By Patson Chilemba
Kanchibiya member of parliament (PF) Sunday Chanda says he will move a private members motion aimed at banning regional groupings and to strengthen the law against tribalism in the country.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Chanda said people could not expect to fight tribalism with tribalism, saying his call to his “colleagues” was to work towards co-existence and that there would be no Zambia to talk about [pp-logged-users] if people chose division.
He said the manner late founding president Dr Kenneth Kaunda handled tribalism in the country, if the same were done today, people would say the measures were too drastic.
The Kola Foundation has indicated that they will call for a meeting on Saturday, in the same manner those in Southern Province called Chuundu Chaitwa when they felt that their existence was threatened.
The Kola Foundation stated that on the agenda is the mobilization of all Kola Foundation affiliated groupings and people ahead of the 2026 presidential and general elections, arbitrary arrests, harassment, persecution and torture of persons from Kola, Kumawa and others such as Chishimba Kambwili, and also conduct analysis of the 2021 general elections voting pattern and how the same can be replicated in the Kola regions.
The Foundation also talked about the wanton dismissal of people from Northern, Eastern, Muchinga, Luapula and Kola descendants in the civil service.
But Chanda said when speaking to issues of uniting a nation, what that entails is that everyone has a responsibility and that if there were any grey areas on the part of the executive, those areas must be resolved.
However, Chanda described the Kola Foundation agenda as very regional, political and divisive in the context of a unitary state.
He said the reason government was elected was to maintain the unity of the country, and that the UPND administration has that duty, arguing that the unity of the country must not be sacrificed at the altar of political expediency, and that “when the chickens come home to roost”, the elites and politicians agitating for this agenda will not be there.
“So government has a duty to ensure that Zambia remains united and this is a duty I am calling the government to rise up to, because that is their number one duty,” Chanda said.
But asked on the fact that he was a member of parliament himself and part of government system, Chanda said he would come up with a bill to try to address the matters he was raising.
“I would. Definitely. I would, without any hesitation. Without any hesitation,” Chanda said.
He said he would look into the matter in the next sitting of parliament.
“I will, I will. Definitely. You know because there is only one Zambia. Once this Zambia is up in flames, there will be no any other Zambia to talk about. There can only be one Zambia, and all of us have a duty to protect this country,” Chanda said. “We don’t need to wait until we become another Rwanda for us to start putting in place certain reforms. You know, we are at a point where we must start learning, where we can learn from countries like Rwanda, countries like Yugoslavia that have gone down this path.”
Chanda said he would look into the available pieces of legislation so that legislation is strengthened.
“Whether that comes as a private members bill, and calling on all men of good conscience that we cannot sacrifice the present day Zambia, the sacrifices of the Kenneth Kaunda’s and all his freedom stalwarts at the altar of expedience just because probably Sunday Chanda wants to become this and that,” Chanda said. “That must never be the case. All of us must not lose sight of the fact that we are members of this body called Zambia and that although we are many, we are one.”
Chanda said even in countries like the United States, anything that threatens the unity of that country, is viciously fought against, saying no one must play with the sanctity of Zambia as a unitary state.
“Using a tribe as a consideration for one to occupy office, for one to have access to this and that is immoral and that’s something we must say to ourselves even going by way of our laws that we must create a Zambia speaking to the spirit of the national anthem,” Chanda said.
He also addressed the other point raised by the issuer of the Kola statement, Patrick Bwalya Mukuka urging people to be proud of their roots and not to be intimidated or discouraged by anyone, because even those from Southern Province when they felt that their existence as a people was under threat, they convened Chuundu Chaitwa to reassure and protect their people, and therefore what they were doing was not something new in this country.
“There are sufficient laws in this country to interrogate that statement and there are sufficient laws. I think that’s what I can say … I there are colleagues who have failed to make political gains by way of adding substance to national discourse, going tribal and going regional is not the way to go,” said Chanda. “You cannot fight perceived wrongs with another wrong. Two wrongs don’t make a right. You cannot fight tribalism with tribalism. You cannot fight regionalism with regionalism. If there are wrongs which have been done in the past, generations of new leaders must agree that we want to strengthen and reinforce our fabric as a people.”
He said no one must seek political success on the back of tribalism and regionalism, as doing so is synonymous to “playing with fire.” [/pp-logged-users]
