Maravi

Tribalism has been weighed and found wanting

Tribalism has been weighed and found wanting
By The Post
Mon 08 Nov. 2010, 03:59 CAT

Tribalism has been weighed and found wanting. This is why even those who live by it are forced to condemn it. This is why even tribalists like Rupiah Banda are forced to say “tribalism is the most abominable sin that any Zambian can commit”.

If tribalism, as Rupiah says, is the most abominable sin that any Zambian can commit, then he himself lives in sin because he lives by tribalism. Rupiah’s politics begin and end with tribalism; he is permanently wedded to tribalism. Rupiah’s election campaigns, his appointments to state and government jobs are all anchored on tribalism. It is not that Rupiah doesn’t know the evils of tribalism.

He knows them very well and that’s why he is able to condemn tribalism as the most abominable sin a Zambian a commit. And this is why he is able to praise those who do not live by it. Truly, Sakwiba Sikota has many political problems and serious poor political judgment. But one thing one cannot accuse him of is being a tribalist. This may also explain why he could not take it and remain in UPND when the political campaign that was waged against him became clearly tribal.

But one wonders why Rupiah, who is praising Sakwiba’s hatred for tribalism and says tribalism is an abominable sin, continues to live by it. The explanation is simple: Rupiah resorts to tribalism because it is politically and otherwise beneficial for him to do so; he is rewarded for being a tribalist.

But there are serious problems when leaders try to call others to virtues which they themselves do not make an effort to practice. Leaders are supposed to be exemplary in their daily lives. It is said that justice begins at home. And political leaders themselves must be the first to give witness. We all know how Rupiah uses tribalism to win elections and keep himself in power.

Honest leadership is very vital to the future of our nation. But in the end, putting aside all the theories and concepts, honest leadership will be achieved, not by the formality of structures, but by the integrity of the participant and by the willingness of the individuals to be honest in all their dealings and be inspired by a larger vision. And this is why it is said that of all the properties which belong to honourable men, not one is highly prized as that of honest character. Honest politicians would rather fall with honour than win an election by tribalism. Honest leadership is the ability of a single individual through his actions to motivate others to higher levels of honesty, integrity, selflessness. Honest leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions. Honesty must begin at the top of a nation’s leadership. Honesty is a leadership issue, and the topmost leader must set the example.

It doesn’t make sense for Rupiah to condemn tribalism because it is the most abominable sin and yet continue to live by it, to exploit it in his election campaigns. It is not fair to ask others to do what you yourself are unwilling to do. You can’t lead others farther than you have gone yourself. Honesty towards yourself, looking into your mirror, anytime all the time will guide you. Example is not the main thing in honest leadership; it is the only thing. People do not follow uncommitted leaders and competence goes beyond words.

It is easy for Rupiah to condemn tribalism as being the most abominable sin. To act and live according to this is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking.
But we should blame ourselves for Rupiah’s continued marriage with tribalism. As long as Rupiah continues to be rewarded for being a tribalist, he will never divorce tribalism or permanently repudiate it. If we continually allow our politicians to lie their way into office, and we never do anything about it, then we are rewarding dishonesty, and we are rewarding those amongst us for their dishonesty and lack of integrity. “Whatever a society rewards, it gets more of” is the famous quote, and so it appears to us that it’s time to stop rewarding our politicians when they resort to wrong things, wrong methods, abominable sins. Putting into office or leaving in office politicians who have lied to us, who have committed the abominable sin of tribalism, is not right. Continuing to support tribalists, the best liars for public office is hardly prudent for the stability of our country.

You are not obligated to support someone who resorts to tribalism, someone who lied to you, got you to vote for him once, committed all the abominable sins one can imagine, and then comes back to you and asks one more time for your vote. You are not obligated in your life to keep making the same mistakes twice, three times, or more.

The country doesn’t need these politicians who have committed and continue to commit the most abominable sin of tribalism, and to this are every day adding that of corruption. You don’t need such politicians. It is time to deny them your vote. It’s your chance to do the right thing, to make up for the mistakes, mistakes that we have all made, trusting some politicians, when we shouldn’t have. It doesn’t matter what banner that type of politician is carrying. A tribalist is a tribalist; a liar is a liar, and tribalists and liars should not be leading our nation.
If someone has such little integrity to lie to you to get you to vote for them, then obviously they lack the integrity to do what is right for our country and our people. Obviously, they are only out for themselves and their own power. That’s not what KK and his comrades had in mind when they founded this Republic – this Republic is not supposed to work that way.

There is too much dishonesty in our politics, in our government. It seems our politicians think that dishonesty, lying is an inherent part of our politics. And not only are they liars to the extreme, they are also thieves, swindlers, totally corrupt in all ways. Even at a relatively unimportant level, they don’t try to tell the truth. Look at the lies they have told over their decision to remove the “abuse of office” offence from the Anti Corruption Commission Act. We have exposed their lies at every turn. But this has not deterred them from going ahead with their criminal scheme. We just wonder how they keep track of all the lies that they tell! Surely it must be a nightmare! So many lies are told that are so transparent that the Zambian people have lost all faith in politicians. Why would they not lie? After all, clearly there is no accountability whatsoever. If there was, you would see many politicians being charged with high treason against the Zambian people.

There is nothing they say that can be taken at face value. The rare instance when they may be telling the truth only serves their own needs. They do not have the will of the people as their foremost responsibility. Why should they? They are too busy with their own agenda, that agenda being how to keep and raise their own standard of living at the expense of the Zambian people, especially the poor. They don’t see it as their job to protect and serve the Zambian people. How much longer will our people have faith in these criminals? The corrupt politicians only care about themselves and what will keep them in office. They do not care about how many lies need to be told, they do not care who gets hurt, how many people suffer or lose their jobs.

Now things are getting so bad that even when a politician is caught in a blatant lie, nothing happens to them. They have safeguarded their position so well that no matter what horrible crime they commit, it means nothing to them. They are safe draining the life out of this country, like a huge wrecking ball destroying all in its path. Honest politicians seems more like an oxymoron. With politicians lying to us and people expecting them to lie, telling the truth seems to be as foreign as speaking, one would say, Greek. But we believe it is possible for politicians to tell the truth. Too many politicians do something unethical and think that they are so powerful or belong to the right party, they can get away with it. That needs to stop immediately. And these same dishonest politicians are claiming to be Christians who pray to God every day. What do they tell God? Lies! If a person is a Christian, he should be expected to tell the truth in order to please God. If he can’t be honest with God, how can he be honest with people? The people expect Christians to be honest; even politicians. Politicians can tell the truth. They just need to be willing to do it.

And when the time for elections comes next year, we must vote wisely and only for people who are known for their honesty, ability, dedication and concern for the welfare of all.

Labels: RUPIAH BANDA, TRIBALISM

posted by MrK @ 4:31 PM