‘Fire that does not destroy’

Mon, 22 May 2017 12:44:08 +0000

 WE agree with Mwine Lubemba, Paramount Chief Chitimukulu, that the institution of traditional leadership is critical to the governance of the country, especially if it is strictly non-partisan. It is the fire that does not destroy because the elders screen it from you.

The Paramount Chief, Mr Henry Sosala Kanyanta, is a prominent traditionalist, scholar, author and thinker who could be of great value to offer his counsel each time there was need for it such as was the case now.

It is therefore unfortunate to learn that he has declined the offer to mediate in the present political stand-off between the two biggest political parties because the Church and some traditional leaders have openly exhibited bias towards one of the two parties.

A number of people and institutions had approached him to use his massive influence, charisma and traditional clout to bring the two sides to the negotiation table in a bid to ease the tension paralysing the country. But he feared he could be misunderstood.

W support his assertion that the people of Zambia usually look to the Church and traditional authority for moral guidance each time there were vexing issues facing the nation. But when such important institutions allow themselves to be compromised, who can trust them?

It is sad that some traditional leaders in Southern Province have openly taken sides in the current political dispute by choosing to side with UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema against President Edgar Lungu, by suggesting that the ruling party was persecuting their ‘‘son’’.

If chiefs, as God-given governance institutions, are parents to all of us as their subjects, how come some sons are more loved than others? Why, when both their children quarrel, South chiefs take the side of Mr Hichilema and ask President Lungu to release him because, they believe, he has done no wrong?

This is the kind of logic Mwine Lubemba finds difficult to reconcile with. To him all Zambians, regardless of their origin or status, are equal and should be treated by their parents as such.  The moment they discriminate and take political sides, they lose the essence of parentage and become political cadres.

As the Paramount Chief suggests, their majesties should have come together and persuaded senior citizens like first republican president Kenneth Kaunda and others to join them to organise an Indaba at which political opponents would meet to dialogue and find a solution to the rising tension in the country.

The Bemba monarch is the first to know the value of reconciliation having been at the receiving end of political persecution and injustice. Although driven from his palace, harangued and isolated for two years, the chief kept his cool until he was vindicated and restored to his rightful throne.

He would have loved to use that experience and his unmatched knowledge of Zambia’s political history to counsel today’s politicians and teach them the value of tolerance, love and respect for one another.

The Church too has failed the people of Zambia by being untruthful in its dealings with the political players. The recent pastoral letter by Catholic bishops signed by Lusaka Archbishop Telesphores Mpundu has not helped matters. No wonder it was roundly condemned as being divisive and short-sighted.

There is no doubt that the Church, perhaps more than anyone else, should be the moral campus of the nation and its views and attitude must be beyond reproach. As Mwine Lubemba puts it, the Church did not come to destroy the law but to fulfil it. As such it is imperative that it pays to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.

We are of the view that Paramount Chief Chitimukulu is more than well placed to lead the pursuit for dialogue among his subjects in the political arena. We hope and pray he can forgive his brothers in Southern Province and persuade them to join him reconcile their children.

This is what traditional leaders, as custodians of Zambia’s values and customs, exist and are respected for.