REBUTTAL: NATIONALISM CANNOT BE BUILT ON TRIBAL EXCLUSION
Open letter to Prof Proud Moonga
By Michael Lombe
The article by Prof Proud Moonga is not a defence of nationalism, it is a calculated attempt to legitimise tribal entitlement under the guise of patriotism.
Let us be clear
You cannot claim to reject tribalism while constructing an argument that elevates two groups above the rest of a nation of over 70 tribes. That is not nationalism. That is tribal hierarchy, thinly veiled, poorly disguised, and deeply dangerous
1. SELECTIVE NATIONALISM IS NOT NATIONALISM
Zambia does not belong to Bembas and Easterners alone. It belongs to every citizen, across all provinces, all communities, and all backgrounds.
Any narrative that reduces leadership to a contest between a few ethnic blocs is not only intellectually bankrupt, it is a direct assault on the founding principle of One Zambia, One Nation.
2. THE HYPOCRISY ON REPRESENTATION
You cannot, in the same breath:
Claim exclusion,
And ignore the clear inclusion of Bembas across Cabinet and Government structures, even from regions that did not vote for the current administration
To call such representation “tokenism” is not analysis, it is entitlement speaking.
3. DISTORTING DEVELOPMENT FOR POLITICAL CONVENIENCE
The claim that development is being channelled to one region is deliberately misleading.
The Constituency Development Fund (CDF), one of the largest decentralisation tools in Zambia’s history, is distributed equitably across all constituencies.
Free education and free examination fees benefit every child in every province.
Facts are inconvenient to your narrative, so you ignore them
4. CORRUPTION IS NOT TRIBAL PERSECUTION
You attempt to recast accountability as tribal targeting. That is reckless.
Where individuals have faced the law, it is not because of their tribe, but because of their actions.
If a previous Cabinet was predominantly from one region, then naturally, those implicated will reflect that composition.
Corruption has no tribe. Theft has no ethnicity. Justice must have no bias.
5. PROMOTING DIVISION WHILE PREACHING UNITY
You lament division among Bembas, yet your entire argument fuels division across Zambia.
You call for unity, but only within tribal lines.
You speak of patriotism, but advocate ethnic consolidation.
That is not unity. That is fragmentation.
6. THE DANGEROUS IDEA OF “RIGHTFUL RULE”
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of your article is the suggestion that certain groups have a “rightful place” in leadership.
Leadership in Zambia is not inherited through tribe.
It is earned through democratic choice.
To suggest otherwise is to undermine the Constitution and insult the intelligence of the Zambian people.
FINAL WORD
Zambia will not be governed by tribal arithmetic.
It will not be held hostage by narratives of entitlement disguised as grievance.
Your article is not a call to unity, it is a blueprint for division. It does not strengthen the nation, it seeks to fracture it.
And it must be rejected, firmly, decisively, and without apology!