By Dr Charles Ngoma

‘Allow the little children to come to Me, do not hinder them, for to such like these, belongs the Kingdom of Heaven.’ Jesus Christ. There is no doubt that children have a special place in the heart of God. Elsewhere in the Bible, the Apostle urges fathers not to ‘frustrate their children.’

Zambia, declared a ‘Christian nation’ should be at the forefront in protecting these vulnerable members of our society from all harm. Sometime ago, I wrote about the fundamental duties of the State and inter alia, is the protection of the vulnerable in society. I am amazed that the issue of consensual sex between people of the same gender rouses so much interest and anger from the great majority of Zambians, and yet when children, without their consent are abused, the horrible practice is met with silence among family members and the victim is left to nurse the trauma and scars for the rest of their lives all alone. Putting the ‘Christian nation’ tag aside, Zambia as a signatory to the Convention on the rights of the child, must protect the rights of children.

The question that must first be answered is ‘who is a child?’ It is well known that our modern idea of a child differs from that of our fore fathers who were ready to marry off their daughters as soon as they attained ‘chisungu.’ The UN convention defines a child as any person under the age of 18 years. There in lies the difficulty. Our cultural psyche on one hand treats even young male adults like children, by continuing to look after them in their parents’ or guardians’ homes while at the same time, allowing the females to be married off even as early as 13 years of age. Our problem is further compounded by the existence of State and Customary law simultaneously. I am not concerned here, however, with what is accepted culturally, but what is not.

There are however, thousands of people in Zambia who have been forced to have sex with adults or older children in their own homes. A child seeks love and attention, but there are people who take advantage of these children and force them in these indecent activities. Most of the time, the culprit is an older male relative and the victim a girl. I do not have any evidence of boys being molested sexually but I presume it does happen. The girl-child is most likely to be a victim when they have been orphaned. The orphaned may become sex slaves of the guardian in order to receive education. I have no statistical data to prove this but the few that I have come across have been molested by relatives and by fathers. What is most disconcerting is that in some situations the wife of the man knows about what is going on but elects to keep quiet.

Psychologists tell us that children who are exposed to forced sex at young age grow up to be promiscuous. Such girls also lose their self worth so that in adulthood, they either become manipulative, using their bodies to get what they want or become so untrusting that they cannot stay with one partner. The abused goes on to abuse others as well and the cycle goes on. Street prostitution is often blamed on the economy, but why is it that of the millions of poor people, it is just a proprtion of them who find selling their bodies a worthy source of income? The answer may lie in what happened ‘at home.’

Next is beating. This may sound controversial and there will be several Christians who will quote me the Bible here, but I will say it nonetheless. Beating a child is wrong. I am not talking about a smack on the bottom or back of the hand. Even if you use a ‘whip’ or a ‘belt’ or a ‘stick’, it takes only one stripe to cause pain. If it is pain you want the child to feel, why go on and an and on? You go on and on, because you are angry and you are essentially venting your anger on the child. That is not discipline it is fighting, it is not training, it is assault. So many of our children have even been maimed and grievously wounded because of this. I have had the misfortune of treating children in Zambian hospitals who have been brought with injuries that were obviously non-accidental. I have seen children with burns on their inner thighs branded by hot pressing irons, but the accompanying adults give a different story. Children who are not reasoned with as they grow up, will also learn to use brute force to get their way. Is there any wonder why we have street brawls, public place fights and even electoral violence? I can already sense that when this article is published, there will be a few who will fail to use any simile of civility but will vent their anger with unprintables. If I had been in their geography they would not hesitate to lay hands on me.

Then there is just neglect. So many Zambian children baby sit their siblings long before they have ceased to be children themselves. The malnutrition that infants suffer is not always due to lack of food but in some cases may be emotional. The parent or guardian fails to provide the care and attention that he child needs and abandons them to someone else from morn till eve. The child refuses to eat and as time goes by, he becomes malnourished. Others are given daily household chores that are way ahead for their age and for that reason, kept away from school altogether or if they do go to school, find themselves too tired to study after school. Thus, these children are locked up in the dark world of illiteracy and poverty.

Let me apply myself to the conscience of every Zambian. As a nation we have no space in our psyche for same sex unions which we condemn left, right and centre. Surely, is that so much of an evil that the gay people deserve to be punished by a custodial sentence or even death (as many in Uganda advocated?) Methinks, the sexual and physical abuse of children, children who did not chose to come into this world, did not choose the parents, did not choose their homes and CANNOT in any way legally, morally or ethically consent to what adults do to them, is a worse crime. I am surprised that though we have appended our national signature to the convention on the rights of children, we have no laws that really protect children or if we have, there seems to be no political will to enforce them. I would suggest that there be appointed a Commissioner for Children with powers equivalent to those of the Anti-corruption Commissioner to prosecute the culprits who are destroying these young lives for to such as these, belongs the future existence of our country.

