By Sishuwa Sishuwa
I recently attended a social occasion in Lusaka. The event, not unusual in the capital city, brought together Zambians from disparate ethnic groups such as Kaonde, Lunda, Tonga, Bemba, Chewa/Nyanja and Lozi speakers. It was a diversity that gave meaning to the slogan ‘One Zambia One Nation’. Yet, as one Tonga guest arrived, they were greeted in the Tonga language by another Tonga, a cousin whom they had not seen for a long time and who had arrived at the party much earlier. Both Tongas were swiftly reprimanded by a Bemba speaker who told them ‘Mwatampako…mwalitemwa icitundu cenu’, literally translated as ‘You are at it again. You love your language too much!’ The Bemba guest was of course speaking in Bemba and saw no contradiction in his attempts to marginalise the Tonga guests in this way.
Sadly, what I witnessed that day is not an isolated incident but a microcosm of what is happening in Zambia at present. In places like urban Lusaka, it is somehow regarded as acceptable to communicate in Bemba and Nyanja languages, while those conversing in Tonga are frowned upon or treated with disdain. Language has been retooled to primarily function as an instrument that fosters exclusion or belonging, especially in public spaces. More importantly, those with Tonga names are being victimised and marginalised in workplaces, especially in the civil service, parastatals and security wings. I know of many Tongas working in these sectors who have been removed from their positions over the last year or retired in ‘national interest’. One recent and troubling example is the unexpected dismissal of Richard Mwiinga, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Public Service Pensions Fund (PSPF) in December 2017.
By all accounts, Mwiinga was an exemplary public servant. His achievements over the last three years include stabilising the Fund, initiating progressive pension reforms and embarking on sustainable investments such as the US$72 million Longacres Mall Project that has reached an advanced stage. When his contract came up for renewal, the feedback on his performance was sought from both the board and management of the PSPF. Procedurally, the task of evaluating the performance of the CEO rests with the chairperson of the Fund’s board, a position that until recently was occupied by Moses Banda. Perhaps under pressure from State House and some members of the board not to renew Mwiinga’s contract, Banda informed the board that he wished to constitute a Select Committee to guide him in assessing the CEO’s performance, arguing that the Fund’s different committees know his performance better than him. The board approved Banda’s suggestion and a Select Committee comprising the chairpersons of its different committees was subsequently constituted under his leadership.
Using the standard template approved by the board over a year ago under its Performance Based Management Guidelines for senior personnel, the Select Committee met to evaluate Mwiinga’s performance as CEO. The PSPF Management, in line with the Fund’s evaluation guidelines, also assessed Mwiinga’s performance separately. According to well-placed sources from Cabinet Office and State House, both the Select Committee and Management recommended that Mwiinga’s contract be renewed, and separately communicated their respective positions to Banda, the PSPF board chairperson. In the unanimous judgement of the Select Committee, Mwiinga had discharged his duties effectively, and his performance was rated at 86 per cent, four per cent less than the score (90) that he received from the PSPF Management. At a full board meeting called by the chairperson to consider the recommendation for the renewal of the CEO’s contract, two board members however deemed it necessary to consult other unspecified powers beyond the board about Mwiinga’s performance. The proposal by the two, Barnaby Mulenga, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, and Boniface Chimbwali, who is Public Service and Management Division Permanent Secretary, was opposed by the board chairperson, Banda, and another board member Oliver Saasa, on grounds that the law relating to the renewal of contract of the Fund’s CEO does not provide for a consultation process that involves actors external to the board. The protesting officials however defended their position, prompting the rest of the board members to grant them their wish. Mulenga and Chimbwali were given a week to carry out their consultations before reporting their findings to the full board. Significantly, one of those consulted was President Edgar Lungu.
At a subsequent meeting called on 8 December 2017 to conclude the process of renewing Mwiinga’s contract, Lungu then quickly acted to dismiss the board chairperson and Saasa, both of whom had earlier insisted on acting in accordance with the law. Tellingly, Banda and Saasa were handed their letters of dismissal, which were dated 8 December 2017 but backdated to 4 December 2017, by Mulenga just before the meeting commenced. The Ministry of Labour PS further revealed that President Lungu had also appointed him as the interim chairperson of the board and, using his new position, proceeded to inform Saasa that he could no longer take part in any activities of the board since his dismissal was instant. As for Banda, he was told that, to ensure a smooth handover to the new chairperson, his complete removal from the board would only take effect after a month, on 3 January 2018.
When the meeting finally started, Mulenga informed the remaining board members that President Lungu had decreed that Mwiinga’s contract be terminated on 28 February 2018, when it expires. A dissenting member who attempted to deliberate further on the issue was curtailed on grounds that the presidential directive was final. Mwiinga was then called back into the boardroom and informed that “the board” had decided not to renew his contract when it ends. This is a troubling episode, one that must have been very humiliating for Mwiinga, and it illustrates two broader points.
The first is that the unpleasant manner in which Mwiinga was removed from his position underlines the wider and continuing ill-treatment of Tongas or those with Tonga identities under President Lungu’s Zambia. Unfortunately for these fellow citizens, the very person who should guarantee them protection, the President of the Republic of Zambia, appears to be an active participant in their mistreatment. I do not know if, in dismissing Mwiinga, Chimbwali was merely acting as Lungu’s agent or if he was taking advantage of Lungu’s apparent distaste for Tongas to advance his own – possibly ethnic – agenda. What I know is that the President’s action towards Mwiinga reinforces the perception that he retains a deep-seated antipathy towards Tongas and regards them as less Zambian. Is it a sin to be a Tonga in Lungu’s (Christian) Zambia? Of Zambia’s four major ethnic groups, it is only Tongas who are not represented in his Cabinet. Of Zambia’s ten provinces, only Southern lacks representation. Lungu may argue that the ruling party did not win any parliamentary seats there, but the Constitution allows the President to nominate up to 8 Zambians to Parliament to address such electoral imbalances and other special interests. Lungu therefore has no excuse for his continued marginalisation of Tonga speakers other than that he is unhappy that Tongas in Southern Province have the temerity to reject him at the polls and he is consequently punishing them for their support for the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) and its leader Hakainde Hichilema.
When a Republican President in a constitutional democracy begins to imagine himself primarily as a leader of those who voted for him and to treat citizens who support the opposition as his adversaries, then he becomes, in that moment, a danger to national peace, security and unity. The earlier Lungu realises that he is presiding over a deeply fractured society and takes corrective measures, the better. Left unchecked, the continued victimisation and marginalisation of Tongas will end in grief, great grief, for the country. One potential outcome is that the long cherished slogan, ‘One Zambia One Nation’, will start to ring hollow and may as well be modified to read as ‘One Zambia, Two Nations’, with one nation, the PF one, reserved for supporters of the ruling party and the other, the UPND nation, reserved for the opposition.
Ironically, Lungu’s efforts to exclude Tongas from Cabinet and wider public life, alongside the failure of his administration to devise specific policies that appeal to their economic way of life, represent the very factors that have driven Tonga nationalism since independence. Tongas, rightly or wrongly, feel excluded from political power and this latest campaign by Lungu will only strengthen this perception. Unfortunately, Lungu appears to have no interest in winning the Tongas over; he seeks only to push them out. Like many other Zambians, the President seems to have taken an easy way out, believing that the support that Hichilema and the UPND enjoy in Southern Province is a result of ethnic particularism. The question that Lungu needs to ask himself and answer is: ‘What is it that Tongas believe Hichilema and the UPND will do for them that I am not doing?’ In my view, ethnicity is not the answer; it is that which needs to be explained.
