By Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.
A two year old crying child was sitting alone, profuse sweat and tears mixed together on her dirty cheeks in the scorching heat of the midday African sun. The child was abandoned, crying, rubbing eyes, and desperately kicking the dusty soil with her legs in the middle of a remote bush road. Her mother lay dying beside the child. There were dead bodies everywhere piled around the child, many people had collapsed and were sprawled around along the road moaning because of hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and fear. Thousands of hordes of people, men, women and children carrying small luggage of their possessions on their heads were walking by fleeing like stampeding wild animals. This was a video news image of Hutu refugees that I saw on TV during the 1994 Rwanda genocide in which 800,000 thousand Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred. I will never forget that image for as long as I live. The desperate abandoned child and the men and women looked just like Zambians. But they were not. This is why the recent talk of secession and January 14 bloody ultimatum in Mongu in the Western Province of Zambia alarmed me. The consequences of such an action would be catastrophic for Zambians. I don’t expect many Zambians to believe me but I have a confession.
When I was a young student at the University of Zambia in the 1970s, I used to read the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail every day. The headlines often were of President Kaunda, the Cabinet Ministers, Members of the Central Committee, and other UNIP party officials addressing rallies and public meeting always exhorting Zambians to love one another under One Zambia One Nation, to fight the evils of tribalism, hatred, political violence, to fight hunger, disease, exploitation of man by man, and poverty. I used to slam the paper down and impatiently react: “Why is Kaunda always ranting about fighting tribalism, talking about peace! He is crazy! This is useless government propaganda!”
I realized many years ago that I was wrong. After this recent secession talk and threats of violence and tribal cleansing, I realize it is very difficult to create national unity. Three decades later, what most of us might not realize today in 2011 is the paradox that the very One-Party State of President Kaunda and UNIP leadership that existed up to 1991, which is often criticized as a dictatorship, gave us twenty-seven years during which Zambians could truly be united and become one Zambia One Nation that we are proud to have to day. Looking back, when I first went to UNZA eight years after independence, it was the first time all the students had met people from all separate parts and tribes of Zambia. We were the best cream of the crop students from the whole country who were Tonga, Bemba, Tonga, Ngoni, Lozi, Kaonde and many other tribes. We were the hope for the future of Zambia. We all lived together peacefully and got to know each other on campus. Not once did we students ever have tribal fights or hostile tribal divisive language. The peace that existed was such that we could all go the University even though many of our families were poor village peasants who could not have afforded the K400 per year tuition and board at UNZA at the time.
The greatest gift we as Zambians have inherited as a nation is that we do not know how to hate each other. That’s why the talk of secession and threats of violence must be discouraged. One of the things that every Zambian must be proud of is that if you go anywhere in Zambia and abroad; China, the United States, Europe, Russia, and even the North Pole, if you are told there is Zambian citizen somewhere, you will immediately be warmly helped and enjoy each other’s company. As a Zambian you will never have to ask what tribe the Zambian you don’t know belongs to before you meet him or her.
What is the cause of this discontent and talk of secession? There could be real legitimate dissatisfaction about development which can be resolved through political representation. But my suspicion is that the 60% of the young Zambians who were born after 1985 may be part of the youth in Mongu and perhaps in many other parts of rural Zambia who may not feel very connected to the rest of Zambia today. The current economic development may not be fast enough to provide jobs, training and accommodate and raise the quality of life and to improve the standard of living perhaps in all the provinces. Since the earlier generation of leadership may have done a good job creating opportunities and feeling of unity as a nation, the current leadership, all political parties, and all Zambians need to receive this relay button and create new opportunities for all Zambians especially the youth.
Besides resolving the Barotse Agreement of 1964 disagreement, we as a nation has to create new opportunities in this new age of globalization. The youth and all Zambians need not just have better job and training opportunities, but as a nation need to create fresh ways for our citizens to know, identify with, and appreciate the rich history and diversity of our nation. Here are my proposals on how we the older generation who inherited the country from the first founders of the nation can do.[pullquote] when I first went to UNZA eight years after independence, it was the first time all the students had met people from all separate parts and tribes of Zambia. We were the best cream of the crop students from the whole country who were Tonga, Bemba, Tonga, Ngoni, Lozi, Kaonde and many other tribes. We were the hope for the future of Zambia. We all lived together peacefully.Not once did we students ever have tribal fights or hostile tribal divisive language..
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First there needs to be an open and increased contact between all the Zambians who live abroad, those in the cities, those in cities, and in the rural areas.
· All educated Zambians should immediately begin documenting many aspects of our traditional cultures so that the current and future Zambians will know who we are and where we came from. Scholars and students from University of Zambia, Mulungushi University, Copperbelt University, all teachers in schools, Lecturers at Teacher Training colleges all over Zambia could simply document major aspects of our culture and history. I personally had planned to document the memoirs of President Kaunda from 1964 to 1991 so that we can have a historical knowledge of the triumphs and challenges of building the nation that all our leaders faced. Many youth and even older Zambians may not know this information. This is why many youth today can easily be misled through the internet and cell phones by misinformation by the political opportunists among us.
· With proper coordination and leadership of these new programs, if 1,000 former UNZA graduates from within Zambia and abroad each donated a mere $100 each, University of Zambia alone could have K475 million for supporting allowances for lecturers to engage in cutting edge research, teaching materials, student field research, and providing of computers, and campus grounds maintenance. University of Zambia has been in existence for more than 30 years. It has thousands of former graduates.
Lastly all the youths in Zambia should participate in exchange programs in which during the school holidays, they can visit a different part of the country. Youth and students from Western Province, for example, could visit Mbala in the Northern Province. Those from Lundazi in the Eastern province could visit Solwezi rural in the Northwestern Province. Those from the North could visit the Southern Province. Those in the cities could visit rural villages and vice versa. Government does not have to do everything. Families, schools, all political parties, soccer clubs, church congregations could coordinate the exchange programs.
