Socialist Party central committee member Faston Mwale criticises human rights commissioner Laura Miti for falsely accusing Socialist Party President Fred M’membe of tribalism:
WE WANT to correct human rights commissioner Laura Miti following her recent tweet in which she openly asks Socialist Party President Fred M’membe, among others, to apologise to the nation “for crafting evil vicious tribal campaigns against innocent people”.
Can she please tell us who the innocent people she is referring to are? Can she also spell out the tribal campaigns Dr M’membe is alleged to have been involved with?
As Dr M’membe always says, “In life let us learn to be clear about things.” Calling someone a tribalist in no way makes them a tribalist. Instead, Laura Miti, a defender of human rights, should be honest with UPND about the history of regionalism and what it has done to the party, Southern Province, the people and the country.
Anybody with a memory can remember these facts:
When former president Rupiah Banda made tribal remarks, when he told people not to entertain anyone from outside Eastern Province, The Post newspaper, with Dr M’membe at the helm, criticised him.
When the early government of former president Michael Sata made appointments that were tribally inclined, The Post called them out on it.
When there were tribalist sentiments against a station manager who was not Lozi, The Post opposed Lozi tribalism.
When tribal comments were made by Madenkuku, Sejani and Mwanajiti, among many others in the UPND, about the party’s leadership succession, The Post criticised them and denounced their politics as being Bantustan. Specifically, Madenkuku, Sejani and Mwanajiti said that only a Tonga could replace the late Anderson Mazoka. Is that not Bantustan politics? Shouldn’t Laura Miti be asking UPND to reflect internally and address the
consequences of making such a statement?
In the same spirit, Dr M’membe has called out the UPND government for their tribal appointments at the top level despite the fact that they promised Zambians “One Zambia, One Nation”.
What UPND is going through now is of their own making and their leadership should not play victim but, rather, start addressing head on the problem they created.
Equating a political party with a particular tribe is unacceptable. When for example, a political party is called out for its tribalism, it should not be because its leaders come from a particular region. If this were the case, then UPND could be called a Bantustan party. There is clearly a difference between a political party and a tribal group.
For once, let UPND take responsibility for the manner in which they have organised their politics. This tribal sentiment we continue to hear is no accident. There is a history that UPND should address and should apologise to the nation for.
Those who want to put a tribal tag on Dr M’membe are simply doing so out of naiveté, and they are starting a fight that will devour them. To insinuate that Dr M’membe crafted “evil vicious tribal campaigns against innocent people” is nothing but extremely dishonest and a crass denial of facts.
Dr Mmembe is also a southerner – he is Toka Leya. How can he turn against himself, or do they want his Tonga identity for political expedience?
Dr M’membe is Bemba, but he has not hesitated to fight Bemba tribalism whenever it raised its ugly head.
Dr M’membe is Lozi, but again, he has never failed to fight Lozi tribalism whenever it has been exhibited, and there is a record of this in the pages of The Post.
Laura Miti should challenge Dr M’membe with truth and irrefutable facts, not lies and calumny. Lies won’t take her far because they have short legs. If anything, Dr M’membe is a unifier – one whom the Mbundas would call Lewanyika.
As Dr M’membe has said: “If for any reason you don’t like Bembas, you may not like me because I am Bemba. If for any reason you hate Tongas, you may also hate me because I am close to the Tonga and the Toka Leyas. If the sight of a Lozi irritates you, you may also find me an irritant because I am Lozi. If you think Mbundas should be sent back to Mbalango in Angola where they came from some 300 years ago, then you may also deport me.”
(Socialist Party Zambia)