I know that what I have said above may not sit easily on the minds of some of my fellow citizens, who may even accuse me of fanning ethnic divisions, but my pen, as does my voice, runs on with my truth. I must either say what is in me or remain silent. I am an advocate of freely sharing views and ideas, without any inhibitions or hierarchies. I acknowledge that Tongas who are working in the civil service, parastatals and defence forces do not deserve any special treatment and should be removed from their positions when their performance or conduct merits it, but even then, they should be treated fairly and subjected to the same procedures and standards as other government or parastatal employees belonging to other ethnic groups. Most importantly, I raise these concerns in the hope that the hard reality of ethnicity, mostly deployed by our political class, can be ventilated, openly debated, so that we may uncover the real reasons behind all the ‘national divisions’ and that those of us who are not Tongas can hear the cry of our fellow citizens who are. Although it has intensified under late President Michael Sata and now Lungu’s rule, the ethnic problem in our country is historical and much deeper. In fact, I have a very uncomfortable feeling that Zambia may be paying for the sins of our ‘nationalists’ – founding president Kenneth Kaunda and his friends – who never resolved the ‘ethnic question’ in favour of the ‘national question’. They papered over the obvious cracks, but failed to create a nation (consummation of the struggle for national emancipation entails securing full economic and social sovereignty for ALL the people in a ‘nation’).
Resolving the complex ethnic question properly calls, among other things, for a mature and well-informed national conversation on ethnic oppression, discrimination and exclusion. One of the potentially effective ways of dismantling our ethnically coloured political system is by working for increased understanding in the society of the insidious and pervasive ways in which ethnic exclusion functions. This requires a willingness to re-examine what would be regarded as normal and everyday. It presupposes opening up the subject of ethnic marginalisation – no longer isolating and alienating those who dare to raise it. It involves listening and creating the spaces to hear the hurt, anger and aspirations of those expressing ethnic oppression. It means dragging the subject of ethnic exclusion from the hushed conversations and murmurs and silences into the arena of public discussion. The question is: who will lead that national conversation?
The second point is that the removal of Mwiinga, who by all accounts was professional and competent, underlines the political interference that undermine the effective functioning of regulatory authorities in Lungu’s Zambia. It also demonstrates the vulnerability of public servants who carry out their responsibilities with the required levels of professionalism, independence and integrity in a political climate that rewards bootlicking and overlooks talent and ability. How else does one explain Lungu’s unexplained refusal to renew Mwiinga’s contract if not for his preference for sycophants who do as he pleases? In this vein, we may understand the dismissal of Banda, who is from the same ethnic-language group as Lungu, as a consequence of fractional elite struggle over ‘accumulation’, the underlying driving energy. In Lungu’s world, ethnicity is important only as a social platform for organising ‘accumulation’. Banda’s removal derived from his ‘failure’ to recognise this principle and consequently deliver a favourable outcome for Lungu and his accumulation-seeking friends. It is worth noting that the Pensions Fund is responsible for administering and investing the incomes of millions of working Zambians. This asset probably represents a lucrative prize for Lungu and the businessmen in his inner circle, who are seeking nothing but ownership, control, distribution and consumption of wealth and human labour power. By removing Mwiinga, Lungu may have sought to achieve a double objective: further marginalising Tongas in public life and removing a potential obstacle to the looting of public resources. Just what kind of Zambia does Lungu seek to construct and leave behind?
I’m sorry to say that what you’ve written in this article is what is divisive. You’ve only put one example to generalise & your facts may not even be accurate. There are many people from other tribes that have been victimised in Southern Province yet you want to make this a Presidential issue & exclusive of people from the North & East. President Lungu even has senior advisors at State House who are Tongas. Please stop it! Zambians have always lived together in harmony & you are trying to broadcast few occasions when we have differed on trible lines yet we have a rich history of working together & intermarriage that no agenda by you or any politician will never separate. We are one whether you like it or not! God Bless Zambia
i thought this minion schisushi had penned of writing trash like this!!
I disagree with u. U may have failed deliberately to his point of view. Reality n perceived reality are different. U want to promote perceived reality while the writer brought reality to the fore.
Sishuwa, some of what you have said is true. But your generalisation of the matter is very unfortunate. You are implying that tongas are an oppressed ethnic group in Zambia. This is not true. Just because Lungu has acted tribal and you witnessed one Bemba speaker express disapproval at a Tonga does by prove that tongas are an oppressed people. There are a lot of non tongas, even here on this blog who can testify to having been treated badly by tongas based on their tribe. Should we then conclude that tongas are tribal? no. all tribal groups have some elements among them who are tribal. we must deal with them case by case rather than generalizing and based on a few bad eggs.
One of the things that will help us deal with tribalism is a good understanding of history.
Go back 400 or 500 hundred years back and you will find that most of the tribal groups in Zambia were part of one tribal and ethnic group. But migration at different times from the motherland separated them linguistically and geographically. That is why we have so many common words in most of our languages.
Go even further to 1000yrs back and you will find that most groups in southern Africa were part of the same ethnic group. But again migration.
We can go all the way back to the garden of Eden and find that we had one father and one mother in Adam and Eve. we are one people. Bemba, Tonga, lozi, chewa, lunda, luvale, soli…even Shona, ndebele, Zulu, xhosa, Swahili, dinka, Yoruba, ….black,…
@Chosen One: Word, brother!!
Chosen one
Well put and I agree with you.
This analysis wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.
Thanks
BB2014,2016
“Both Tongas were swiftly reprimanded by a Bemba speaker who told them ‘Mwatampako…mwalitemwa icitundu cenu’, “.Usual grandiloquence from the douche bag himself Sishuwa Sishuwa from an outdated Oxford.Actually a douchie bag is above a jerk next to a mathafacker. Your reach is not homogeneous and sampled from one stoopid worked predisposed with copulation of ignorance with stupidity. Nearly 90% of Zambians belong to one of 9 ethnolinguistic groups: Nyanja-Chewa, Bemba, Tonga, Tumbuka, Lunda, Luvale, Kaonde, Lozi, and Nkoya. Zambia’s mostly spoken language distribution is like this: Bemba (52 percent),Nyanja(37 percent) Tonga (15 percent), Lozi(11 percent) and the rest.Having said that now use the permutation method using algorithms to justify your cognitive bias claim using area, tribe…
CONT’D
, tribe and language.
We are not one get that to your head.What this guy said is nothing but the truth.What are you trying to protect here?
PF have unashamedly used the tribal chant for campaign purposes, putting Kamwbili on a hill to denounce a tribe and when Tongas react in kind, you accuse them of treating other tribes badly? Before PF all tribes loved each other, no nonsense of marginalisation, the public service was nicely divergent, representing almost all tribes. It is no coincidence that all the sh!t started happening with the advent of this pathetic PF party. You created the Tonga reactionary monster and knowing you dimwits you will still use the same tool in the coming elections. Cursed party.
Whether PF stooges like it or not Lungu his PF are facist morons favouring some tribes over others
I must warn these morons that the day of reckoning is ever drawing so near.
Lungu must go by any means possible.
Sishuwa is a political puppet with a polluting noose of political ideology tied around his fixed mind. He is incapable of viewing and objectively analysing what’s beyond his prejudiced nose. The bigger picture. He is a fermenter of perceived cultural divisions. Zambia is bigger than all of us, whatever our pretensions.
