ABOUT COUNSELLING THE COUNSELORS
By Sean Tembo – PeP President
1. I have always argued that traditional leaders should not be publicly aligned to any political party but should support the Government of the day so as to deliver development to their people. At this juncture, it is worth noting that supporting the Government of the day is not and should not be synonymous with supporting the ruling party. What this means is that a traditional leader must only be involved and support those activities of a Government which are non-partisan, and that when it comes to partisan issues, traditional leaders must maintain neutrality and embrace all political parties without publicly affiliating with any particular one.
2. It is common knowledge that a traditional leaders’ subjects consist of people of different political affiliations. Therefore, if a traditional leader publicly affiliates with a particular political party, he or she will end up causing divisions and conflict among the subjects. Additionally, it is common cause that politics by its very nature has inherent conflict, and that every now and then, we need a certain section of our society to act as a vent-valve to the conflict that will inevitably accumulate among political competitors. Traditional leaders are uniquely positioned to provide that vent valve, but only if they are not politically aligned.
3. Currently, we have traditional leaders who have rightly maintained their non-alignment status and then we have some who move with the wind. Ba muselela kwakaba. Ideally, us political leaders are supposed to derive wisdom from our traditional leaders, but when it becomes evident that our traditional leaders lack any, then we have a duty to counsel them. Call it counselling the counselors if you like.
4. Personally l see nothing wrong with a Republican President visiting a traditional leader and updating that traditional leader on the plans and progress of his Government. That is perfectly fine. I equally do not see anything wrong with a traditional leader publicly appreciating the programmes and plans of a particular Government or Republican President. That is also perfectly fine. But it is wrong for a traditional leader to belittle those of us who do not agree with the programmes and plans of the current Government, and refer to us as barking dogs.
5. As an opposition leader in a country which is a constitutional democracy such as Zambia, l have a right to disagree with the ruling party on any matter of policy. If l believe that getting an IMF bailout loan is not the best way to turnaround our economy, l have a right to voice out my disagreement as vehemently as l wish without having to be referred to as a barking dog by any traditional leader. As subjects of traditional leadership, we are required to maintain respect for our traditional leaders at all times. However, our traditional leaders also have a duty and obligation to conduct themselves in a respectable manner, so that they can make it easier to be respected by their subjects.
6. As earlier indicated, there is nothing wrong with traditional leaders supporting the Government of the day. But traditional leaders must desist from belittling the opposition as a way of endearing themselves to the Government of the day, because should there be a change of Government, like there was in August 2021, the same traditional leaders will find themselves stooping a bit too low to the new Government, as a way of over-compensating for the unnecessary insults they showered on the people who are now in Government, while they were in opposition. Whereas if a particular traditional leader did not over-align, they would have no reason to over-stoop when there is a change of Government.
7. As citizens of this Republic, let us always remember that we each play a necessary and important role in the governance of our nation. Let us not belittle others, as we try to endear ourselves to those who control the national purse. Let us maintain our integrity so that we may remain respectable in the eyes of our subjects. Our traditional leaders must speak the language of unity and not the language of division. They must embrace all of us political leaders as their subjects and not just embrace those who hold the key to the national purse, while insulting those that are seen as non-entities. Such commercialization of traditional leadership will undermine its longevity. Let us all work together to preserve our tradition and culture. Let us not allow politics to decimate our long held traditional values.
/// END
SET 13.04.2022