Maravi

Tribalism will devour MMD

Tribalism will devour MMD
By The Post
Wed 29 Dec. 2010, 04:00 CAT

MOSES Muteteka, the Ministry of Local Government and Housing Deputy Minister, says “…and for me who comes from Central Province, we are grateful that we have the number two chair as Vice-President coming from Central Province. And he (Enoch Kavindele) must not think that Central Province will sit idle to allow this to just go…? Central Province will not allow the vice-presidency to go easily. Both the Republican and MMD vice-presidency have to be defended by Central Province. It is an honour to us. We cannot do away with that honour.”

Is this truly coming from Moses? What has happened to Moses’ national consciousness? What has driven him into this narrow regionalism or provincialism?

Anyway, we can only say, as usual, that this is what happens when values are lost and principles are sacrificed on the altar of political expedience and opportunism.

Regionalism or provincialism has been weighed and found wanting.

Many decent people in this country detest regionalism, because they regard it as a barbaric thing, regardless of who it comes from.

This is so because regionalism pollutes the atmosphere of the relations of our people and poisons the minds of the backward, the bigoted and the prejudiced.

As we approach nearly 50 years of independence, and of our existence as ‘One Zambia, One Nation’, it is intolerable and unacceptable that the cancer of regionalism can still be spread by a government minister.

We must ensure that the regions, provinces of our country that the colonialists and we ourselves demarcated do not become an indelible mark or attribute that accords a special status to any. Regionalism should be seen by all of us as a blight on conscience.

We should never allow our country to play host to regionalism because we have seen the harm it can do in other countries.

Our voices should never be stifled when we see or hear regionalism being advocated by any one of us. Regionalism must be consciously combated and not discreetly tolerated.

All of us know how stubbornly regionalism can cling to the mind and how deeply it can affect the human soul.

When selecting leaders whether at national or party level, we must select people who are very suited for the job – people who are known for their honesty, ability, dedication and concern for the welfare of all – regardless of the region or province of our country they come from.

Zambia needs patriotic leaders in all our political parties; people who place national interest before personal ambition.

We say this because politics is an area of great importance for promoting justice, peace, development and community among all; it is a way of building up society for the common good.

And what our people are seeking is genuine democracy in which the leaders are servants of the electorate and not its masters.

And the love for our country urges one to act accordingly in all justice and charity.

Members of our political parties should be conscious of the crucial role they play in choosing the leaders who will create the Zambia we want to live in.

They should use the membership of their parties for the good of Zambia, as opposed to the good of a particular individual or group.

They should select candidates for party leadership who have proved themselves accountable to the electorate, for the common good; people who have courageously defended truth and justice for all, who are completely honest in fulfilling public and private responsibilities.

And they should do so according to their conscience, in accordance with the highest human values without allowing themselves to be pressured or dictated to by ‘godfathers’, by bribes, self-interest, and so on and so forth.

We should not accept ‘zones’ or regions when it comes to selecting leaders.

Let everyone involved have in their hearts the desire that all will benefit, not just those involved in the process.

Our political parties should be run on ideals and principles and not on regional, tribal or personal cult.

We should be aware of these issues and reject any struggle for power that is based on regional, provincial or tribal lines.

The leaders we need in all our political parties are only those who serve the country with justice towards all; people who consider themselves accountable to the people and who consider the public interest rather than their own.

Party membership should be used as a powerful weapon for unity, an instrument of liberty, justice and peace.

On the right of our party members to choose their leaders, on the quality of it, the discernment behind it, depend the progress and peace of our country.

Therefore, the choice of party leaders at any level, and more so at the topmost level, should never be swayed by personal profit, regional, provincial or tribal bias, but solely by the consideration of which of the candidates is better for the party and the nation.

Party leaders should be selected strictly according to the good you think they can do and not on a regional, provincial or tribal basis as Moses seems to be suggesting.

The personal interest should be kept subordinate to the public good. It is necessary for Moses and others in the MMD to remind themselves that the politics they are engaged in should be for the good of the people and the country, and not for the political survival of any individual.

If the spirit of the primacy of the common good were to animate all the members of our political parties, we would not be hearing the things we are hearing from people like Moses which leave the public dismayed and disheartened.

And in the present atmosphere of fierce political competition, we would like to remind Moses and his friends and indeed all our politicians of the noble goals of political activity.

From a Christian point of view, politics aims at the promotion of the common good.

And it should therefore not be used selfishly as a device to divide the people and weaken them.

Good politics requires active commitment against any divisive policies and practices and injustices.

We say this because any form of divisive politics and injustice lays a foundation for tension, conflict and violence in the country.

We should therefore strongly guard against excessive regionalism and particularism arising from regional or tribal pride, jealousy, greed and selfishness; superiority complex resulting from ignorance and domination; prejudice and stereotyping that breed contempt, disdain and closing in oneself; manipulation of the outlook of regionalism in order to gain and retain power.

The issue of power - economic and political power - is often an underlying factor behind regional and tribal tensions, leading to conflict and violence.

The issue of power, and the use thereof, therefore needs to be addressed if peace is to be maintained.

The tendency towards regionalism and tribalism that increasingly seems to characterise the politics of the MMD needs to be denounced and stopped because it will soon prove very harmful not only to the MMD itself but to the whole nation.

There’s a better way of doing politics than the regional and tribal approach. Politics based on regionalism and tribalism which today appear to define the MMD will soon consume it.

MMD runs the risk of being consumed by the regional and tribal politics.

Again this is what happens when senseless leaders, outright opportunists take over legitimate institutions of the people and convert them to instruments for personal aggrandisement.

Let us not forget that Rupiah Banda’s campaign for the Republican presidency in 2008 was anchored on regionalism and tribalism.

Launching his campaign in Eastern Province, a region of our country where he hails from, Rupiah told the people of this very important province of our country to chase any candidate coming from another area and tell them to go and campaign where they come from.

This is the seed Rupiah planted in the nation and in the MMD. And today the fruits of it are starting to ripen.

Labels: ENOCH KAVINDELE, MMD, MOSES MUTETEKA, TRIBALISM

posted by MrK @ 5:09 PM