Friday, March 29, 2024

Leave our children alone !

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Hunt for Successor 34:
By Field Ruwe

Kabimba’s lack of understanding of Generation Y and Z

The overbearing Wynter Kabimba is about to press the red button and blow up the future of our children. He is taking them to the primordial era and turning them into dinosaurs. That’s the problem. When we entrust a few individuals with our lives they subject us to political oppression. This whole idea of replacing English with local languages in schools is preposterous.

School children
How do you write LOL in Tonga?

Here is Kabimba verbatim: “As the PF, we are determined to see to it that we eliminate the use of English as a language of instruction in our schools and replace it with our own Zambian languages.”First, which schools is he talking about? Certainly not the American International School, Nkwazi, Rhodes Park, Baobab, Lusaka International Community School, Mpelembe, Lechwe, Musukili, Banani, Chengelo, and Lake Road.

[pullquote]

Kabimba is targeting the vulnerable—children of the middle and lower classes.They are the sacrificial lambs.

 

[/pullquote]He will not let his children to learn Bemba, Nyanja, Lozi, or Tonga. They are the “digital babies” a.k.a. millennials or Generations Y and Z, growing up with technology. Technology has become part of their education and pass-time. A day can’t go by without the use of a computer or cellphone.Social networking is their quotidian occupation—their daily life activity. It is the way they communicate, work, and play. They interconnect with their friends around the world by blogging, twitting, texting and via Facebook. They are also able to visually interact with their friends using webcam. I bet when they heard Kabimba’s dictum they texted “lol.” Some wrote “dude’s nuts.”

It is not them Kabimba is targeting. It is your children; children of you the PF cadre disrupting rallies organized by the opposition; Children of you the PF blogger hauling insults at me; children of you the vendor scotched by the sun because you don’t want your child to be like you; you the marketeer trying very hard to make enough for your child’s school fees and uniform. You are the ones he has in mind.

Kabimba is targeting the vulnerable—children of the middle and lower classes; children of miners, civil servants, rural dwellers, and anyone below tycoon status. They are the sacrificial lambs. He knows their parents will jump at anything uttered by a cabinet minister.

[pullquote]

I can’t envision Michael Sata making Tonga a language of instruction in schools.

 

[/pullquote]

What we have is a colonial hangover,” so Kabimba says.

Sounding like Ngugi wa Thiongo, he is telling middle and lower class parents that English is a relic of colonialism; that, it is, as Ngugi describes it, a “cultural bomb…that continues as a process of erasing memories of pre-colonial cultures and history as a way of installing the dominance of new, more insidious forms of colonialism.” And some believe him.

What Kabimba fails to understand is that English is not the same as it was in the 20th Century. It has gone beyond imperialism and ceased to be a language of identification. It has metamorphosed into an indispensable vernacular language of a highly-tech global village in which we all now live.

Zambian children are in a world far removed from Kabimba’s world in which children of the rich and the poor have to be active participants or remain forever ignorant. It’s a world in which our children have to join other children of the world to innovate, invent, and build. And to do that they have to learn at the same rate as their peers.

In other words, we have no choice but to make each and every child in Zambia digital savvy and for that we are going to need not Bemba, Nyanja, Lozi, or Tonga, but English to succeed.

It is English that has provided modern technology a conduit for consummate global interaction. English has emerged as the chief foreign language in Asia, the Middle East, East Europe, and South America. Young Chinese, Russians, Indonesians, are all learning English so they can communicate with others around the world.

Pupils learn how to use the computers at elementary level at Macha Christian School in Choma
Pupils learn how to use the computers at elementary level at Macha Christian School in Choma

The truth about Languages

Please someone tell Kabimba that the world of the Internet has become such an important aspect of our lives we cannot afford to backtrack. Our children need the English language more than before. Each Zambian child must have access to a computer and must learn to operate any new device without hesitation.

But Kabimba won’t budge. He is “concerned” that our languages are dying and our cultural traditions are diminishing; that the English language is producing a weakened social constituency that is resorting to speaking with an accent.
Here is Kabimba again: “Research undertaken has revealed that every minute a language dies. This is a deliberate effort by our colonial masters to kill our languages which [are] a vehicle for personal identity…if a language is killed, it’s as good as killing a human being.

