By Sara Imutowana Yeta II
HICHILEMA WILL UNITE THE COUNTRY
Abraham Lincoln an American statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the United States of America gracefully said; “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Lincoln’s idea literally means that success comes from sticking together and to do anything else is to call up disaster.
Though we are a sovereign nation, our tribes or ethnic groups are not independent of each other because of some Bembas in the Patriotic Front (PF) who are openly preaching tribalism against other tribes.
As a result, the country is divided on tribal lines.
The Bemba tribalists in PF have given rise to a strong and negative feeling among tribes to see each other as bad, immoral, dangerous, or all of this together.
In simple language, we are living in a broken country where tribes see each other as objects of hatred.
We have allowed tribalists to put a knife on safety, cooperation, identity, and the sense of cohesion which helped us to come this far as a country.
If nothing is done soon to unite the country, the tribal adversity fueled by Bemba tribalists in PF will intensify hatred and trigger a tribal fanatical obligation that can easily produce a reversal of the moral code and make tribes to start killing each other.
The history of the African human race is full of such examples, including the Rwandan genocide.
Kaunda’s efforts to unite the country through the motto; “one Zambia, one nation” that made us to be internationally admired for our ethnic and cultural diversity has been undermined by tribalists.
Therefore, one of the challenges the seventh republican president must address head-on is the ugly head of tribalism, if he or she is to unite the country.
No matter how gifted the seventh president will be, without national unity essential in structuring society into a harmonious and functional order, it will be difficult to have nation-building and socio-economic development.
This means that we need a president who has respect for diversity, shared values, experiences and geographical relativity.
In my humble opinion, if Hichilema wins the 2021 elections, he has what it takes to effectively address the tribal hostilities fueled by Bemba tribalists in PF.
As a businessman, Hichilema has huge investments in different sectors including, agriculture, land, tourism, mining, transport, trade, industry, housing, and the list goes on.
This explains why he is one of the biggest Zambian businessmen employer with a workforce counted in millions.
For this reason, Hichilema works with people from different backgrounds in terms of tribe, age, culture, physical abilities, race, religion, gender, linguistics, socio-economic status, and political beliefs at different employee grade-levels.
As a result, his acceptance and respect of the fact that every tribe or individual is unique, is in accordance with the highest standards and impeccable, otherwise his businesses would not boast a huge diverse workforce.
Hichilema’s inclusive business practice in terms of his attitudes, approaches and strategies ensures that no person is excluded because of his or her differences.
It is his understanding of diversity that is, in part, contributing to his lucrative businesses making me believe that he can unite the country.
If he has no problems in exploring differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing way in his businesses, how can he fail at the national level with the support of government machinery to influence national cohesion, peace and unity tribalists in PF are undermining?
Hichilema will unite the country because he knows that every organisation or nation requires unity to aspire towards development.
Through his business interactions with the diverse workforce, he knows that there is no organisation or nation in the world, regardless of the amount of natural resources at its disposal, can develop if people are not united to promote development.
Without national unity, it will be difficult for Hichilema and his team to develop and carry out plans to achieve socio-economic development.
I am convinced that Hichilema can transcend trivial and divisive politics of tribalism to unite the country.
In 2021, we need a president who will take differences of our human reality as a resource to create national unity paramount in our pursuit of development for all people.