Police should reprimand Media Houses inciting tribalism – OSF

Open Society Foundation (OSF) is calling on investigative wings to reprimand media houses perpetuating tribal sentiments in the country for the sake of Zambia’s continued stability.

Lawmakers are also called upon to act with speed and criminalize tribal talk considering that it has the greatest potential to incite Zambians to rise against other Zambians. Zambia does not need to wait until it has become another Kenya or indeed Rwanda to criminalize tribal talk.

There is a plethora of examples from countries where this evil has led to the loss of thousands and thousands of innocent lives, including defenseless children.

OSF is calling on political players not to fall prey to machinations aimed at creating enmity among Zambian tribes. Zambia must take serious lessons from Kenya which experienced post-election violence predominantly fought along tribal lines. It is an open secret that the Kenyan violence was fought along ethnic lines, which took place mainly in the Rift Valley.

This violence saw the Kalenjin youths, supporting the Luo candidate Raila Odinga, turned against the Kikuyus, who are Mwai Kibaki’s tribesmen. The wave of violence that hit the country took everyone by surprise, as Kenya had been seen until then as one of the most successful democracies in East Africa since its transition to a multi-party system in 2002.

Along with neighbouring Tanzania, it was the only country in the region not to have experienced a civil conflict. Yet the violence lasted from December 2007 to February 2008; over a thousand people lost their lives and hundreds of thousands became displaced. If Zambia does not take drastic steps to stop the tribal talk being championed by some elements within our society, the country will one day treat itself to a rude awakening.

Lastly, it is our held view that there was nothing tribal about President Michael Sata’s firing of former Justice Minister and former PF Secretary General Wynter Kabimba. No one called it tribalism when Kabwata MP Hon. Given Lubinda was mistreated or indeed when Kasama MP GBM was suspended. It was not tribalism then and it is not tribalism now.

Mr. Kabimba’s firing was celebrated by Zambians across tribe and political affiliation, an aspect which should prove to his image builders that no tribalism was involved in his firing. It is a fact that he mismanaged the constitution-making process and his arrogance on this matter, among others, became repulsive to many Zambians.

Zambians have not forgotten how he behaved before the Anti- Corruption Commission (ACC) after being summoned. Politically, he became bigger than himself and the opposite of President Sata, the man he called his mentor. There has never been a Minister in the history of Zambia whose firing has been celebrated as a victory for the people across tribe and politics.

Those who claim to love Mr. Kabimba to the point of almost pontiffying him into a Political Saint, must become candid with him by urging that he reflects on why he became Zambia’s most despised politician. There is something deeply wrong which only Mr. Kabimba can change about himself if he is to become more relevant in serving a country he loves.

Issued By:
Sunday Chilufya Chanda, Executive Director, OSF