Maravi

Rupiah and tribalism

Rupiah and tribalism
By Editor
Thu 03 Dec. 2009, 04:00 CAT

Tribalism is a bad thing. And it must be denounced, discouraged and repudiated at all times.

Tribalism is not only bad when it comes from others. It is equally bad when it is being perpetrated by ourselves. It does not make sense for Rupiah Banda to try and accuse Gabriel Namulambe of tribalism or of making tribal statements when he himself has never repudiated his tribal statements and practices.

Rupiah has never apologised to the nation for the clearly tribal statements he made in Chipata at the beginning of his campaign in last year’s presidential election. We have on record the statement that Rupiah made telling the people of Eastern Province to chase away his competitors coming from other parts of our country to campaign there.

He told the people of Eastern Province to tell them to go back and campaign where they come from. Rupiah has never denied or repudiated this statement for over a year. Why should he today accuse Namulambe or anyone else for that matter of tribalism?

There can only be one reason and that is to try and divert public attention from his own tribalism, his own faults and weaknesses on this score and pretend to be opposed to tribalism when he is really a tribalist trying to avoid being called on to account for himself. With this aim in mind, Rupiah can go as far as perpetrating injustices, using his position as President to victimise others who are perhaps less liable than himself.

And if one looks at Rupiah’s appointment, there is a clear pattern that those who hail from Eastern Province dominate his appointments, they hold key positions around him. This country is 43 per cent Bemba speaking, about 18 per cent Nyanja speaking and slightly over 17 per cent Tonga speaking. How can Rupiah justify the clear predominance of his appointments by those who hail from the Eastern Province of our country?

We know that by raising these questions, Rupiah and his fellow tribalists will turn around and accuse us of tribalism the way they are today trying to do with Namulambe. They want to practice tribalism without being questioned by anyone because doing so will be labelled by them as tribalism. It’s not possible to blackmail people into that position. Rupiah is running a tribal government that is also massaged by nepotism.

Rupiah cannot call others to virtues which he himself does not make an effort to practice. A president of a country needs to be exemplary in his daily life. Rupiah is not exemplary in any way.

We all know the dangers of tribalism but Rupiah does not feel ashamed to practice it. When people think only of themselves and their own particular tribe, then there is division and frustration because there is no section of our country that has all the virtues, neither does any have all the vices.

We must give up the pernicious habit of identifying only with those who come from the same village as ourselves, who speak the same language and have the same culture, traditions and regional background. Those with whom we must identify and see as our brothers and sisters, giving them our friendship and affection, our help and fraternal warmth, are all those who, like us, are struggling to try and create a more fair, just and humane Zambia.

It is our collective responsibility to bring up the next generation of Zambians free from tribalism, regionalism and indeed racism.

No one questions Rupiah when he goes round telling people from certain parts of our country that so and so is your son or your daughter and so on and so forth. But when one examines Rupiah’s statements on these issues, it boils to nothing but tribalism. This is a man who is totally imbued – probably beyond redemption – with tribal consciousness. For Rupiah, everything starts and ends with one’s tribe, with where one hails from.

And as we have consistently reminded Zambians, nobody should cheat themselves that these cheap tribalists are of any value to them. Frederick Chiluba stole and used his loot on himself and his girlfriends and did not share that with the Bemba speaking people of Luapula or Northern province. And today Chiluba wants to convince everyone that the people of Luapula and Northern provinces owe him support simply because he hails from that part of our country. For what? No Bemba speaking person owes Chiluba any support because he did not steal for them; he stole for himself and those around him.

Equally, Rupiah’s presidency and corrupt regime do not belong to the humble people of Eastern Province. Rupiah is enjoying everything with just a few friends and relatives who happen to hail from this region. And effort must be made to explain to our people that their experience of suffering, exploitation, marginalisation, humiliation in Shangombo, Zambezi, Nchelenge, Kaputa, Chadiza, Chama, Sinazongwe, Sinazeze, Mpongwe and so on and so forth is the same. All bear the same scars, all have known the same hunger, the same poverty, the same suffering, the same tears caused by poverty, neglect and mismanagement of the resources and affairs of their country by politicians like Rupiah and his friend Chiluba.

They should be united through the discovery of their common wounds and scars, but above all, they should be made to realise their unity through common effort, links forged through collective work and struggle, through criticism and self-criticism, and through action against those who mismanage the affairs of their country and steal public resources. They must be made to realise that these corrupt politicians actually have no tribe. They are just using the tribe to steal and, when they are caught, to protect themselves from being made to account for their misdeeds.

These crooks have no tribe or region. How much of the millions Chiluba stole did he take to Luapula? He claims to be a rich man who had US $8 million hidden in the Zamtrop account but has done nothing for the people of Musangu village. They are still as poor as they were before him. This is clear testimony that these crooks don’t live and work for the tribe; they just use the tribe to gain and retain power and steal and seek protection under its name.

Tribalism is a deformed form of politics and therefore a very destructive practice. Tribalism actually deforms nationalism. All through history, tribalism has been the cause of innumerable problems and strife.

Tribes, like countries, are not closed groups. They are but a small part of a wider society: that of the nation, that of the human race. It is not by segregating ourselves from those who are different that we shall preserve our own particular achievements. It is by sharing them that we become richer. We should open our minds and hearts to the human values to be found in the language, customs and culture of the people who are about us. Nothing but evil can be the fruit of tribalism, a practice contrary to both justice and brotherly love.

For that reason, we condemn all words or actions calculated to arouse ill-feeling, for these violate the special commandment of Christ that we love every other human person whatever that person’s colour, tribe or social condition.

And we warn all Zambians against falling into the snares of the apostles of tribalism “who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but are ravenous wolves within” (Mathew 7:15) and who under the cloak of love for one tribe preach hatred or contempt for another.

Again, we remind Rupiah that if he is to be taken seriously on the issue of tribalism, he has to be exemplary in his own words and practices on this issue. Right now, Rupiah cannot claim to be exemplary on the issue of tribalism because he has not repudiated his tribal statements and practices. We cannot call others to virtues which we ourselves do not make an effort to practice.

Labels: RUPIAH BANDA, TRIBALISM

posted by MrK @ 4:05 AM