Defeating Tribal Politics in Zambia: Voting Beyond Tribal Orientation
Five years ago today, I met a former UNZA comrade and close friend at Levy Mall Junction. Zambia was then moving towards the August 2021 elections, and the political climate was tense.
We had a quick conversation, catching up on many issues, including politics. Although we were close friends from the University of Zambia, we differed sharply in political ideology as time passed. He was deeply involved in the then ruling Patriotic Front where he occupied a key role, while I believed that Zambia needed a new direction.
What disturbed me most was not the political difference. It was the tribal reasoning behind it. He told me directly that the UPND would only form government under a non-Tonga leader, and not under Hakainde Hichilema.
That statement troubled me deeply. I remember asking myself: why should any Zambian be disqualified from national leadership because of the tribe into which they were born? No one chooses their tribe at birth. We are born Zambian before we are anything else.
I went back to the office disturbed. While drafting an accreditation report, my mind was still on that conversation. In the middle of the report, completely unrelated to the subject, I accidentally typed: “we are winning this election.”
It was not a typo. It was what was going through my mind.
My supervisors did not notice it, but the then Director General, Prof. Stephen Simukanga, did. Like the fatherly leader he has always been, he called me and gently asked, “Martin, have you seen this?” He pointed to the statement and counselled me not to carry elections too deeply into my work. We laughed about it even we he repeatedly teased me about my “we are winning this election” comment. My supervisors and colleagues laughed at me and we kept it as a joke.
A few months later, Zambia spoke. The election was won. Tribal politics was defeated.
Today, as Zambia again approaches another election, that memory returns with a powerful lesson: we must never judge leadership through the narrow lens of tribe. Every candidate must be assessed as a Zambian first, and by the quality of their ideas, their record, their character, and their vision for the country.
Tribe does not build roads. Tribe does not create jobs. Tribe does not educate children. Tribe does not grow the economy. Tribe does not build hospitals. Tribe does not unite a nation. Vision, competence, integrity and service do.
The Zambia we must defend is bigger than tribe, bigger than region, bigger than political party, and bigger than individual ambition. Elections must never become a census of tribes. They must be a contest of ideas for national progress.
Let us reject tribal politics in all its forms. Let us vote with conscience, patriotism and love for country.
One Zambia, One Nation.
Dr. Martin Mushumba
Public Policy and Education Quality Assurance Expert