Concepts such as tribe and geographical points of origin, linguistic and ethnic definitions only serve a political end. Money and power. With modern politics, the end justifies the means. It’s the trending MO for people to want to grab power by hook or crook. But at what cost? If we don’t check our appetite for spewing verbal and ideological toxins, we are going to torch our country, our heritage and everything that we hold dear.
Let’s think. Critically…
Firstly Lusaka times is wrong to publish the no sense above secondly the id1ot who has written this is so much biased and divisive.
The man you entrusted to run affairs of the nation is unethical, has no integrity, it’s therefore not surprising that he practices tribalism. This is a man who stole his clients money! He openly admitted he is dimwitted, no vision, a drunkard. What do you expect from such a creature?
I am not clued up enough to comment on such matters as tribalism I was born in another era…
We are not bothered by PFs tribalism as we are self sufficient. PF have no idea where their tribalism will end up.
Sishuwa has asked questions here and they demand honest answers. Sadly none are forthcoming despite the civility with which he has asked them. It explains why ECL may never ever hold a press conference in Zambia on the lines all his predecessors used to because he fears that one of these questions might pop up. My conclusion is that nation-building is still a work in progress in Zambia and there is no nation to speak of at present. PF supporters don’t even want an honest debate. Planting lies that Emmie Hachipuka worked with Mazoka at Zambia Railways is absolute rubbish. Hachipuka was a ZCCM guy and went to ZR as CEO after Mazoka’s departure and even then not immediately. Late Basil Monze succeeded Mazoka.
Chakujata; chakugwila; nachikwikata. Deal with truth. We are talking about in govt and parastatals not on blog sites. Be real guys this is a serious thing. I have young relatives who have been retired in national interest—Zesco, other parastatals and civil service. Talk whatever you want this write up has touched a very sensitive bottom in some tribalists.
I hate this tribalism by UPND.I want to support them but when i read Watchdog and some comments from our brothers in UPND i fear for mother Zambia.Its better they remain in opposition.They love power too much hence always talking about tribalism.Such pipo who talk about tribalism just puts me off.There are so many tongas in govt but u’ll always want to be appointed ministers when u don’t support the party.UPND stop such pipo spreading tribalisim otherwise yo party will never form govt.U’ll never attract pipo with bemba names and easterners coz they are scared of being mistreated in case u form govt.
You are not well informed Moscow try to do a simple research…
New ba she sambilila mwalikwata bwafya. Why is it that you put an expectation on the education that you yourselves don’t have?
And who the quick to you that there is a list of things educated people cannot do? Atukwo muntu just because alisambilila. Why don’t you get your own and be better?
Ubututu muleke. Umuntu nga asambilila, lisamnililo lyakwe. It should have nothing to do with you. Until you walk in his shoes, you will never realize that he has earned the right to say what he pleases.
Why should one’s education be on trial each time uwasambilile alanda akantu. Should I say deep down you are jealousy?
Ni PhD yakwe! No insults on him will change that, be he PF or opposition, Bemba or Ngoni.
Kasambilile nobe. It’s not too late!
Nga walisambilila give us your…
I may not entirely agree with the writer but he has some valid points which need addressing. These points affect all tribes and if we have to live as one we need to address them. Let’s move away from ignoring a problem when there is one. I speak seven major Zambian languages and have lived in different countries. What is strange when you meet fellow country men and women in the diaspora is that they want to converse with you in their own languages. I have witnessed Tongas being asked why they don’t speak other languages when the person asking only speaks his or her mother tongue and English. It is such logic that makes other tribes feel superior or inferior to others. It is the same thing with racism; some white folks think there is no racism and black folks only play the race card all…
cont’d…black folks only play the race card all the time. It is easy for someone who hasn’t experienced racism to think along these lines. In a nutshell, the problem exists and we need not bury our heads in the sand. Let’s work together to resolve them so that we can live in harmony.
This guy must be jailed, Why should it always be about Tonga people, what about other tribes?
He must be sponsored by UPND or UPND sympathizers.
He is Tonga himself what do you expect!
Pontiff, stop lying. I know Dr Sishuwa. One of his parents is Bemba from Chinsali and the other is from Western Province. So when did he become a Tonga? For the record, l am Bemba and I agree with what he has raised in this piece. Let’s not bury our heads in the sands. This problem exists even if you and l may not have been victims.
i thought this minion schisushi had penned of writing trash like this!!
Tongas are now reaping what they sowed. When Mazoka was MD at Zambia Railways and Hachipuka was the Financial Controller they ensured that they employed as many Tongas as they could, and in return Tongas traveled by train to support their kinsmen. We saw what happened when Mazoka died. To date it’s dangerous not to support Hichilema when you’re in Tongaland. Even Tongas in security wings became partisan and leaking security info to Hichilema who didn’t even have the oath of office. How do you want others to look at them after they killed their people? You reap what you sow
Upnd are the scum of the earth, they insult Lungu at will and vowed to bury him alive.
The article presents some worrying trends. Let’s not hurry our heads in the sand by responding like this ?? .
Utter rubbish, I have lost the bit of respect I had for this Oxford-educated Dr.
My assertions that Sishuwa has always writen divisive hogwash that always carries a bias toward UPND are now confirmed. It is such stupidity we must not condone and we need to strongly condemn . This only shows that indeed you can’t take the village out of a villager. Not even Oxford or any prestigious Ivy league College can alter or clean some chap’s mannerism and way of thinking!!!Such a waste!!!
Zambian citizen
I told you state house are clueless if they are paying you to blog for them….tell chanda to give me a call…
sishuwa with a phd (pull him down) in tribalism
I am not Tonga but a patriotic Zambian from eastern province…..
It is true to say, under lungu, my tribesmen, tribal divisions , nepotisim, political violence , corruption , GRZ outright theft , debt , moral decay and integrity of Zambia is at its worst ……very worst…infact it will take the next GRZ a very long time with concerted effort to get the countries bearing right again…
Just how bad lungu is must be seen by him watching his ministers go live on air to sow tribal divisions like how CK did against the Tongas……
Very sad to read such a shallow article from someone we expect to be more analytical owing to his academic standing and exposure. If I was Shishuwa Shishuwa, I would only get concerned if people in Lusaka and the Copperbelt advocated for Nsenga, Chewa, Bisa and Bemba (‘real’ Bemba) to be spoken. What we hear spoken instead, and from time immemorial are ‘city slang’ called Nyanja and ‘town Bemba’ (on the Copperbelt and now spreading along the line of rail).
Duda,
People like Sishuwa Sishuwa, though Oxford – educated, don’t understand that that what passes for Nyanja and Bemba in Lusaka and the Copperbelt, as you have rightly stated, is “city slang”. For people like me – born and brought up in Kopala, Sishuwa strikes me as a village upstart who suddenly found himself in an urban environment like Lusaka at UNZA and much to his own surprise earned a doctorate at Oxford. He still hasn’t recovered from the cultural shock of finding himself in a culturally diverse and cosmopolitan environment. Don’t condemn him; he needs our sympathy.
These are articles that do not add value to the nation.Tribalism and its ugly head,has hindered progress in the nation.This author,though he claims to be educated,lucks wisdom in writing such pettiness.Zambia should be above such debates which will just orchestrate mayhem and hatred.Tribalism should not find space in our nation.Some of us,we have married Tongas and adopted Tonga names for our children.It is naivety of the worst kind to push us into tribal rubbish.Such articles,will just divide the nation and create unnecessary tribal tension.This author is a sheer waste of space and time.His behavior deserves rebuke from well meaning citizens.The nation should raise its barometer of debate above tribalism.
