Tribal politics should not be entertained
Tribal politics should not be entertainedBy The Post
Sun 30 Sep. 2012, 10:00 CAT
The observations made by Mpezeni, the paramount chief of the Ngoni people, on tribal-based politics deserve serious considerations from all our politicians.
We agree with Mpezeni that "any good person should be elected and Zambians should look for a credible person, not tribe."
We also agree with Mpezeni's observations that those who seek public office "must sell themselves to the people of Zambia as Zambians" and not as members of this or that tribe.
No one should be elected to public office on the basis of their tribe. We must vote only for people who are known for their honesty, ability, dedication and concern for the welfare of all. Politicians should therefore be evaluated on their capacity to implement both their party's manifesto and their personal vision. Those who offer themselves for re-election ought to be evaluated against the record of what they have or have not achieved.
Did they fulfil their promises? Did they offer quality service to all the people and not only to those who voted for them into power? Were they available to listen to the concerns of the people and were they selfless in responding to the needs of all, especially the poor? Those who have not yet held public office should be carefully evaluated in terms of their competence and their reputation for honesty and selfless dedication to the common good.
For all who seek public office, there is need to pay attention to their concern for social justice, desire to work for the common good instead of self-enrichment, disposition to use power for service, especially service of the poor and underprivileged, openness to dialogue, good moral standing, transparency and accountability to the electorate, competence and courage to speak out the truth.
And tribe should never be criteria for voting for any politician seeking public office.
Canvassing along tribal and provincial lines should disqualify someone because it makes them unfit to be national leaders, to be leaders for all our people. Political affiliation based entirely on tribe and province negates everything that we have stood for as a nation, as a people.
And those who have been canvassing on tribal and provincial lines should not blame the common man for the consequences of their tribalism. The fault is theirs.
The people they are teaching to hate and despise others on tribal lines may successfully be taught to hate them next time. So even from a personal and rather selfish angle, this way of politicking and electioneering must be condemned as completely unZambian unless, of course, they don't mean it when they speak of 'One Zambia, One Nation'.
And as Dr Kenneth Kaunda once remarked, "Let it be remembered that it would be madness to expect to harvest groundnuts where in fact we had planted castor oil". Those who sow seeds of tribal mistrust, fear and selfishness will reap exactly that.
It is good to remember that whatever we are in terms of tribes, we have one common denominator, and that is God our Creator and that we are all Zambians. All of us stem from Him and as such we have no reason whatsoever to look at other people in terms of tribe. If we do that, we defy God. And those who defy God pay for their sins heavily.
Let's honour the promise of the founders of this nation: "Our society in Zambia shall be non-tribal, non-racial and that our society in Zambia shall only judge each and every individual according to his behaviour" (Dr Kenneth Kaunda, Chifubu Rally, Ndola, January 17, 1965).
We must ensure that tribe becomes only a God-given gift to each one of us and not an indelible mark or attribute that accords a special status to any.
We should detest tribalism because it is a barbaric thing, regardless of whoever it comes from.
Tribalism pollutes the atmosphere of national and human relations and poisons the minds of the backward, the bigoted and the prejudiced.
As we near the 48th anniversary of our independence and nationhood, it is intolerable and unacceptable that the cancer of tribalism is still eating away the brains or minds of some of our politicians.
Tribalism is a blight on our conscience. And we should never allow our country to play host to tribalism in any way, in any form. Nor shall our voices be stifled if we see that any of our politicians is courting tribal politics. Tribal politics must be consciously combated and not discreetly tolerated.
All of us know how stubbornly tribalism can cling to the mind and how deeply it can infect the human soul. For this reason and if we are true to our commitment to One Zambia, One Nation, and to the protection of the national dignity of our people, we have to fight tribal politics until victory is achieved.
We hate the practice of tribalism, and in our hatred we are sustained by the fact that the overwhelming majority of our people hate it equally. And this is demonstrated in how those who have tried to pursue tribal or provincial politics have failed to win national elections in our country, especially at the Republican presidential level.
The Zambian people have over the years made sure that no tribally-inclined politician wins presidential elections.
This must continue. This is good medicine for the tribalists. They should never be given a chance to win national elections and form government.
We should always put the unity of our people first and put it ahead of any divisive tribal politics.
So, we urge all Zambians, whatever their personal interests or concern, to guard against divisive tribal politics and all its ugly consequences.
We have achieved a lot when all our people united. And we should not lose our achievements as a nation now because of suspicion, mistrust, selfishness and tribal politics among any of our people.
Those who think that they are entitled to certain national political positions because of their tribe or on account of their tribe should be clearly taught that national political positions are not based on tribe but on the conduct of each individual candidate and that of their political parties. And this should be done by not voting for them. Only those who are committed to One Zambia, One Nation should be given a chance to govern this country.
Labels: CHIEF MPEZENI, TRIBALISM
posted by MrK @ 7:07 PM
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