Understanding HH’s statement in the context of the role of tribe or ethnicity in national development

Understanding HH’s statement in the context of the role of tribe or ethnicity in national development

By Melicious Chongo

It is so easy to jeopardise the country’s development through tribal rhetoric than to exercise inclusive, intentional and deliberate leadership.

President Hakainde Hichilema (HH) is on record again having said that, “Luapula is poor because of tribal politics…that Luapula province has been lagging behind in development because the people of the region have from time immemorial been promoting their tribesmen to be presidents of this country.”- (Daily Nation of August 18, 2024).

He said this during his recent visit to the province for Bwile Traditional Ceremony in Chiengi district of Luapula Province.

When I heard this, immediately my question was: What is the role of tribe or ethnicity in national development? What is the place of leadership in the context of ethnicity in driving development? Of course I’m opening up a discussion worthy of a whole thesis. But suffice here to state that development is never an automatic process. Developing a country requires being intentional and deliberate about it. And a deliberate and intentional leadership is pivotal – an integral and necessary part of that process.

A country with leaders that are still trapped in the “blame the victim” attitude is a country that is literally on its own. The blame-the-victim attitude is one where the leader shifts responsibility for underdevelopment from the government to the people themselves, specifically targeting tribal politics. The statement therefore reflects irresponsibility of the highest order in public life – it is unpresidential behaviour. A president should unite and inspire, rather than blame and divide, especially in a country with many underdeveloped provinces.

It is always essential that presidents are beyond reproach both in speech and conduct, as their words and actions bear on so many things; they negatively impact marginalised communities. It is totally unforgivable and unacceptable for the President to say that. You can forgive that if it came from anyone else, not the President of the country.

The irony about this tribal talk, however, is that when it is said about an individual, then it becomes hate speech. But when it is said about a province in reference to development, it is not hate speech! The statement kills the patriotism and spirit of public service, further alienating and relegating civil service and development to individual preferences and attitudes of people holding public office of the nation. It only serves to cement the already pathological narrative among our civic leaders of selective development based on ethnicity. This unfortunately further reinforces and amplifies that thinking. It perpetuates a culture among our elected officials that national development has to depend on tribal or ethnic dispositions of our leaders.

This is careless and unfortunate coming from the President of the land, because Luapula is not the only province lagging in development. Eastern Province is poor too. North-Western Province equally is. Western Province too (the unpalatable story of agitations for Barotseland to secede from the rest of the country, which we have always heard with every change of government, partly are echoes of frustrations for the province being abandoned for so long). Kabwe – Central Province – too, despite its lead mining and other industries, the benefits thereof have eluded the province and has largely remained poor. Not to mention the Copperbelt Province. It is another sleeping giant; its huge mineral deposits have not trickled down to really develop the province. And Lusaka Province itself, despite being the epicenter where all policy decisions are made, development can only be said to be concentrated within the urban itself. The rural parts of it have largely remained undeveloped.

If this is indeed the true narrative for most provinces of the country, then how are we to understand President Hichilema’s assertion?

Drawing on historical parallels, the statement is consistent with the colonial-era divide and rule tactics. Colonisers often exploited tribal divisions to maintain control and blame local populations for their own underdevelopment. It also parallels apartheid era South Africa, where the ruling party blamed the victims of apartheid (Black South Africans in this case) for their own poverty and underdevelopment, rather than acknowledging the systemic injustices.

Therefore, the President’s statement is outright wrong as it deflects responsibility. It deflects attention from the government’s role in addressing underdevelopment and poverty. It promotes tribalism and division, thereby perpetuating harmful tribal stereotypes, potentially fueling divisions and conflicts. It encourages cronyism, patronage and nepotism, which very often have resulted in unequal resource distribution, corruption, and poor governance.

It is therefore not surprising that HH has lamentably failed to address corruption happening right under his ambit. His statement further reflects lack of empathy and understanding. He shows little compassion for the struggles of the people of Luapula Province and other underdeveloped areas. It further isolates provinces, promoting segregation and marginalisation, where dominant ethnic groups can marginalise others, limiting access to resources, opportunities, and services. It is also an oversimplification, oversimplifying Zambia’s complex development issues, ignoring factors like historical legacies, resource distribution, and policy failures.

In his book “The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It”, Paul Collier provides yet another parallel through which to understand HH’s statement. Critical are the conflict trap, the natural resource trap and the bad governance trap, thereby underscoring the fact that tribal politics has been influencing development policies, resource distribution, and access to resources and development opportunities.

But in making that statement, the President inadvertently contributes to the very challenges he is trying to address, which underscores the need for a more nuanced understanding of a complex nexus between ethnicity, politics and development. I appeal to you, Mr President, there’s not a tribal Luapula and a tribal Western Province. There’s only a One Zambia and One Nation that has since time immemorial been crying out for equitable and evenly distributed development. Zambians deserve better; we deserve a better story from our leaders. So Mr President, already Zambians are battling with too much; at least please speak some hope into our lives. Rather than reinforcing the tribal oriented development, you must be actively seeking to reverse that.

Rather than fan the ethnic flame, you must instead be asking what can I do to allow our ethnic diversity drive development or be a catalyst rather than a divisive and alienating factor. Rather than play the ethnic game, you must be thinking of how to harness our rich ethnic blessing. Rather than amplifying the ethnic divide, you should be devising policies that promote inclusive economic growth, benefiting all regions and ethnic groups. Rather than amplifying the historical divide, you must be working on policies addressing historical inequalities that increase representation and opportunities for marginalised regions and ethnic groups.

As it is, Mr President, your remarks only fit within the broader context of a colonial thinking and attitude, and thus do not inspire hope, but only seek to alienate. It can erode trust in leadership, exacerbate social tensions, and distract from addressing seminal causes of underdevelopment. Ultimately, for me, all this is just an indictment on the kind of leadership we continue to place at the top. Because as far as developing a nation is concerned, the problem is not so much about tribal politics as it is about political and thoughtful leadership. Our politics have never come of age to grow above petty politics and politics of performance and profiteering to politics of service.

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