NATIONAL RECONCILIATION NOW A MUST

By MARVEL SAKALA

The 2021 General elections may be behind us but they have surely left us with a terrible political hangover such that we are more divided than we were before casting the vote.

As Mohandis Gandhi said “action expresses priorities” as a people seem to be entertaining a potential historic division amid a limping economy and a surging pandemic that has infected close to 300, 000 and killed close to 4,000 Zambians.

It is like we don’t realize that our common enemy is not ourselves but the pandemic and the limping economy that need fixing.

 The 2.8 versus the 1.8 divides we have given much prominence are only making things worse for our Country because no nation can develop when divided.

The divide has affected our Country in multitudinous ways – even influencing who we choose to associate with and in extreme circumstances who to employ or marry.

I have heard of stories of people being fired because they are perceived to belong to the other divide. And also have I heard of marriages breaking down because of the same reason.

social media

On social media these days, there is so much hate than love and one can’t help but ask where the love is.

My heart bleeds reading the posts and comments that are filled with hate and anger over simple political debates that should not degenerate to such levels.

Some people are willing to defend any wrong so long it is done by their divide and vice versa. Am afraid that if we continue on this trajectory – Zambia will no longer be the bigger picture. 

This is definitely not the Zambia we know or we want. We are known as peace loving people but now our reputation is at stake due to our conduct or lack thereof.  Our “Motto One Zambia One Nation” is slowly losing its meaning because it has just become a meaningless phrase we say to massage the truth that we are a divided nation due to the nature of  politics we practice.

tribalism

The divides are political in nature but are also deep rooted into tribalism. And this is why I was shocked but not surprised to hear that senior citizen Dr. Ng’andu Magande called Easteners as “bad people” as alleged by Lumezi Constituency Member of Parliament Honourable Munir Zulu. If the allegations are indeed true, then they confirm the fact that the divides are deep rooted into tribalism and it is becoming a case of “us vs them.”

Time and again I hear debates or comparisons of the current and the previous regimes’ cabinet selections by some people trying to justify which cabinet was selected on tribal merit and which one wasn’t.  Just the mere thought of having these debates confirms that we have a problem and that problem is tribalism.

people’s rights

Acknowledging a problem is the first step to solving it. And to solve this cascade of a tribal conflict which has the potential to take away people’s rights and freedoms, a truth and reconciliation commission must be set up before the situation spills out of hand.

In 2016 former President Edgar Lungu instituted a commission of inquiry on electoral violence and voting patterns.

The results of this commission revealed that campaigning, adopting candidates and organizing party structures on tribal and regional lines prior to the 2016 election influenced the voting patterns and violence. 

The results of the inquiry President Lungu instituted were unfortunately not followed by necessary action and this is why we are here today. We knew we had a problem as a nation but we decided to downplay it.

Now is the time to take action by instituting a truth and reconciliation commission. President Hakainde Hichilema must pick up from where his predecessor left in uniting the Country.

uncover and acknowledge the problem

It is difficult to heal from a problem without telling the truth, first you have to uncover and acknowledge the problem before you move on and this is why we need a truth and reconciliation commission.

Truth and reconciliation commissions have effectively worked before in Countries like the Northern Ireland and post-apartheid South Africa.

For instance the 1995 South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) helped the Country heal by bringing about reconciliation of its people by uncovering the truth of human rights violations that had occurred during the apathied period. 

In Zambia we have had tribal cases that violated people’s rights like the displacement of people in Namwala because they were from other regions. We have innumerable tribal cases and now these cases are wounds we have only bandaged and they are yet to heal. Even if they were to heal today, they would still leave scary scars and this is why reconciliation is very cardinal as we forge ahead.

“tiyende pamodzi ndi mtima umodzi”

Our late founding Father President Kenneth Kaunda loved singing “tiyende pamodzi ndi mtima umodzi” and he also deliberately made sure that the motto “One Zambia One Nation” sunk deeply into our subconscious because he understood the importance and power of unity.  If we were not a united people during our struggle for independence we wouldn’t have attained it.

Similarly, if we are not united today as we fight the pandemic and try to fix our damaged economy we will only have ourselves to blame when reality dawns on us.

Zambia can be better than what it is today if we reconcile and work together as one towards achieving National prosperity. National reconciliation is possible, but we the people have to be willing to try.

TIYENDE PAMODZI NDI MTIMA UMODZI  – ONE ZAMBIA ONE NATION.