By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
These recent alliances are a still birth!
Because they are designed to aggregate regional votes as if people were goods!
Instead of marketing ideas, they peddle tribal support!
Overtime, leaders have increasingly driven voters along ethnic and regional lines establishing their own political strong-holds drawn from their own ethnic groupings.
The rapid rise of Identity Politics in Zambia is what we should worry about not the so called fragmentation of the Opposition.
In a multitude of Oppostion politcal parties, the Patriotic Front won, as a single party, the elections of 2011.
It should worry us that political parties have been established along personalities and their capacity to draw regional or ethnic support.
We need to sincerely rebuild the One Zambia, One Nation our forefathers envisaged.
So the hasty patchwork formations that we continue to see, are intended to draw personalities that may draw support from the ethnic regions they come from to these formations.
This is an exercise in futility for in many cases, such personalities have no capacity or following to herd a people to their perceived new political destination.
Instead of bridging gaps, these alliances end up promoting and confirming tribal and regional politics. Instead of healing the major rifts beginning to emerge, they exclude and divide us further.
Infact, these alliances are a job-seeking venture for those involved than any semblance or commitment to resolve, collectively, the challenges facing our country.
If the foundation is not based on ideas, collective resolve to build this country, if it is instead based on power and position sharing, it’s a tower of babel headed for an inevitable downfall.
Zambians want a leadership keen to provide solutions to issues that plaque this country such as corruption, political violence, the economy and our debt, youth unemployment e.t.c and not leaders engaged in political gambling through these endless selfish formations.
The exercise comes out as a power-grab scheme than a people driven movements or resolve.
Zambians want our leaders to work for this country, govern based on a sense of patriotism and dedication, run an inclusive government and resolve the challenges that face us in a consesus, fair, inclusive and transparent manner.
What is your view?
The Author is Zambia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to Ethiopia and the African Union.