Reconciliation at Christmas

Sun, 25 Dec 2016 10:24:51 +0000

IT is that time of the year again when majority Zambians join the rest of the world in the celebrations that characterise the festive season particularly at Christmas.

Though Christmas celebrations are not expressly chronicled in the Bible, it is an established religious facet that the birth of Jesus Christ is the reason for the season.

And it is on this premise that Christmas festivities are expected to provide an opportunity for introspection and focus on how to lead a life focused on goodness towards others.

This is probably why messages on the need to share love with family and those less privileged in society are ideal to disseminate this time round.

What is the meaning of Christmas at a national level? What does Christmas mean to our national and political leaders?

By virtue of Zambia being a Christian nation, our national and political leaders are implored to give the true meaning of Christmas to hordes of political cadres.

So President Lungu hit the nail on the head when he called on all Zambians to commemorate Christmas by engaging in prayer and worship.

In his Christmas message to the nation yesterday the President did not mince his words when he made an impassioned appeal to help the needy and making personal contribution to making the world around a better place.

He was also patent about those in leadership across various facades of life to always bear in mind that service to humanity should always be an opening to renovate their binder to God, family and Zambia.

It is undeniably true that this year has been one of the most fractious politically because of the tightly contested August 11 general elections.

The nation witnessed the worst incidences of politically orchestrated violence in Zambia’s history as well as gender-based violence (GBV)

During this Christmas period, our political leaders ought to take deep reflections on how best they should govern their political parties. They should adopt a more reconciliatory approach the practice of politics so that there is decency in the way issues that affect majority of our people are addressed.

With our political leaders reconciling, our national developmental agenda is guaranteed to be more proactive than reactionary and accusatory.

Being in the opposition should mean providing sensible checks and balances to the governing party in the interest of the nation at large, and not advancing a shallow partisan agenda.

The popular adage, ‘united we stand, divided we fall’ should be every patriotic citizen’s concern regardless of political, religious, tribal affiliation.

We all must know and be proud that we share a common identity, that is, being Zambian nationals and not Patriotic Front, Movement for Multiparty Democracy, United National Independence Party, United Party for National Development citizens.

With almost all the national and political leaders professing Christian faith, the need for forgiveness of one another and forging common alliances ought to be not difficult to do.

Do our leaders practice the religion they profess? Why harbour so much bitterness and hate towards one another if indeed, they are Christian?

We think that Christmas accords us a rare chance to reflect on what the year grinding to a halt in a week’s time has been like and begin to set resolutions for the New Year that follows.

We urge all Zambians to celebrate the festive season responsibly by planning for their tomorrow. Many parents will have the burden of paying school fees at the start of January 2017 and meticulous financial management is cardinal to avoid unnecessary headaches at the start of the New Year.