´The Best of Enemies´ on Dialogue
By Amb. Anthony Mukwita
Our local media was this week flooded with news of a hitch in a proposed meeting or dialogue between President Hichilema and predecessor Edgar Lungu, the sixth President on Zambia.
It has been a long-awaited proposition as political tensions rise high while the two leaders trade political punches with a possibility of gas-lighting the whole political field of Zambia.
As tensions escalated, the Oasis Forum, an influential civil society organisation credited for being a huge reconciliatory body in Zambia since the return to multiparty democracy in 1991 stepped up to the plate.
They called for a cease fire—let’s have a dialogue between Don H and ECL they said.
FROM ´BEST ENEMIES´ TO ZAMBIA
The development vividly reminded me of one of my favourite movies available on Netflix fight now—´The Best of Enemies´.
It’s a 1991 American movie based on real events around civil rights activist Ann Atwater and local Ku Klux Klan leader, C.P Ellis, who regard each other as enemies.
It’s an acrimonious and fractious American conflict race movie story, you must watch it.
As tensions mount, conflict experts put Atwater and C.P Ellis together to co-chair a meeting to discuss racial desegregation of schools and dialogue so that racial tensions in the south can simmer down.
Now remember that this is like telling ice to love fire, black people and white people hated each other immensely back in the day but nevertheless, CP Ellis and Atwater agree to this ´charade´ to find peace.
BACK TO THE OASIS AND DIALOGUE
I believe this is the bridge the Oasis Forum is trying to build between our two leaders Edgar Lungu and Hakainde Hichilema hence the reason I personally feel sad that the dialogue road seems to have hit a road-block before it even gets tarred.
The Oxford English dictionary defines dialogue as ‘a conversation carried on between two or more persons ‘.
According to my research, ´the ancient meaning of the word dialogue (dia lagos) is a” flow of meaning” which stands in stark contrast to the word ’debate’ which means to ‘beat down’, or even the word ‘discussion’ which has the same route as ‘percussion’ and ‘concussion’ or simply to break things up.
The author proceeds to say ´dialogue is a process where the participants commit to listen, reflect and question with a curious mindset to seek a shared understanding.´
A ´resolution dialogue´ has the purpose of ´resolving conflict through dialogue.´
Enough of the academic stuff, back to life and back to reality in Zambia, the case between UPND president and state President Hichilema aka Don H and Edgar Lungu aka ECL.
The sixth President agreed to a proposition to dialogue initiated by Oasis Forum, ECL agreed but with two conditions, the major one being ´set PF free from legal shenanigans.´ Shots fired!
The response from the Don H was ´no conditions´ let’s just meet and your asking for conditions borders on being ´contemptuous and preposterous.´
I thought that got off on a bumpy start because it had no tone or iota of willingness to dialogue or reconcile, the dice was loaded from the start.
THE PARRALEL OF ISRAEL AND GAZA
What happened between Don H and ECL is not very different from what is happening between Gaza and Israel where Israel has racked up a 42k dead bodies in a year against 1.2k Israelis just because they can’t dialogue around the table with the UN et al..
International mediators fostering dialogue and conflict resolution seeking a ceasefire have hit a brick wall for a year now as children and women in Gaza die needlessly because Israel says ´we wont leave Gaza, we shall keep dropping the bombs until we annihilate the human animals in Palestine called Hamas.´
Palestine conversely says we will hold onto Jew hostages from Israel until Israel totally vacates Gaza and the West bank.
Way to dialogue or ending a conflict, right?
As along as Israel holds its hard line and Hamas hankers on its own line, no peace deal is in sight in the middle east, thousands more Arabs shall find their death as Israel bombs rain on.
It is the same thing back home in Zambia for as long as Don H holds his own and refuses to agree to pre dialogue conditions, the political stalemate remains in Zambia and tensions escalate.
Its at this point that with my limited humble common sense, I ask the esteemed Oasis Forum not to give up on dialogue and give peace a chance.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE
Please put together a committee that shall look at what ECL wants and what Don H wants before they can meet and sign a potential truce because nothing development wise succeeds amid tension, hatred and dispute.
The onus in my view is ON Don H, he is the Big Kahuna here, the boss at State House.
He can end this stand-off with a blink of an eye lid, I am willing to help just as the Oasis Forum is. But does he want an end to the conflict?
I recall reading once that the absence of war doesn’t necessarily mean there´s peace in a country.
The onus to dialogue and bring peace lies right on Don H´s table and nowhere else hombres and amigos.
Zambia has crossed much more dangerous bridges and baptisms of fire, this too can be crossed, only if Don H has the will. ECL has laid his cards on the table.
Put that team together to find peace through dialogue, expand the economy and create jobs.
Poverty levels in copper rich Zambia at more than 64 pc is criminal if I may say so myself, it cannot be tackled while leader’s fight.
But then even as I preach this peace message, I realise that it might end up as a dream because I am a dreamer ´we chiloto ukwama.´
Make love not war and good luck to the ´best of enemies´ in Zambia as we grapple with prolonged days of lack of electricity in our houses. The darkness of Zambia.
–Source: The Daily Nation “Mukwita on Point.”
Contact: mukwitaone@gmail.com
Amb. Anthony Mukwita is a former Ambassador of Zambia to several European countries and a published author whose books are available in Bookworld, Grey Matter and Amazon.