their personal interests or concerns, to guard against divisiveness and all its ugly consequences.
What we won when all our people united must now not just be lost in tribal or regional suspicion, distrust, selfishness and politics among any of our people. Believing this as we do, we have concluded that we should not permit the politics of our country to be driven by politics of tribalism, regionalism and in some cases racism.
What we are seeing is what happens in a nation when politicians in their struggle for power or political office abandon well-established values in preference for that which is politically expedient. And in pursuit of this, they elevate their tribes to be more important or significant than their personal merits or abilities.
It is not possible for us to build a strong and prosperous nation on the basis of tribal considerations that totally disregard merit. The most successful nations in the world are those that have put merit and abilities of their people above other pious considerations of tribe, race or colour. Let those with much merit take the responsibility of managing the affairs of our country.
No section, tribe, region or race of our country has all the virtues, neither does any have all the vices. We are quite sure that there are people in all our tribes, races or regions who try to do their jobs as best as they can, even if the result is not always entirely successful.
And in trying to get the best of our people for public service, we have to be very critical.
He who has never failed to reach perfection has a right to be the harshest critic. There can be no doubt, of course, that criticism is good for people and institutions that are part of public life. And no one seeking public office should expect to be free from those who give it their loyalty and support, not to mention those who don't.
There is need to completely revolutionalise our politics in order to put it at the service of the masses of our people. Our unity as a nation will continue to be an essential target of the activities of political opportunists of all hues as long as politics remains a vehicle for fulfilling personal ambition and not necessarily an opportunity to serve people. But unity is not just a feeling or something abstract.
Vital unity is sustained by a clear concept of our objectives and a precise understanding of the tasks of each moment. Unity implies drawing an ever firmer dividing line between the people and opportunistic politicians, regardless of the form their politics may take.
It is therefore imperative for us as a nation to create a new mentality and way of seeing things. The fulfilment of the giant tasks that lie ahead of us implies achieving and consolidating unity.
To be united, it is not enough to simply state that one is united so repeatedly or to sloganeer about it. It is necessary to wage a constant battle against all divisive situations and tendencies. It is necessary to understand the grandeur, diversity and complexity of our country.
Knowing this means studying tribalism’s divisiveness in the country and the ways of combating it. It is imperative that all this leads to real unity among our people. We do not know tribes, races or regions; we only know Zambians who are equally exploited and equally desirous of progress and prosperity for their country.
Therefore, the unity of our people is the basic guarantee of progress and prosperity in our country.
It is only through unity that we can develop this country and eradicate poverty and backwardness from its face. It is therefore imperative that we fight and overcome anything that impairs national unity.
Tribalism or regionalism is not a problem of our people as demonstrated by their daily interactions everywhere and in every aspect of human endeavour, including inter-marriages.
It is clearly something being foisted on them by greedy and unscrupulous politicians out to feather their own political nests. They are every day dividing people into petty political factions just to chalk up their own political opportunities.
They are not in politics to serve the people whose support they are relying on. They have no real interest in the people, they have no real love for the people and commitment to the interests of the people. They are not in politics for this; they are in politics to fulfil ambitions, pleasure and personal financial gain.
We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that there's no region of our country that has today escaped poverty because someone hailing from there had become president of the Republic of Zambia or held some very senior or powerful position in government or in the ruling party. Poverty affects our people across the width and breadth of our country in primarily the same way.
The scars of poverty that our brothers and sisters bear in Chavuma, Kalabo, Sinazeze are no different from those of their brothers and sisters in Chadiza, Nabwalya, Kaputa or Chilubi.
The social and economic problems that our people face today are not necessarily as a result of tribalism, as a result of not having a fellow tribesman in State House. They are much more a result of the limited abilities, commitment, competence and vision of our political leadership.
Therefore, what this country needs to move forward is not politics based on tribalism or regionalism but rather the election or selection of a political leadership that squares up to the challenges our county faces today .
We need to create a political culture which will encourage and enable the best sons and daughters of our people to offer themselves for the political leadership of our country and serve the interests of our people heart and soul.
Therefore, let us struggle for unity.
And in struggling for unity, it is necessary to combat firmly the fabricators and abettors of division. Let us not forget that before, the tactics of those who used to rule over our destiny consisted of dividing us and setting one humble section of our people against another to serve their own interests of divide and rule. And to struggle for national unity is, necessarily, to struggle against divisionism.
The national unity we are talking about should be for today and tomorrow. We should be ready to travel together in unity with all those who wish to unite in the struggle to better our country and our people's lives.
A proper and effective solution to the great national problems our people face today is impossible without the struggle for unity. The struggle for unity should never be seen as a transitory measure. It decides the present and will decide the future of our country.
And its consolidation is indispensable in the period leading up to any elections when opportunistic politicians of all stripes are trying to position themselves for power or political office.
Let us not forget that our struggle for independence was intrinsically bound up with the fight for national unity. We therefore wish, above all, to recall this past so as to foresee and plan the future better.
The struggle to defend and consolidate national unity demands permanent vigilance and action to neutralise and eliminate the manoeuvres of political opportunists. And by defining tribalism and regionalism as enemies to be fought, we will be depriving the political opportunists of their chief instruments of their anti-people manoeuvres.
We therefore urge our people to listen to all our politicians and listen carefully so that at the end of the day they have a good idea of where each one of them stands on these very important issues.
We urge the members of our political parties to elect or select for the leadership of their political parties only those who are known for their honesty, ability, dedication, patriotism and concern for the welfare of all.
Labels: TRIBALISM
posted by MrK @ 5:45 AM
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