[pullquote]Our children need the English language more than before[/pullquote]

He sounds like the young Kenneth Kaunda in the 1950’s trying to stop the British from imposing English on us (which he did not). Kabimba’s facts are wrong. Ethnologue estimates 7,000 languages are spoken on Earth. If a language died every minute, it would take not more than 5 days to expunge them.

Languages have been disappearing from time immemorial and they continue to erode up to this day. English-American linguist and phonetician Peter Ladefoged argues that “language death is a natural part of the process of human cultural development, and that languages die because communities stop speaking them for their own reasons.”

I second that. Today the disappearance is not caused so much by warfare and genocide, or by epidemic diseases such as malaria and AIDS, but by the supercilious elitists like Kabimba who make English the only spoken language in the house to distance themselves from the middle and lower classes.

Zambia is multilingual with 73 languages. According to many linguistic books, the only extinct Zambian language is the Kxoe also known as Khoi or Khwedam and the only two that face obsolescence are Mbowe and Yauma. Records show Kxoe is spoken in Namibia, Angola, Botswana, South Africa, and hardly in Zambia. So, we are not doing badly in this department.

Which Zambian language will supplant English

Zambia has four major languages—Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, and Lozi. Bemba and Nyanja are the two official languages. Which one will supplant English?

Bemba is the most favored. Bemba belongs to the largest ethnic group in Zambia and therefore enjoys linguistic power. Although it is the most spoken, and the official language of the Copperbelt, it has never been given the status of a national language. But now with a Bemba president, it is highly possible. If Bemba replaces English it is likely that other tribes, especially those with opposition strongholds will oppose or shun the move. This could lead to violent protests.

[pullquote]President Michael Sata and his vice should stop using English and engage the services of an interpreter at every ceremony[/pullquote]

Nyanja is next. But Nyanja is not authentic. It is a pidgin of the Eastern and Lusaka Provinces with strong roots in Malawi where it is known as Chewa and is a national language. In Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, Nyanja is a language for immigrants.

Although in Zambia, Nyanja is dominated by Nsenga and uses a plethora of English words, it is still “foreign,” and therefore must be removed from Kabimba’s “indigenous” list. The other two languages, Lozi and Tonga, face even greater challenges in that they are mainly provincial. I can’t envision Michael Sata making Tonga a language of instruction in schools.

What Kabimba and the PF are likely to do is to demarcate the country into four with Bemba catering to northern and north-western; Nyanja to the east; Tonga to the south; and Lozi to the west. The question is what happens when the kids in these regions go to the University of Zambia? What language will the university be using in their lectures and research?

Besides, for Kabimba and his PF cohorts to succeed they will have to start at the top. President Michael Sata and his vice should stop using English and engage the services of an interpreter at every ceremony. Sata must then spearhead a campaign to remove English as a national language from the Constitution and replace it with the chosen local language. This will mean that the use of English in Parliament will cease and all business will be conducted in the chosen local language.

We, middle and low class parents, must tell Kabimba to keep away from our children. We must tell him and the PF government to instead concentrate on ensuring our children receive an education compatible with 21st Century standards. We must tell the president to electrify all schools no matter how rural. Where hydro power will not reach, he must use solar power. We must tell him to buy hundreds of computers and ensure each school has between 10 and 20. If the president cannot afford it, he must ask his first world allies to donate discarded but working computers.
Give all our children a chance to showcase their ingenuity.

