Stop hatching xenophobia in Zambia

Thu, 23 Mar 2017 13:05:18 +0000

Augustine Phiri

President Edgar Lungu has bemoaned what he calls ‘moral decay’ which is rampant in the Zambian society despite being a Christian Nation.

Speaking in the National Assembly perched at Manda Hill in Lusaka last week, Mr Lungu called for concerted efforts to combat the scourge which is eroding all areas of human endeavour.

Indeed, it is common in this era to see some Zambians conducting themselves in the most despicable manner which were otherwise inconspicuous hardly a Millennium ago.

See this folk singer from the North, Pontiano Kaiche who passionately fondled the frail and stretchy breasts of elderly Ngoni women from the East in full view of the public and the nosy paparazzis, the photo-journalists and camera people.

This is moral decay of the worst kind on the part of the fondler ever witnessed in this Zambian society whose inhabitants supposedly strict observers of Christian norms, values and principles.

Some people even have the audacity to sell intoxicating beverages to the living and to our departed loved ones alike in cemeteries, how dare you?

Government banned ‘Tujili-jili’ alcohol some two years ago but the liquor has resurfaced under a different name of ‘Junta’ to disguise its identity. How can you do this you Zambians?

Much elderly men and women have defiled young children of the opposite sex, sorry of the opposite gender and others may soon follow suite, where have your morals gone to? Spouses are strangling their partners they once upon a time regarded as their sweethearts, who is fooling who here? Have you lost your morals too, you Zambian married men and women?

Parents are marrying off their girls at a tender age, courts of law are infested with divorce cases while poachers are busy cutting down the much talked about Mukula tree and threatening its extinction.

Men and women of God are engaging in illicit relationships with choir girls and boys alike while others are swindling the flock of their hard sweated cash.

In the field of education, leakages of examination papers are as pandemic as HIV which causes Aids while teachers engage in inappropriate affairs with their learners.

Ohoo yes; it is moral decadence for anyone hatching the dreaded xenophobia in the minds of the Zambians through de-Zambianization of their jobs.

You see, government officers with questionable morals are busy issuing work permits to foreign nationals to operate a folk lift, guard factory gates, lay bricks on construction sites and sell chickens in markets as if there are no Zambians with these skills.

Zambians are said to be losing jobs on flimsy grounds merely to give way to foreigners to take over their jobs. It is an erosion of morals on the part of those with weird strategies of de-Zambianizing jobs held by the locals.

Do these people realize that by so doing, they are South Africanizing mother Zambia with that  sweet-smelling perfume called xenophobia?

This dislike of foreigners syndrome may just explode one day with ghastly consequences like what is taking place in South Africa.

Incidentally, where is the Zambianization Committee?

This committee was formed early in the second republic to oversee and promote the employment of Zambians in all sectors of the economy. It also ensured that no foreigner was engaged to take up a job whose skills and expertise were readily available in Zambia.

To learn that Zambians in copper mining companies were being displaced by foreigners in this era of many qualified and highly experienced but unemployed geologists, metallurgists, hydrologists and mining engineers is not pleasing to say the least.

One would only hope that the reports coming from the mining regions of the Copperbelt and North-western on de-Zambianization are fake news.

Talking about fake news, congratulations to United States of America (USA) President, Mr Donald Trump for winning too early in the year, the International Fake News Award for 2017.

You see, this 45th President of the so-called most powerful nation on earth was awarded this priced award on Monday (March 20) in recognition for his dedication to promoting fake news.

You see, Mr Trump had accused his predecessor, Barrack Obama of ordering the phone wiretapping of the Trump Tower used as the campaign command post by the Republican Party in the run-up to that country’s presidential elections last year.

According to Mr Trump, this clandestine operation enabled the Democrats to eavesdrop and peep into the goings-on in the then opposition Republicans’ camp.

But on Monday, Mr James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), told his boss, “No Sir, this is fake news.”

The FBI chief was giving evidence before a high-profile panel of political and legal minds probing the accusation that against Mr Obama.

Mr Trump seems to have the knack for fake news. Soon after taking the Oval Office in the White House, he held a press conference and uttered some statements which were seemingly down played by the media.

Furious about the turn of events, the new US President branded what had been published about the press conference as ‘fake news’ and ‘fake media’ that published his material.

Therefore, do not be surprised should next time Mr Trump call people living in the so-called third world of being ‘fake’ human beings created in God’s own ‘fake’ image. To him, everything is fake save for his riches.

But the man needs to know that fake information and the media are not business partners because the latter are premised on the pillars of accuracy, objectivity, fairness and of course truthfulness.

Phone tapping is a big deal in the United States because it borders on invading other people’s privacy. The practice once forced President Richard Nixon to resign a couple of decades ago for his involvement in this improper conduct dubbed the Watergate Scandal.

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Copperbelt Permanent Secretary, Mr Elias Kamanga is enraged at the tall grass which has for a long time remained uncut in the municipality areas of Ndola City Council.

Mr Kamanga has since directed the council to trim the overgrown vegetation in order to keep Ndola clean and lessen breeding spaces for mosquitoes which bite and infect people with malaria.

The PS for Kopala may wish to know that this scenario is not peculiar to Ndola alone; it is shared by most municipal councils countrywide.

You see, mayors, district council chairpersons, councillors, management staff and council workers are not to blame for not cutting the tall grass in their respective areas. Rather should be leveled at the wet weather and the dry weather for delaying their departure and arrival, respectively.

Councils are waiting for rains to go and the sun to come and shine throughout the day to dry the tall green grass and turn its colour from green to brown. Only then can it be conducive to throw lit match sticks on the vegetation and burn it.

Therefore, for as long as the wet weather does go and the dry spell does not come, the tall grass would remain intact and continue growing taller. For, it is literally impossible to burn vegetation when it is still fresh and green, according to physics lessons.

Let us do something and let God help us nip xenophobia in the bud, bring the dry spell early enough to prepare the tall green grass for gutting to ashes and keep our towns clean.

kapenyatheobserver@yahoo.com