PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GOVERNMENT MUST BAN REGIONAL GROUPINGS
19th December 2023 – Government must ban regional groupings in order to preserve national unity in Zambia. Anything that threatens the ‘One Zambia, One Nation’ motto must not be allowed to exist.
It is also important for the positive forces in the political space including the media and opposition to implore and preach “death of tribalism” to all. On this same score let me appeal to the Church and other religious leaders in the nation to categorically condemn tribalism including any semblance of it thereof.
Let us remind ourselves that in Rwanda the Hutu tribalism against Tutsis (so-called “cockroaches”) which led to the genocide was schemed, promoted and funded by politicians and other elites, but executed by common people, young boys with pangas.
When the country exploded, the same politicians and elites were the first ones to flee the country leaving behind hundreds of thousands of common Hutus to be arrested and paraded in Gachacha Traditional Courts and Prisons. The few Politicians and elites held accoubtable were arrested under pseudo names in Belgium, France, Cape Town but some will never be arrested. Meanwhile 1 million people lay dead!
GET MORE NEWS UPDATES
Students of history will recall that tribalism and ethnicity killed Yugoslavia following the death of a great leader and unifier President Josip Broz Tito, and a very close ally of President Kenneth Kaunda, tribalists fought for their regions and today there are 7 or 8 small and weak countries in the Balkans.
Kenneth Kaunda and his friends achieved the’One Zambia, One Nation’ in the midst of racist and ethnic challenges. These must inspire today’s Zambia. That is also what President Julius Nyerere did in Tanzania. However most African countries utterly failed to fight tribalism and regionalism and millions of their people perished, their countries broke up are still very unstable till today.
Zambia has never experienced the ghastly consequences of tribalism. We must therefore constantly remind ourselves of the single most important cause of civil wars, secessions, genocide – tribalism and regionalism.
Political parties in Zambia should mobilize as nationalists and not regionalists. This is what ZANC/UNIP did against Colonialists and ANC in the late 50s/60s, and that is what MMD did against UNIP in 1991. If Zambia has to exist as ‘One Zambia, One Nation’ it has to be mobilized as such, not on regions and tribes.
Politicians and political parties must also realize that the answer to any alleged Tribalism is not more tribalism and regionalism, just like the answer to racism is not more racism.
I am therefore appealing to Zambians of good conscience to instead come together as one and make tribalists as insignificant as possible.
Signed:
Hon Sunday Chanda
Member of Parliament
Kanchibiya Constituency
Muchinga Province