The truth hurts…
Well articulated Mbaluso. Am from Eastern/CB and I have a very beautiful TONGA girlfriend and a wifey material. This Shu Shu …Shishuwa is a menace to society and his message must be ignored.
NAMWALA
Yes like the bwengwa kidnapping by upnd commandos and GBM training militias to use catapults and golf clubs to attack ZDFs..
Well written article. All peace loving Zambians must commend Sishua Sishua for pointing out this mistreatment of our brothers and sisters from Southern province. Although this is in extremes with Tongas, every Zambian tribe is in problems except those from Eastern, Northern and Luapula.
@Nathan I am in problems please help me how I can come out of the problems since I come from Luapula. By your writing people from Eastern, Northern and Luapula should not have problems.
And the writer is a Dr One wonders really no-wonder its difficult to do a research in Zambia with such kind of Doctors The chap even forget about existing facts
Dr Sishuwa I must congratulate you for your bravery and article. I am not a Tonga myself but have an unusual name and a Bemba-speaking manager at one lodge in Kitwe told me in my face after failing to figure out what the regional origin of name was that “abatonga, abalozi na bakalubale nabatushupa sana! I had just presented him with my driver’s license and the guy blushed! I confess, I also know many great Bemba-speaking people, but they have taken plenty of cues from Lungu et al., 2016 to use language and tribe as a tool of hegemony. Their deafening silence at the miasma of practical tribalism never before witnessing in Zambia would testify to the fact that they enjoy current happenings. At least we have one Sishuwa who has the guts to say things that hookers and druggies on this site…
Thank you Warlord.Majority of all these people on this forum are cadres avoiding reality.Look at the list of ZNS recruits last week.What does that tell you?Lets be real.Look at all the senior posts in government, who are occupying these posts?The truth really hurts.
This guy said nothing but the truth.Imagine if we turn the situation the other way round!One Zambia died long time ago.The Zambian in economy is not doing well yet the so called educated cadres will tell you that all is fine as long one of their own is incharge.Zambia will be poor until God comes because we dont have people like you sishuwa who stands for the truth.Amen
Barotseland where are you. We need you
HIDING IN THE SAND.
I thought this twit had said goodbye??? What you should ask yourself is why from 1999 tongas decided to gang up and start supporting a new political grouping headed by a former Anglo American executive religiously. That’s the genesis of our national prpblem.
If what Sishuwa has written on this platform is true then it is very very unfortunate. Are these the levels we have gotten to as a country sure? Capacity to perform must be the number one key consideration when recruiting or when trying to renew someone’s contract, NOT tribe. From what Sishuwa has posted it is a very clear that Richard Mwiinga performed excellently as PSPF Chief Executive. At the rate we are going this tribalism is surely heading us for trouble
This is utter nonsense.Why on earth should we be talking about one tribe out of 72?
Why is this Sishwashwa monkeying around the real issue here?
Didn’t Hichilema become UPND chief tribalist when he said he deserved to lead the party because he was Tonga?
Where the hell was this minion masquerading as an intellectual when the entire executive left UPND claiming rampant and stinking tribalism.
Isn’t it Sakwiba Sikota who told us he was hounded out of the party due to tribalism?
Didn’t Mwanawasa say these people were like buttocks,always behind.
What about Saboi Imboela ‘s observations?
Then you wake drunk and start pointing fingers at Lungu who himself was UPND and left the party just like many of us due to the stinking tribalism we were subjected to.
Dr. Denny Kalyalya is Bank of Zambia Governor, and he is Tonga. This Dr. Chisilu is a problem. He fabricates nonsense, because he knows HH is being hounded in UPND for the loses he has suffered country wide. They are asking for a new president of UPND.
What is so special about Tongas that you have to write such a long article with literally no substance in it. What is so special about Mwiinga as if he is the only CEO to have lost employment. Ask people at Napsa, they will tell you that Charles Mpundu a bemba could not have his contract renewed. Further, ask people at Zesco, they will tell you that then CEO Chitundu could not have his contract renewed. For your info, Mpundu was bemba and Chitundu was mambwe. At another parastatal in ndola Peter Mbewe could not have his contract renewed as CEO and the list is endless. All these are not TONGAS. True the writer of this article must be renamed as CHISUSHI because every thing he has written amounts only to FARTING.
I call upon all well meaning Zambians to trash this article written by a disgruntled person called SISHIWA. Its a well known fact that Sishiwa is a UPND sympathizer. Him being a tonga/ lozi its his birthright to belong to UPND.
For the record UPND will never form government.
Zambians always partisan this article is good let us not respond on partisan lines. Is the article a fair assessment of what is happening. If you ask me yes I can say the same if the President was to ask me to his face. This is an old tribalism, issue been fueled once again ask KK about umodzi kumawa
No, it is not! Read @Shadreck Biemba’s post @21 above for you to understand how ridiculous this article is….and it was authored by a so called Dr. Go figure!
“Both Tongas were swiftly reprimanded by a Bemba speaker who told them ‘Mwatampako…mwalitemwa icitundu cenu’, “.Usual grandiloquence from the douche bag himself Sishuwa Sishuwa from an outdated Oxford.Actually a douchie bag is above a jerk next to a mathafacker. Your reach is not homogenous and sampled from one stoopid worked predisposed with copulation of ignorance with stupidity. Nearly 90% of Zambians belong to one of 9 ethnolinguistic groups: Nyanja-Chewa, Bemba, Tonga, Tumbuka, Lunda, Luvale, Kaonde, Lozi, and Nkoya. Zambia’s mostly spoken language distribution is like this: Bemba (52%),Nyanja(37%) Tonga (15%), Lozi(11%) and the rest.Having said thatnow use the permutation method using algorithms to justify your cognitive bias claim using area, tribe and language.
Its people like Sishuwa who incite people to hate one another. My sister works in Livingstone and many times she has come back to the Copperbelt in Ndola almost crying about the treatment she receives from fellow workers who are Tongas and Lozis. Ofcourse its not all the Tongas and Lozis that are tribalistic but the fact that it is done by a number of those people on a daily basis makes look bad. Personally I have very good friends both Lozi and Tonga and our relationships are very good. I cannot judge every Tonga and Lozi or any other tribe because of one incident and then generalize.
People like Sishuwa plant seeds of hatred and division out of particular situations. Hatred of Lungu should not create a situation which people should use to divide the nation. We want Peace and we refuse…
“Both Tongas were swiftly reprimanded by a Bemba speaker who told them ‘Mwatampako…mwalitemwa icitundu cenu’, “.Usual grandiloquence from the douche bag himself Sishuwa Sishuwa from an outdated Oxford.Actually a douchie bag is above a jerk next to a mathafacker. Your reserach is not homogeneous and sampled from one stoopid worked predisposed with copulation of ignorance with stupidity. Nearly 90% of Zambians belong to one of 9 ethnolinguistic groups: Nyanja-Chewa, Bemba, Tonga, Tumbuka, Lunda, Luvale, Kaonde, Lozi, and Nkoya. Zambia’s mostly spoken language distribution is like this: Bemba (52%),Nyanja(37%) Tonga (15%), Lozi(11%) and the rest.Having said that now use the permutation method using algorithms to justify your cognitive bias claim using area, tribe and language.
We need people like Path**** to put Sishuwa Sishuwa in his place.
Sishuwa is a terrible tribalism whose articles should not be published on reputable sites like this one.
Why pick on one example when people from other tribes have been fired too? Is Kambwilu Tonga?
These are isolated cases just like the Namwala torching of houses of non Tongas? Or the beating of Magande and Mwaanga for attending Tonga funerals while belonging to parties led by non Tongas.