Field Ruwe is a US-based Zambian media practitioner, historian, and author. He is a PhD candidate at George Fox University and serves as an adjunct professor (lecturer) in Boston. ©Ruwe2012
Readers please note: Two weeks ago I bared my background for all to read. Since then friends, relatives, and some of the readers have asked why. Hackers have gained access to my computer and my files on the hard drive. They have stolen my personal information, research work, notes, compilations, bank accounts, passwords, manuscripts and drafts I use in the preparation of my scholarly work as well as my articles. They have collected the names of the sites I visit on the Internet and are monitoring my every move with a view to discredit my works and disrupt my “Hunt for Successor” series. One of the people involved in the campaign is using IP address 41.222.23.168. This number has been traced to a computer at Sun Hotel, Livingstone, Zambia and confirmation of location has been received. This person is the operative “Zimbwi.” He uses other aliases like “panono panono,” “democrat” “sichaamba” to threaten me and attack my personal integrity. He is a young man known to me. I have enough information and evidence to believe he is a mole. I want to assure readers that my articles are well researched, quoted and paraphrased. They are all my personal imagination, deduction, and surmise. In case of doubt or suspicion download them from the archives of UKZambians, Zambian Watchdog, or Lusaka Times.

69 COMMENTS

  1. C’mon,who takes Kabimba seriously? Its just like one of those waffles like reintroducing Zambia National Service for school leavers!

    • Nice article! I couldn’t agree more with the points you’ve raised. I am sad to hear that you’ve been a victim of cyber attackers. Don’t let the haters of free speech and truth silence you. God bless.

    • We can only hope that ba Wynter and Sata will listen to the people’s advice because part of being a great leader is to be able listen to others.

    • This is just a gymmick to control the masses. Imagine a generation which is as ignorant as the cadres that kabimba controls. He has realised he can’t control the educated ones. Infact its a reason why he is fighting my Hon. Given Lubinda. But aitaya nafuti on this one. Infact i am well geared to go on protest on this one for the sake of our children to be. I rest my case.

    • I totally agree with you,this is one of the errors that this government cannot afford to make.I have being studying in the diaspora for some years now and i have seen the benefits of known English, people from others countries where English is not the official language look as if they are so dull. They should be talking about how they are going to improve the IT system in Zambian schools, this is the area were our country is lagging behind. May God bless Zambia

  2. Ba LT what lauguage are u going to write your stories in??? start using local languages now b4 the English language is rebased to local languages…

  3. Well researched article. I like the level headed analysis. We don’t need to just look at a pupil in a classroom with a teacher communicating to him in some local language. We need to look at how we are shaping his destiny and what we are preparing him for. As an Engineer I imagine how my lecturer would have explained Power system protection in Bemba, Lozi, Nyanja or Tonga.

  4. My Children will never be taught in any of the local languages Kabimba is dreaming about. Kabimba and the PF want us to go back to the primitive days of colonialism. Very soon they will introduce poll tax, dog tax and bicycle tax. Very pathetic.

    • As the author says, the problem is not necessarily “your” children, but the already disadvantaged children of people who have no choice but to use GRZ schools and will be further disadvantaged by the ruling party’s plan to ELIMINATE English from the curriculum.

      (Btw – I think some councils have already tried to introduce dog tax so please don’t give them big ideas about bicycle tax, etc…. lol)

  5. So kabimba how does he think we will influence the world out their to make products with manuals written in bemba nyanja etc the dude is truly nuts. Imagine you are installing windows on your PC with instructions in bemba LOL

    • kopa ndi pasita kekekekekeke, we in for trouble on this one…………this the most stupid thing the PF fovernment is trying to do

  6. Kabimba has a massive colonial hangover. He has learnt his English so to hell with the rest of the children of Zambia. What a prick! Pure selfishness.

  7. On this one, I have disagreed with Kabimba. I agree totally with Field’s analysis. Even my own grandchildren speak English and understand Bemba language because I reside on the Copperbelt though Aushi.

    • Is Aushi or Bisa spoken anywhere in Zambia? You’re Bemba my friend. Just like a Totela, Subiya, Nyengo etc is Lozi!

  8. The ideal ist teach children in a language they better understand at elementary stage. if they understand Zambian English better then use it in class. if they know mixed dialect then use it in class

  9. Winter lacks focus and objective. He shouldn’t take our intelligency lightly that he can drag us into 20th Century ubututu. My kids would never learn science in Bemba but in an international language because am not interested in a language which can’t sell their credentials. Thats why China aware of globalisation has taken upon itself to ensure that their key personnel learn english.
    Let Kabimba teach his children in soli. We are proud to be africans but not proud to depart from civilisation.