By Bwembya Mutale

Zambians had 10 years of unabated destruction under a matrix of Sata-Nawakwi-Chitala-Sondashi-Chongwe-Mulongoti Groupthink disdained by every Zambian patriot. It is now amusing that the same without apology for their sins are reconstituting themselves into an assembly of revisionism to continue from where Zambians stopped them. Sadly, the PF is emerging as a party of failed and frustrated politicians, who seem to believe that Zambia owes them more for plunder. To borrow from US President Bill Clinton’s most popular question for the sake of debate, ‘Is it ‘the economy, stupid’ Is Zambia to fall on this revisionism?

Maybe this Groupthink believes Zambians have “selective amnesia” to forget so soon years of impunity the same clique perpetuated with passion and callous arrogance against Zambians. And their regrouping is happening at a time when this country is recording unprecedented national development under incumbent President Rupiah Banda who is tenaciously undoing historic social-economic injustice the matrix inflicted.

This is why it will be interesting to hear their scripts on the campaign trail against a pro-development President armed with a record of innumerable gains in the 2 years of his Presidency. A comparative look at the last 2 years to their 10 from the point of overall living standards as measured by GDP per capita at purchasing power parity reveals a challenge for them.

Today’s economic factors indicate that hardworking citizens are on their way to some real economic breakthrough. Though high, there is evidence that the challenges of unemployment and poverty are being fought by a spirited leadership with pro-poor and growth socioeconomic policies. We are seeing price stabilization with incomes levels exponentially improving in the formal and informal sectors across the country. These gains have come with more political freedom and many uninhibited liberating force of modern communications tools democracy brings.

On this premise, many Zambian don’t know where this insinuation that Derrick Chitala could be a political factor and potential nightmare against MMD is coming from. It is simply evidence of incompetent political Groupthink. Some of us that know Chitala at a personal level laugh on reading this off balance view.

A factor in what way, and where? In all appointments Chitala was fired 100 percent on basis of his own natural incompetency, laziness and borderline disconnection with reality. At state house and Finance as deputy minister, his assignments were ever 6 months behind and incomplete until fired a fact the likes of Hon Muteteke can attest. He always solicited for help on his assignments even on sensitive Presidential ones. He may have clammed Marxist political theories for his thesis but he is an authentic incompetent idealist with shallow knowledge and zero sense of realism.

Chitala is just an overzealous self seeking Marxist without political influence other than some blind alley of utopia world theories. Do you know that the plunder of over 255 Zambian parastatals put in the privatization portfolio some of which were viable profit making entities left by UNIP were sold for songs on the scripts of Chitala, Penza, Nawakwi and Roger Chongwe? These revisionists were motivated by their utopia world economic theories they little understand. They left thousands of Zambians dead in abject poverty without benefits due to them. Families were broken and children thrown out of schools indiscreetly. They had no sense of responsibility or moral guide to say the least. I challenge any smart mind in the media to engage Chitala on public and economic policies, then you will understand his deficiency mooted with Marxist utopia he little understands.

This is a man that has moved from MMD to other parties before yet MMD has remained strong and in power. He joined Mung’omba’s defunct Zambian Democratic Congress-ZDC which failed with him as Secretary General then started reporting on every Zambia and friends to MMD. Late Dean Namulya Mung’ombaforced into his Graveyard is a victim of Chital. Since then the spirit of innocent Mung’omba has kept haunting and cursing Chitala hence all bad decisions.

It’s no surprise that wherever Chitala goes and touches, the spirit of innocent Mung’omba is crying loud on his head while the widow and orphans are asking why Dean Mung’omba was flamed into death. The man is unprincipled desperate politician, whose maneuvers are always immoral. In this vein many Zambians today concur with Mr Charles Chimumbwa and Edwin Lifwekelo when they say “Derick Chitala had plunged into political backwardness which was now making him jump from political party to another”.

Derrick Chitala’s desperation has prompted him to go back to his vomit by supporting the Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata whom on records he has always classified as a demented comedian too risky for state power to gamble with. He has called him all sorts of names.

Thank God for the technology of file management still hold testimonies such as the revelation of Mr Sata in the Times of Zambia of January30, 2004 when disclosed in the Lusaka High Court that Dr Chitala informed the State on the alleged involvement of politicians Dean Mung’omba and Princess Nakatindi Wina in the 1997 coup attempt. This testimony of Derrick Chitala betrayal habit against his friend, the late Mung’omba reveals about his character.

Zambians are saying no to any revisionism regardless of the hue in assemblies used. The Sata-Nawakwi-Chitala-Sondashi-Chongwe-Mulongoti Groupthink is a no choice for a progressive Zambia because enough lives have been lost from their plunder years.