Have Sishuwa ever heard of a Tonga chased from a non Tonga area to make such wild claims.
This Doctor for nothing lacks real analytical skills. He is a danger not only to Zambia but the entire planet.
Everyone must stop this tribalism.
Those in public offices must use English for Communion in the course of their work.
If the person being served does not speak English, it is okay to use the language of the person being served or use an interpreter.
No one should be frowned upon for using any language in ordinary conversation.
To be honest, tribalism is stupid.
This nonsense of one Zambia two nations should be condemned by all patriotic Zambians. We all know that zambia is bigger than anyone tribe.
What ever he is called, let him write an article on NAMWALA, CHOMA, MONZE, MAZABUKA on how Bembas and Easterners were treated after elections if he is worth writing about tribalism
Looking at the article and going through the comments it gives me the understanding that both the author and most of the comments are off,I believe we can do better than this,
The issues to do with the Tongas is self inflicted, the Tongas chose this route by grouping themselves around a common cause see a Tonga Person take over as President ,and what they feel like happening to them right now is just a reaction from other tribes in the country who have realized the the thinking behind the formation of the upnd as a vehicle to archive that aim.
You can argue with this idea but 20 years here in SP is a long time for me to understand some of these things better ,I talk play ,and leave with these brothers and sisters every day and I understand them.
As who can end this problem is the…
Shuwa shishuwa, such a long piece of innuendo mixed with trash!
I remember when the late Mazoka held a news forum at the Executive Lodge in ndola in 1999 or so. After a brilliant discourse, one man was heard to speak excitedly to another in Tonga , praising Andy. I was intrigued when another man – also tonga – interjected and told them to stop it! Why? Because, in this man’s own words, speaking in tonga at such a function alienated other tribes. Now why did he say that? BECAUSE in the CB, lingua franca is BEMBA, just like Nyanja used to be in Lusaka. Visit some places like mandevu, chipulukusu etc , if you speak English, you are frowned upon – albeit furtively. When in Rome, my friend.
Zambia is for real people not minions thinking in terms of origin of names when actual DNA has been diluted over time, grow up and stop this tribe identification
As who can end this problem is the tongas themselves, go back before the formation of the upnd did wehave problems there the answer is no,so think about it.
Ever human has some tribal and racial inclinations in them ……but for a countries national development and togetherness , it does not help if the GRZ in power is openly tribal…..
I can’t believe there are some people in this country that can not see the wrong that this government is doing to other tribes especially the Southerners.
No mather how stupid and uneducated one is its not possible that they do not know what is going on in this country.
We saw the recruitment statistics in terms of tribe with ZNS were it was stated that about 86-90% reruited were only from Luapula, Muchinga Northern and Eastern provinces respectively.
About 75-97% of the civil servants that have been retired on national interest come from Southern province.
Look at the road from Kafue to Monze, there is actually no road to talk about its so pathetic.
I want to warn those that are in a habit of insulting authors for information they don’t understand to kindly stop and…
This susha guy chisushi how do generalize issues like this is though the guy has never been to school. There are so many instances in which tongas have mistreated bemba’s but you will never hear a bemba or easterner complains like our Tonga colleagues. Tongas always wants to believe the rest of the country owes them something. If they’re not careful they will be hated by every tribe.
It is advisable to address issues rather than regions per se. The country is fully integrated, every region is represented at various levels of government, including Cabinet. Cabinet can not absorb direct representation. That is why other Constitution offices can be filled in order to mitigate regional rivalry. The word Tonga is largely a misnomer. Southern Zambia is viewed as Tonga people but in reality, Tonga covers Ila people, Leya people, Toka people. Similarly, Northern Zambia is called Bemba people but it covers more groupings, including Biisa people, Taabwa people and Tumbuka people. Please take time to make accusations, allegations, assumptions, conclusions. Remember, ask not what President can do for you but what you can do for President (Kennedy).
I have friends in the police, the army and civil service and it is true that if you have a Tonga sounding surname you are looked at with suspicion. I know people who have been retired in the national interest for no other reason than because they are Tonga. This divisive politics, unfortunately, started with Michael Chilfya Sata. It is no secret Sata filled foreign missions with his relatives and started employing his tribespeople in Zesco and the civil service. As we speak, Zesco has two parallel payrolls, the official one and another one which is done on a spreadsheet. ECL is merely continuing what Sata started.
You liar!
Which military/police service are you talking about? I personally served in the military for some years and NEVER witnessed the cr@p you are talking about here. I had fellow service men and women from all Conners and regions of Zambia and we all worked as brothers and sisters with a singular purpose in mind, THE DEFENSE OF OUR MOTHERLAND, ZAMBIA.
And as I speak, I have a brother serving in the in the Zambia Police Service, and he has never intimated any of your cr@p to me. So, who are these friends of yours lying to you? Always reporting second hand info as facts when you have not had any of the experience you talking about yourself….SHUT THE HELL UP!
I was doing national service as a university student together with UNIP leaders during KK’s time. People were asking questions in Bemba and English but when one recruit deliberately asked a question in Tonga people objected that they could not understand what she was saying. To associate this intolerance of Tonga by Bemba speakers with Lungu is not true.
Yeah, and what is the most spoken language among many Police Officers? See if you know this. And it is definitely not Bemba! And why? And what tribe is Nyanja? Because Nyanja is widely spoken in Livingston too….went to school in Livingston, so I Know the hell I am taking about. Hope you understand what I am trying to say to you.
Ronald Lwamba: I have tried to understand this anti-Tonga sentiment myself and I have traced it to UNIP days. In 1967, the govt introduced fashionable and unfashionable languages/tribes by decree. Nyanja and Bemba were raised above all the other local languages and were to be taught even to pupils beyond their natural habitats. Through this action, Kaunda was effectively saying that it is beneath the dignity of people from Northern and Eastern provinces to learn other Zambian languages. In radio broadcasting, the state radio station gave them more airtime than other languages and this continues to date. And when other languages start facing extinction, the same people start saying, oh this is small tribe, we can’t have a president from it.
Kaunda also virtually did a deal with the Catholic and UCZ churches. A language such as Lenje which was written for the first time by Catholic priest Fr Julius Torrend and was used in early education in Lusaka and Kabwe, Chipembi and Mumbwa schools, was expelled from the school system and in church and I have yet to see a Catholic priest or nun who is not Lenje who speaks it now. And yet priests and nuns from Poland, Ireland etc used to speak it but our fellow Bantu language speakers with whom we have linguistic similarities will not. Who do the Lenje consider their real brother or sister in Christ? Polish priests or those from other provinces in Zambia who have imposed imperial attitudes? So much for one Zambia one nation.
the truth hurts. what he has written is the naked truth
Tribalists like Shisuwa walk among us..! You can’t change their mind-set, people should be scared, very scared because they are lame f00ls. But most importantly they are dangerous..!!!!
This backward mind-set being displayed by UPND cadres/sympathizers belongs as far away from Zambia as you can get it.
We should be fighting poverty and not one another, above all whether we like it or not, we all at some point belong to a certain or one tribe, in simplicity that said tribe is “Zambia.” I fail to understand why we are always too quick in trying to fight each other on tribal lines. I should make mention that am one individual who has lived with a number of people from different tribes, but guess what!! I’ve found them all to being great towards me, am a Ngoni by tribe but as it stands am dating a Tonga lady whose family has welcomed me with one Zambian heart and now looking forward to marrying the said woman.
