Pilato Writes:
The Mayor Vs The Minister
Zambian social media has seen a number of videos and news stories of some Chinese nationals who have continued to find themselves on the wrong side of the law and attracted the swift hand of the mayor of Lusaka. We also heard of Chinese nationals who were attacked and killed in Makeni. The Lusaka Mayor has taken time and energy to come to the rescue of Zambians who have become victims of poor working conditions experienced in many companies around the country and on the other hand the minister of local government has come out to condemn the actions by the mayor.
Here is my thought;
To fight evil we must not become evil ourselves. To fight racism we must be careful not to become racist ourselves. To promote good we must not become evil.
The Lusaka Mayor may appear to be doing a right thing which most of us would be quick to support but again the approach is primitive and does not address the fundamental problem. While addressing the poor labour conditions and racism we must never endanger the entire Chinese community in Zambia. The actions by the mayor are welcome but must not be limited to Chinese people alone. We have our people being abused and underpaid by Zambian bosses and those from other countries. I have personally confronted some Zambian boss who fired his workers on very flimsy grounds. My worry is that championing a targeted fight against a specific nationality may lead to anarchy and may expose innocent Chinese nationals to unimaginable danger. Not all Chinese nationals are abusing their workers and not all chinese nationals are racist so for the sake of those good people, we all have a duty to defend their dignity and humanity. Criminals must be dealt with but we must do so within the prescriptions of the law.
The same ideals we use to judge and condemn racism in China or elsewhere must be the same when dealing with discriminatory practices here at home. I do understand the Mayor is exciting a familiar emotion for many of us but we must be careful because our justification for a wrong against any group of people may be used to justify their actions against our people. Our respect for life should be beyond one’s race or nationality. What is evil is evil even when it is done by Blacks, Chinese, Indians or Whites.
The Mayor has the right to act against racism and abuse of workers but it must be done in a way that does not set any particular community or race as a target for discrimination or physical attacks. Zambia is part of the global community so the actions of its leaders must reflect the respect for human rights and the dignity of life. The Mayor can still protect the lives and dignity of our people without setting the entire Chinese community as target for attacks and ridicule.
The Minister of Local Government must also be reminded that calling out the mayor in public is not in any way serving the collective interests of this country and that of his president. Doing so undermines and compromises the public confidence in their leaders and this may cause the public to take matters in their own hands.
I have said on this platform before that governments may be made of individuals but cannot operate as such. These individuals are weaved into a system that guides the individuals working therein. While the minister may have boosted his ego, he is denting the image of the government he works for and its leader. If the minister cannot pick up his phone and talk to his Mayor, then there is a problem. A house divided between itself cannot stand. Should we expect the mayor to come out in the open and challenge the minister too? The minister’s statement has forced Zambians to choose between him or the mayor, if this division was to get deeper, who would suffer? At a time we should be United as a country, we should start choosing between two egocentric individuals.
My appeal to every Zambian is that, we have a duty to defend the integrity of human life and we must do so unapologetically but in doing so we must remember that humanity is beyond the color of our skins. Even those that don’t look like us are humans, yes even those that were not born in this country and don’t like us that much… are humans too. We cannot use their weaknesses to justify our evil actions. We can fight racism without becoming racists. There is no way we can justify racism or abuse of any person, it is unjustified. Humanity is team work… we are everyone, and everyone is us.
God bless Zambia, God bless you.