  10. Kabimba and his clique should come out clean and stop beating about the bush because we know that they want to impose the bemba language on the rest of the country. Not even Kabimba’s sala language will survive the planned onslaught on other tribes and languages. This government must be watched closely, they have a divisive and oppressive agenda.

    • dear, i totally disagree with Kabimba on this issue but bringing in his health is really uncalled for, AIDS affects us all, there are many good, educated, full of wisdom and very nice people with AIDS, you may not know even on this blog someone may be HIV +, lets not be clouded by our hate for one individual so much that we end up being wrong ourselves by doing or saying something is good. lets criticize responsibly. i don’t mean to upset you but marely trying to correct you my bro/sis

    • If a dog has nothing to bark about, it will just be barking anyhow. True, why bring in health issues of an individual who cannot even defend himself? We are not discussing HIV/AIDS but english language in school. Some of you people do not realise that even those of us who are so lucky not to have HIV are affected because all the families in Zambia have a relative who is positive. I tell you it is a very sad situation having a sibling with HIV. This is not a laughing matter people. Choose what to talk about. You may not have HIV but you would also die of other illness including road traffic accidents. So talking about people’s status is not only sad but *****ic to say the least. Are you his doctor kabwa iwe?

  11. We are finish
    if our children will learn local languages which will lead them to be inferior to others.PF is not a fool party but some individuals are fool, and want each one to be fool. I cannt accept such fools for un civilized people in PF, who want to destroy our Children while they children are learning in international schools. Please W. Kabimba ask for apology to the nation, or else. we shall look for another secretary of our mutured party

  12. I am a linguist by profession. Both Kabimba and Field have a point but what they both lack is a sense of balancing. Yes we need English just as we also need local languages. In fact, my research as a linguist has shown that both English and local languages work together in our daily interactions than ever before. If this is the case then we need both of them. It would not be a good idea to do away with English jst as it is not a good idea to shun our languages. These two can be taught side by side jst as we use them side by side. It is wrong for anyone to compare US and Zambia. The two differ considerably in the way pipo use language. Perhaps what Kabimba shud be advocating is a state where a Zambian child is not deprived the right to learn a language of his/her choice.

  13. My Lozi language is not Provincial. Its International. Anyway thanks for your attempted put down Mr Tiyende Pamodzi Comedy Ruwe!

    • Yes, apart from Zambia Lozi is also spoken in Angola, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa (and even broadcast on radio RSA) but like any other local Zambian language does not qualify to replace the English language. The English language shall remain the official language whether Kabimba & Co like it or not.

  14. Good food for thought. i thought studies indicate that language does influence thinking in early childhood.If so there is need to a certain extent for a child to be taught in a mother tongue in the formative years until there thinking are able to apprehend complex issues and that is when you introduce english.I also wish to say that Nyanja is not an equivalent of chewa.we have chichewa in zambia which different from nyanja spoken in urban areas.

  15. Abena Zambia observing is good but it is also important to have divergent viewpoints of the subject. I for one believe that Its countries that use their local languages that reach out the most to the populace. E.G. implementaion of policies and laws is easier or margin of error is minimised, as these are confined to particular areas. Maybe his approach isnt good enough but everyone should strive to hold their own. Better suggestions/views would help embrace the containment of the local languages and or spearhead a totally new era for us. Those questioning the use of local languages should first ask yourselves if you can pioneer the first dictionary in your language instead of practicing PHDs on the blog. Just my viewpoint

  16. DAY DREAMING. I HAVE DISAGREED WITH WINTER ON THIS ONE.

    FIELD’S ANALYSIS IS COMPREHENSIVE AND WINTER NEEDS TO HAVE RESEARCHERS SUCH AS FIELD RUWE TO BACK UP HIS PROPOSALS. OTHERWISE, THE ZAMBIAN PEOPLE WILL SHOOT THEM DOWN AND THE LITTLE REMAINING RESPECT & INTEGRITY WASHED AWAY COMPLETELY!!!!!!!