Please, I repeat, lets fight poverty other than wasting time fighting one another be it on tribal lines or away from that.
One Zambia! One Nation!!
One day there will come another Pharaoh
cage this chisushi chisushi before he creates confusion among peace loving Zambians.
The danger in the tribal debate is to debate with a biased opinion. Let all who dare to debate this motion debate it from an informed and non-biased view point. All people no matter where they come from, have some ethnocentrism in them. What is wrong is for those in government to promote or seem to promote tribalism. What Sishuwa has written must be examined critically to establish whether he has a point. Truthfully speaking portfolios in both government and quasi government institutions under the current PF regime are occupied by over 90% of people from the two said regions i.e.northern and eastern. Even in his appointments to the said institutions, the President is always appointing persons from the same two regions or ethnic groupings. Could this be a mistake or sheer coincidence?…
This problem has nothing to do being a Tonga,. It has everything to do with UPND. It is UPND that is dividing the country on tribal lines. It is UPND that has chosen to use the TONGAs as vehicle to get to power. My fellow Tongas please note that no one hates u but we hate the tribal UPND. It was HH himself who declared only a Tonga can ascend to the presidency of the party. And is for this reason that we hate those people who support tribalists including those Tongas who support this party lead by tribalists.
There is no doubt that my beloved countrymen the Tongas and the Lozis have a pathological inclination to tribalism. They are inherently tribal. There is also no doubt that every other tribe in Zambia, including Northerners and Easterners have an element of tribalism, as is with any nation with more than one tribe, but not to the scale practiced by our brothers the Tongas and the Lozis. This is a fact that cannot be erased. Be that as it may, with Tongas and Lozis being who they are naturally, we accept and tolerate them and have lived in harmony together. What with intermarriages. I’m an Easterner who has married a Kaonde woman. One of my daughters is married to a Tonga bull, another to a Namwanga and yet another to a Mambwe. My grand children have paternity that isn’t from my tribe…
For those who like reading, please check out Canadian social scientists Will Kymlicka’s research output and publications. He has written a book titled LANGUAGE RIGHTS AND POLITICAL THEORY. What we have in Zambia if I can repeat what I have said before, is language chauvinism. It is there in Belgium, Spain, Quebec in Canada and in Wales in the UK. Sishuwa is right to blame Kaunda, as I have myself again and again.
As his name suggests, the Dr is not Shuwa of what he is talking about, let alone the implications.
My grand children have paternity that isn’t from my tribe. And I look forward to seeing my great grand children. Therefore Sishuwa, don’t try to fuel tension in this country. You are a sadist and a pathetic moron. Zambians, do not listen to war mongers like Sishuwa and his like. Let’s continue to live as one people. One Zambia, One Nation.
As for nepotism in places of work, it has been with us ever since Zambia was born, with Tongas favouring Tongas, Bembas favouring Bembas, Eaterners favouring Easterners, Kaondes favouring Kaondes, etc. There is no tribe which is clean. Even as I write this, there is a little empire of Tongas and Lozis at one KCM mine who have done “Tisunganenge” at the exclusion of non-Tongas and Lozis. Iwe Sishuwa what do call this? It’s pure tribalism. So Sishuwa…
So Sishuwa don’t play the persecuted when you are born one.
Correction: Sishuwa don’t play the persecuted when it is you who has the tendency to ostracise others.
OK I don’t believe the problem is as dire as Dr Sishuwa has portrayed it here. I also acknowledge that the majority of his ‘venom’ is directed at Lungu and not at the ordinary Bemba / Nyanja people. I don’t believe Tongas are being marginalized to the point of them seeking refuge and political asylum in other countries. But left unchecked the problem can exacerbate. The issue of Bembas feeling superior and wanting others to speak their language while accusing them of being tribalists has always been there even when I was a teenager in the 90s/2000s under KK so it’s not new but it sounds like it is getting worse.
Yes Lungu is messing everything good about this country… this is a FACT.
But what is troubling is bloggers failing to debate the writer and address his points, instead…
…But what is troubling is bloggers failing to debate the writer and address his points, instead rushing to call him names and insult him. That is a sign of intellectual incapacity. The man is making valid points and painful as it may be to discuss them publicly, we still need to acknowledge the problem. It reminds me of racism debate in the Western world, with people who aren’t victims failing to acknowledge the problem and allow debate over the issue, often being dismissive with cheap shots like ‘but I have black friends’; ‘don’t generalize’; ‘there’s no racism, it’s a few bad people’. The fact is tribalism exists in Zambia and it is being perpetuated by the Bembas (and their cousins the Easterners) who are in the majority and positions of power.
Finally I’m disappointed…
…Finally I’m disappointed in this dude Barnaby Mulenga… I know him very well when he came to do some postgraduate studies here in Australia we helped him; I thought he had potential and would go back to use the knowledge and exposure to good effect. Instead he turned into a sycophant and an a$s licking cadre just to further his career. When he left Australia, within a shortest time he was a commissioner of land where he mismanaged land allocation and corruption was rampant and now he is a PS. Only in Zambia of Lungu. Barnaby, remember me? Disappointed in you man!
Why has Lusaka Times decided to republish this article again? Why should we be reading about tribalism all the time? These are articles that divide the country.
Actually, before HH came on the scene, we used to love each other as Zambian tribes.
Zambia was fair enough until hechihechi came on the political scene. We know how much the same people you Schisushi is trying to defend behave towards other tribes especially bembas and easterners.
Tongas have a spiritual problem, God knows why they will never………..
why is it that of all the 72 tribes its only them who feel sidelined?
Why isn’t there long threads like this when the topic is about corruption and the economy??
Surprised that he is off the mark! Hooligan and Bully in Chief of the Hallucinating Party?
The article leaves me flabagasted! How many CEOs, Tongas and other tribes, have had their contracts terminated due to political interference from the powers that be?
This has happened in all political dispensation, spanning from UNIP to PF. why single out Dr Mwiinga as special victim based on tribe. Edgar is no saint at all, like his predecessors has abused his authority for political survival. Tell me which president in Zambia has ruled with unblemished record?
the writer in my view is an enemy to progressive society!
I have read the long article and understood it. The main reason why Bo Sishuwa Sishuwa is crying even dragging the Whole country into unsubstantiated tribalism is the firing of or non renewal of the contract of one Richard Mwiinga. When you are fired by the company, its time to better your cv and look outside the box. Bob marley said, “When One door Is Closed, Many More Is Open”. So stop dragging us in this Issue as a country.
Lungu was not there when sejani in 2006 after Mazoka’s death said “ONLY A TONGA IS GOING TO TAKE OVER FROM MAZOKA”. Where was this CHISUSHI to have missed this TRIBAL nonsense from sejani? If he was not yet born, i will forgive him but i know he has just deliberately chosen to mislead people because the opposite is actually true. TONGAS THEMSELVES ARE THE REAL ARCHITECTS OF TRIBALISM. MUMBWE AITILE IMPASHI, NOKUMUBUBA SHAMUBUBA. Let them just test their own bitter medicine and as long as they insist on producing a TONGA PRESIDENT, political leadership at National level will always elude them not for any other reason but TRIBALISM.
Find this guy and I shall fix him. How dare he wants to divide us on tribal grounds. I have a lot of Tongas very near to my bone. Some are mare friends and others have married my bloody sisters. I have not found anything wrong with that arrangement.
??Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa, you have just exposed your UPND’s tribal project.
