MUCHINGA Minister Malozo Sichone has dispelled social media reports circulating to the effect that all District Commissioners in Muchinga Province have had their contracts terminated.
In an interview with the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Chinsali today, Mr. Sichone said the social media reports circulating suggesting that President Edgar Lungu has fired all District Commissioners in Muchinga are untrue and misleading.
“ No DC in the province has been fired as all the DCs in the area have their contracts running up to the end of September this year, “ he said.
Mr. Sichone has since appealed to all the DCs in Muchinga to ignore the reports and operate normally adding that the fake news is being peddled by some enemies of the Government saying people should desist from abusing social media.
The Provincial Minister said President Lungu will make changes if he wishes at an appropriate time and that the public will be informed through normal channels.
Social media reports have been circulating in the past days suggesting that President Lungu has made changes with regards to District Commissioners and that all the DCs in Muchinga Province have been replaced with immediate effect.
There are a list names of purportedly new DCs who includes PF party youth chairmen and other party officials who have been deployed to districts including the newly created districts of Lavushimanda and Kanchibiya districts, respectively.
I’m yet to see one Zambian DC who comes close to what colonial DCs used to be. The youngest colonial DCs who left in 1964 came to visit Zambia again in 2014 to see the country they left 50 years ago and some have written books on sale now in local bookshops. I immediately remember BEYOND THE MALACHITE HILLS by Jonathan (I forget the surname). This guy served in Kalomo, Mporokoso ,Kitwe and Kabwe. He has described the work they used to do. None of the current DCs do it. To serve in certain provinces as DC in present-day Zambia, your chances are zero if you come from wrong provinces.But we see DCs who come from chosen provinces serve in areas whose people are disliked by PF.
Please mention these DCs and the districts they serve in, also where they come from. It’s this kind of nonsense that’s encouraging tribalism in our country. As far I know all DCs in rural copperbelt are Lamba, Southern Province have the people who hail from there as DCs etc. Just mention even a single one serving in a ” wrong ” province. Please don’t mislead people and be professionally factual.
Ndanje Khakis: I will give you no names because you are capable of finding them yourself. You follow the news no doubt and you know what I am talking about. How many DCs who do not originate from Eastern Province are serving there? I repeat, I will not mention names because I have not consulted these people but I know that you know them. Look, this is a country Kaunda started building on the ashes of some communities’ identities while others were allowed to keep their identities thereby giving them a reason to have a false sense of superiority. Is that fair?
Ndanje Khakis: I am very familiar with the history of this country. I am keeping some of it in my study at home. I have Lamba friends and I have discussed some issues with them. I know how these people feel about how they have been treated from the time of independence. Lamba and Bemba are related languages and speakers of these languages understand one another. Lamba is the indigenous language of the Copperbelt and Lambas do not like it that their language was passed over as the medium of instruction in early education on the Copperbelt.
#Chanchima, you made an allegation and I only asked you to substantiate them not to tell us how the Lambas have been treated along the way. We’re here to encourage the one Zambia one Nation and not trying open wounds that are nonexistent. If you you can’t mention names to simply means there are no names at all. I repeat there’s no nonlamba DC in the entire Former Ndola Rural. The urban part of copperbelt is cosmopolitan and any one from any tribe can be appointed to any position. As for partisan inclined appointments, this happens even in the most development countries and some of the reasons are loyalty and appreciation.
The Lambas have never asked anyone who is not Lamba to leave the Copperbelt. In fact it would cease to be so if only Lambas were to live there. They just don’t like linguistic marginalization, just like French speakers in Quebec. This is not even tribalism.
Ndanje Khakis: I am entirely for one Zambia one nation so long every community is respected.We cannot have government using taxpayers’ money to prop up other languages against others. It’s not fair because that money belongs even to those whose languages are discriminated. Is fair that you can get my money to harm my interests?
I fail to get your point. How and why should Lambas chase other tribes from the copperbelt. Lambas are free to join the mines, access schools etc. No issue here.
Look Ndanje Khakis, I know you know what my argument is. I just want us to build a more fair one Zambia one nation. I know what follows when an injustice is allowed to go on unattended to for years. As recently as 2010, the Belgians could not form a government nearly a year after a general election because of bickering between Flemish speakers and French speakers. Take a look at what is happening in Catalonia region of Spain, the Kurdish region in Turkey and then pose to think. You can read about these issues at leasure.