    LETS CONCENTRATE ON 90 DAYS PROMISES. BRINGING DIFFICULTY ISSUES LIKE THIS ONE WILL NOT HELP MATTERS.

    THOSE PRESIDENTIAL AMBITIONS ARE OVERRATING ONESELF. THE INTERNET MAY BE LESS THAN 1%, BUT IT PROVIDES GOOD INDICATORS, BENCHMARKS AND INFERENCES ON THE WIND OF CHANGE TO THE 100% POPULATION, BOTH RURAL AND URBAN.

    DON’T SAY YOU WERE NOT ADVISED. LETS CHANGE FOR THE BETTER AND SHOW EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP.

  17. I thought local languages are already taught in our schools! Maybe I am just old-fashioned, but when did they stop teaching local languages in Zambian schools?

    If Kabimba is concerned about his children not learning their father’s tongue, he should blame himself for not taking his children to visit their grandparents and cousins at the village more often. If he is the modern day “aPhiri ana bwera…,” he shouldn’t generalize—utemwa uku choona mu kalale!

    To say children are forgetting their local languages is really an exaggeration. English in Zambia is mostly only ‘socially’ spoken as a “recreational” language and not a necessity. Even in towns, only certain “ELITES” (mostly those in the same social class as Kabimba) tend to insist on English always—even in their own homes!

  18. By the way, does anyone remember books such as “Inkwashi one & two”? These are some of the books I read in my informative years in primary school, and they are all well written books in local languages. But at the same time my teachers made sure English was equally inculcated. So why can’t we simply build on that instead of trying to reinvent the wheel?

    Say what you may about Kaunda, but it seems his wisdom will never be matched by people who benefited from his grandest scheme—EDUCATION! Kabimba being a beneficiary of Kaunda’s grand scheme, he cannot convince me today that his was simply a mis-education by people who “loved” colonialism.

    So where are all these GRAND-IDEAS about our educational system coming from now?

    • How sure are you that “there is no problem” in Kenya and Tanzania by using Swahili? Don’t you know that English is “taught” in these countries just as much? I know this because I have been to college with students from both Kenya and Tanzania here in the USA.

      But if you want to see how disadvantaged one becomes when they can’t communicate (writen and verbal) in English, you should see how students from countries like Ethiopia struggle when they go abroad to study. Because in Ethiopia they only teach in Aremaic (sp).

      So your point about Kenya and Tanzania as far as teaching English is concerned is not completely true. I have come across plenty of Kenyan and Tanzanian students who speak perfect English for me to believe that back home these people were only taught in Kiswahili!

    • That is why Zambians shine wherever they go because of the way they articulate the Queens language. Zambia is the only country in Africa with a unique accent in as far as English language is concern. Of course some exagerate their accents, but even then, it depends which school you went to.

  19. Inferiority complex. Who told you that English is the best language? And does teaching one in their local language effect their understanding of technological advancement? Please certain things don’t say them before you think.

  20. When i started school we where taught in our local luangueges and we did well than the children of today who speeks good english with nothing in they heads ‘shame’ and Leakage schools is worse.am happy natampile isukulu muli ba KK

  21. Kabimba is a lawyer and he should therefore know better that our languages are just not tailored for sophisticated things. They are just basic communication tools fit for bush life and not for this civilised and technologically advanced life.

  22. In some countries e.g. South Africa, students need to take a second language as part of their matriculation requirement, they have a choice between afrikaans, zulu, xhosa etc. Having a language taught as a subject on its own is surely a more logical (and probably cheaper) option, but then again, this is Wynter we’re dealing with here.