To which planet did you go when non-Tongas were harassed in Namwala. Were you taking a long “nap” when a Bemba lady teacher was beaten up in Sinazongwe. Besides, wherever a member of the “Bantu-Bo-Tatwe” clan holds position in a private or public university, it becomes his/her project to demean a non-Tonga academic. For instance, when Prof. Ndulo was Dean at Unza’s School of Law, he ignited the exodus of many brilliant Law Lecturers to migrate to South Africa.
As other well-informed bloggers had advised, historical data is vital in trully modelling the national theme of “One Zambia One Nation”.
ALL THOSE TRASHING THE ARTICLE BY SHUWA SHUWA ARE PAID PF VUVUZELAZIS WHO CHAMPION THE PATH TAKEN BY PF . THE GOOD THING ZAMBIANS HAVE LEARNT IS THAT A TRIBE LEFT TO RULE ON THEIR OWN IS A PRONE TO DISASTER .CHECK THE NAMES OF THE PEOPLE WHO WENT TO PRISON DURING THE TIME MWANAWASA ….YOU REMEMBER THE CHAPS WITH LONG FINGERS …LETS. OTHER TRIBES WAKE UP , SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE A SUBORDINATE WHO COMES FROM A TRIBE WHO THINK THEY SHOULD BE RULERS ALL THE TIME. IF YOU HAVE A TRUANT SUBORDINATE WHO THINKS REMIND THEM OF THEIR JOB DESCRIPTION CHABE YOU WILL MANGE THEM .
The disturbing story of a low IQ shuwashuwa little boy! I thought this member of the tribal grouping retired from writing? “Famous Provesser!” In their Hallucination, HaIllusions & HaDelusions!
“UPND tribal project – A tribal Loss and Victory for Zambia,” young boy you should have titled this vuvuzela article of a chronic loser HH. How is Prof. Hansoni and Prof. HaNdulo doing? Spoken to them of late? This article could have made sense if you had written it on the UNZA letterhead and sent it to the UN and the Common Health, little boy.
When they give papers, do they check IQs too? This boy is in the 20 percentile brains!
This article of this Zambian is very misleading and divisive in that this age and time a Zambian to be thinking of such tribal thoughts? It is very unfortunate that we still have a bunch of individuals in this category. Zambia has since moved from tribal politics because they are well civilised. Zambia is country you cannot compare with any other in the (SADC) region. It has traveled far away thousands of kilometres of tribal inclination when compared with other counterparts in same region. A Zambian does not think tribal, regional/provincial but national. One Zambia one nation is the cornerstone which should never be destroyed by ambitious hell bent beings. What we know is Zambia with one nation only. Sishuwa sishuwa should crss the borders and see the difference of being a Zambia and…
This guy is an ***** not worth taking notice
Ohh,,, what a rubbish article with a semblance of folly and idiocy. What a dull way and style of speaking for a friend. I cant believe that this article is coming from a learned person. The man must be ashamed of himself for bringing the Tongas in ridicule . Mwiinga was fired in the same way other people have been fired, does it mean Tongas should not be fired? Hey, this man is nauseating. Man , you are driving non Tongas so far away from UPND? Do you think other tribes can move closer to UPND given your useless ranting? No wonder the following are true about Tongas and UPND.
1. No Tonga will form a political part to fight against HH and UPND like other tribes do.
2. A tonga will insult other tribes but when insulted back he cries that its discrimination and marginalization of the…
Truth Haters: Highvie Hamududu (interestingly he is HH also!) has formed a political party called Party for National Unity. They even participated in the Iteshi Teshi by-election. He is immediate past former MP for Bweengwa, the constituency in Monze Hichilema hails from. I hope your ignorance has been extingusihed.
Truth Hates: Sorry about misspelling of your blogging identity. I am sure you are civilized enough to overlook such a small mistake.
I think this article is spot on. There is a problem in out nation and burying our heads in the sand and pretending that all is well will not solve it. I see a lot of bloggers shooting the messenger instead of the message. A personal experience this morning convinced me that this problem is indeed real. I found a lady sitting in a shop and discussing about how Tonga’s were tribal. According to her, in any company headed by a Tonga or Lozi’s, all positions would either be filled by Tonga’s or lozi’s. I assumed she was Bemba from the language she was using, but I could be wrong. She seemed so passionate about her point of view and went on to illustrate the many instances that showed that Tonga’s/Lozi’s were tribal. Unlike other bloggers, Im not trying to make the point on whether…
This writer has always been tribally inclined in his articles so dismiss whatever he is talking about with the contempt that it deserves
Law makers in Zambia need to urgently come up with an Equal Opportunities rule for public service jobs. There is no justification for such a tribal imbalance in recruitment and appointments on the score of things. Every Zambian deserves an equal chance doesnt matter if they are from a minority tribe. Otherwise these seeds of division you are sowing now will come to haunt you one day. Poor leadership at national level has contributed to this negative trend. Pay attention to your neighbours, brothers and sisters concerns when they complain instead of dismissing or belittling them, their concerns should be your concerns only then will you have the One Zambia One Nation. Only then. Let no one divide our people.
Am a proud bemba with proud Tonga wife. Youre a liar get the facts from me. Its one Zambia one nation and we are very happy together we dont see tribe in us
His complaint is baseless and fictitious. He is in fact the tribalist himself.
What a heap of wogwash from this Utopian. Tongas or indeed any other tribe has got equal opportunities. By his allegations this nicompoop is only promoting tribalism. Tongas always vote for a fellow Tonga (99%) while other tribes vote fairly for that Tonga. HH got respectable results in Northern, Luapula, Eastern etc provinces while Lungu sometimes got a paltry 20 against 20,000 for HH. So who’s tribal here? As for the bemba telling off a Tonga for using the Tonga language, was this man present at all areas at this function?
Zambia will only see progressive development if we all start speaking our so called languages. Let us be patriotic, I speak nyanja which is a derivative of chewa as the only Zambian language because I come from chipata and will not speak other languages especially bemba. The more we pretend not to be tribal the more backward we go. Don’t tell me about intermarriages between tribes because the wife and children become the man’s tribe.
No Upnd member has ever been beaten up in socalled Bemba regions while Bemba inclined individuals have been assaulted badly in Tonga regions. No condemnation of these acts has come from the to leadership of Upnd.
What about the helicopter carrying Maureen Mwanawasa and Mutale Nalumango which also nearly brought down in Chinsali during 2016 elections? What about GBM who only last month escaped beating in Muchinga province?
This Is Idiocy and Stupidity Index at it lowest point. This article is not worth your feaces
The problem of zambians and africans in general is education formulae,you are taught things that our kids dont see or have crue about,our leaders sign loans without brainstorming the contents and we tend to bury our heads in the sand.Mistakenly many people think am bemba but when they hear me speak Tonga ,they ask me how come i speak tonga.
Most commentators on Sishuwa’s article have been hysterical. They have deliberately chosen to ignore the central point in his piece in preference for insults. The truth is that if your name Us Mwiinga and not Mwape, Nyambe and not Banda you’re doomed in today’s Zambia. Those of us from the 1970s are witnessing a strange Zambia n you youngsters would do well to re-read Sishuwa with honesty.
A doctorate is supposed to help one to have an analytical mind which allows one to research before writing half truths. It is a lie to state that Mwiinga was behind the Us$72 million project. The one behind the project – from conception to funding, was an Easterner whose Contract was not renewed under Dr Mwiinga’s watch. How non-Tongas left PSPF under Mwiingas watch? How many Tongas were employed or had thier Contracts renewed under Mwiinga’s watch? Why is it that the other tribes whose Contracts or employment were terminated have not cried or scandalized any one? The writer and all those supporting him, please do an objective research on these matters.
