Mon, 12 Feb 2018 09:14:08 +0000
By LINDA SOKO TEMBO
TRIBAL politics should not be given national prominence, says Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) executive director, Mweenge Chimfwembe.
In an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr Chimfwembe branded tribal politics as a tool of deception which some leaders were using to deceive the people.
He said Zambians had only one country and needed to be very careful when it came to politics of tribalism. He said it was for the very reason that the first republican president Dr. Kenneth Kaunda fought so hard to ensure that the 72 tribes lived in harmony and accepted each other.
“We only have this one nation called Zambia which I think KK fought very hard for to ensure that the 72 tribes that are living in this country lived in harmony, accepted each other and integrated very well which they have done.
“This is not a discussion we should give a national value it’s a discussion that we ought to condemn in its strongest term to say that tribalism is actually not something that ought to be given a national value,” he said.
Mr Chimfwembe also advised politicians not to have political parties that had a narrow view to the challenges that affected the Zambian people because that party would not last in the country.
“As an NGO we love the way the republican constitution article 60 says ‘Every political party shall promote and practice democracy through regular, free and fair elections within the party and respect the right of its members to participate in the affairs of the political party’.
“The authors of that clause foresaw that some selfish politicians may want to divide the people of this country as a demobilisation strategy, he said.