  23. Ruwe,since you’re in the US I hope you’ve informed the IRS, FBI (cybercrime is a federal offense) and your Uni IT dept. They’ll help. You might want to place a security freeze on your credit by contacting Experian, Equifax and Transunion. I would suggest also, if you have not already, change your passwords to all online accounts as well as encrypt your drive. Again, the Uni IT dept. could help or get a tech guy to help. Contact you Internet service provider (ISP) and inform them about it (they’ll suggest getting a firewall and locking down your wifi if that’s how you access the net). I am not a computer guy but I know enough that this should be your basic response to the intrusion.
    In regards to Kabimba and his and his parties ill conceived notions, he’s an ***** and can’t…

  24. Speaking the local language well is sweet. I pity our kids who cannot. They neither speak excellent English nor speak our languages at all. Expressions like atase, ala, hehede, awe mwandi etc etc will one day disappear. . I dread that day. Maybe the Bemba language will somehow sustain itself, because on the CB, English is for ba “some of us”

  25. Sata……nists! As expected, very spiteful! Winter boy don’t be spiteful! Who go you think you are to prescribe languages for our children. Please go and reconcile with your father, you may reform to be a better human being!

  26. Field Ruwe
    You are not critical about your own work and you want us to believe your researched work, I do not think so.
    Who funded your research work? This is not what genuine researchers do besides that, you are still a PhD candidate. Your so called research is biased in favour of those who are funding your project, and it is riddled with falsehoods. For instance, you claim that Nyanja is a language of immigrants in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa etc. In the case of South Africa, Nyanja is not considered as a language spoken by anyone and even though a handful individuals speak it, they speak this language in privacy. African immigrants in S. Africa especially Malawians and Zambians do not use this language in S.A. Therefore, your claims are false.Tell us more about Ngugi’s…

  27. Field Ruwe
    Where did you do your research? If you know the person responsible for civil injury to your ‘property’ then press civil charges against him. And/or if the act is has a criminal intent and punishable under the Criminal Procedures Code of Zambia or the US, take it up too. Otherwise, your claims are slunders and you are a slunderer.
    We need balanced research work which involves views from both sides. Your theories should rather be built on past theories which can be used in predicting the outcome of future happenings not suggestive threats such as yours.
    Published research work which can prove existing theories wrong. Prove why it is wrong to use English as an official language not why it is correct to use it.
    If you know all the guenuine steps in research, then be fair.

  28. Field Ruwe
    Shade more light on your research design. Give us more information about your research participants. Your research participants will be another nail to your research coffin. We want to know more about your experimental research participants and control subjects. And/or did you use a case study or you used a natural selection approach. Give us more concrete information not abstract information.This is not to embarrass you but to scrutinize your so called research.
    All scientists scrutinize each other’s work

  29. Very weell thought out article. Are you the same Field Ruwe that used to write for Orbit magazine in the 80s? To get rid of english is a non starter, and I think there is no threat of major languages dying out as most zambians speak them even if highly educated. Its those stupid parents that forbid their children from speaking local tongues that bring about problems for themselves.

  30. I agree with Yambayamba. KK’s government gave us an ideal model where we started school in vernacular and transitioned into English as we got into higher grades. This gave every kid the opportunity to learn the English language which would become the medium of instruction in higher grades and tertiary education levels. The curriculum also gave every pupil an opportunity to learn the local language at higher grades. The outcome of this process is a person who can communicate orally and in writing both in vernacular and in English. The ability to learn more than one language at early stages paves way to learn other languages of importance later in life. Today, Zambians who went through this process can go anywhere in the world for training and/or work and have no problem fitting in.

  31. Continued…

    They can quickly learn Russian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin, name it – they can have it all. So I totally do not understand where Kabimba is coming from. Why is he looking for problems where there are no problems? There are myriads of problems Zambia is facing today that the PF government needs to focus on. The use of English as an official language or medium of instruction in schools and colleges is not one is them.

  32. Why name only private schools? I thought private schools curriculum can differ from public schools and some of them offer exams by international examination boards. Ruwe’s analysis of the matter is flawed, internet is not only about English, other major languages like french, Russian and other European and Asian languages use the internet. Learning a second language is becoming a norm due to globalisation, even in the UK they are encouraging students to learn one of the European languages. Kabimba was talking about public schools run by the government and why private schools are drawn in, I cannot understand. If you lose your language, you lose your identity and this is very true. You cannot claim to be an Englishman when you cannot speak English, the same applies here.

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