Articles done to inflame SADISTIC PASSIONS never care about facts. This is what we see here.
And the most dangerous trabalist is an educated one….just see what is going on currently as to who is pushing this TRIBAL NONSENSE down the throats of innocent Zambians who just want to live in peace….Yes, EDUCATED TRIBALISTS most of them with COLLEGE DEGREES.
The only solution to those who are marginalised by the PF regime is to push for a federal system of government or secede altogether because those in government will never listen or change. Believe me, you. The trend itself can attest to this. In fact all progressive democracies are federal government systems.
I have began to doubt the intellect of this young man! What a useless article, I advice to you is don’t be tribal in your comments….
The gentleman in question decided to be political is even when he knew that he was a professional!!!
Only a fool can be bought by your cheap tribal politics….
Chusushi or wat ever u call yourself,Mwiinga has had brought division and segregation pa pspf and not only that,but also to mistreat those that are not tongaz.We have been told from the sources that for the past three years Mwiinga has been in the office,he had never employed a bemba,kaonde,lunda,chewa and so on but only Tongas and Lozyz.So wat are u saying?If i tell u that the committee mwiinga had put in place only had tongas and lozyz.Look at the people on psfp who are holding big positions,,,.Am prety sure u were bribed by some pipo to publish such a baseless and cheap article;;Am happy that the president or board made that decition.Just passing by..
TOMBASHI: How many job vacancies can be created in a non-commercial entity in just 3 years? I can’t say I know PSPF ; I am merely doubting what you say that Mwiinga has been employing only Tongas and Lozis in 3 years he has been heading PSPF. I’m not even defending Mwiinga but just asking for an honest and sober debate. Kymlicka the Canadian scholar I have cited at 49.1 above has found that in multi-ethnic multi-lingua societies, language discrimination often leads to other forms of discrimination. Is this finding a fact in Zambia? It seems so although his research did not cover Zambia.
Anyway if Sishuwa is right, Richard Mwiinga is now in court to challenge non-renewal of his contract on grounds of discrimination.
This boy needs to go for an evaluation – mental Hevaluation.
#85, Did that surprise you? I know of a school on the CB where one of them was head and half the students came from HH’s land. This is how bad our friends H-are!
Sharon,U are right.
You people, are all just reinforcing my point of view that either a federal state or a secession in the current tribal impasse Is the way to go. The truth is, whichever person who takes a leadership position from whichever ethnic grouping, they tend to promote their kind or associates. In this regard, when a Tonga/lozi is a leadership position, the other ethnic grouping feel he/she favours his/her section. The same applies when a bemba/nyanja assumes leadership they tend to favour their section like Lungu is doing currently. So, it seems no one is immune to this tribal syndrome as such either federate or secede altogether for peace to prevail period.
Himmler: I am not exactly persuaded by your argument because even a federal state is still one country. Are you saying that if Zambia becomes a federal state, citizens will not be voting wherever they live but in their province of origin? Are you saying it will not be possible to leave your province where your ancestors originated from to go to another province in search of work? Even in your federal Zambia, there would still be need for people from different provinces to relate with one another fairly. And how will the federal govt be established?Your proposal is not well-thought-out. Think again and come back and re-engage with me.
Chanchima, the basics of a federal state are that each region has some autonomy. They determine their own projects and plans. They decide their priorities and set their own standards and rules. They choose their own governors. They reserve to a large extent some degree of self determination and the Federal government has no absolute power over regional governments. Influence from other regional government is very minimal and can be rejected or disallowed altogether eg whereas some regional governments will be tolerant to such vices as corruption, laziness, theft, etc, other regional governments will not tolerate these. Besides, the national cake will be equitably shared unlike the current situation where you three or more new public universities in one region while there’s none in the…
Himmler: A federal govt is no solution to Zambia’s tribalism problem. Nigeria is a federal country but that has not cured tribalism because it remains one country and they still have to deal with one another even at federal level. At Independence in 1960, Nigeria had fewer states than now. During the 1970s oil boom they created more states in the mistaken belief that this would drive development as each tribe would be running its own affairs. It hasn’t worked and they wasted the oil money on running the many state govts buying big cars for officials and paying their salaries. Universities in provinces by PF govt still remain national institutions just like UNZA and CBU aren’t restricted to Chikundas, Solis, Lenjes and Lambas. I will continue the argument.
Himmler: I’ve personally been accused of being a foreigner in Zambia twice, at UNZA (not by the authorities but a cashier) and at work by a lady workmate. It was all because my name did not come close to what they consider proper Zambians. I explained and the *****s were ashamed. It is why in my adulthood I have taken to crusading for recognition of all citizens as equals. Michael Sata did not believe in this if you look at what he used to say about late LPM not fit to be president because he came from a small tribe. Such divisive statements were widely applauded by Sata’s supporters.
Himmler: Have you ever wondered to what has happened to the experiment to allow local authorities such as councils to recruit their own town clerks? It was tried under Chiluba as part of decentralization but has since been stopped because of too many “home town” decisions. Quality was compromised by local politicians to favour vocal local boys, (and girls too). The Local Government Service Commission has since taken away these powers. If you doubt what I say, talk to any town clerk in your area and they will confirm it.
One Zambia One Nation and abash regionalism! We are not talking about Federal type of government we are just stating the facts we know, we have experienced we fear can happen but thank God WILL NEVER happen!
Tribalism is only pointed out on the a group of people who vehemently fight the government and the peace Zambia has enjoyed through a systematic code and claim of “Corruption, Incompetence, Thieves” tags. The truth behind these claims is that the guys masquerade the reality that they are a group of people who have repeatedly lost elections in the nation but will never accept defeat. They want to cause anarchy and destroy Zambia because of their tribal inclinations – the main reason they say what they say. Calling them out for their stoolpidity in 21st century is not promoting tribalism but promoting understanding and shaming their evil intents.
We call this “projection!” This boy thinks he is “marginalised” but does not have the courage to say so or let Galu Watchers in Zambia tribal paper that he feels so so he projects it on “Tongas” and he thinks that with his cheap qualification and his low IQ, we would miss that! Childish IQ!
I don’t agree with the writer. in as much as we would want to to elect HH in the office as president of this country, let us promote tribal speeches and remarks. For crying out loud, bembas have a bigger population than Tonga’s. Bembas have Muchinga, Northern, Copperbelt, Luapula, part of Central of North Western provinces. They are even in your bedroomed provinces so when you sideline them, HH will fall terribly.
The only concern that we should be concerned about is how Tongas marginalize other tribes. You look at Nega Nega voting pattern, the recent Dundumwezian Leave so much the questions to be asked whether there is a government that runs this republic as a one sovereign nation.
Am sure those voting patterns were as a result of the feel of being neglected by their governments…
I dont think Mwiinga is the only person not the contract to be re-knewed.There pipo out there who are not crying bcoz of contractual thing.The board consouted and the answer was given.We know were this story came from.shushushu we are
Shishuwa is spot on…not surprising at the rampant and vulgur debate his article has eroused amongst those who do not see a tribal cancer in Zambia….the so called big tribes need to be given a seat and watch what the small tribes can do for the country…I fully support all tribes that do not speak nyanja or bemba, they deserve to have a piece of the leadership pie also…so we continue moving Fowadi….:-)
Krushev Mweemba Mwiinde is a tonga and thief has stolen from many many people looking to invest in zambia. If you find him lock him up dont let him disgrace Zambia and Zambians anymore.
God Bless Zambia