WHEN DISDAIN FOR A PEOPLE GROUP CAN NO LONGER BE HIDDEN
10th March 2024
The pedestrian statement by President Hichilema that “the Northern Part has no culture of farming. We should not neglect provinces with a culture of farming because they have no rains” cannot go unchallenged.
We find the statement not only condescending and disdainful of the people from the Northern Part of Zambia but factually incorrect as well as divisive. People from the Northern Part, are not hunter gatherers, have lived there for centuries and have fed themselves from the time they came from Kola, through agriculture. As a matter of fact, the people from ‘the Northern Part’ have practised their Chitemene system and stored in their amatala enough reserves to last them until the next, and even beyond, agricultural season – something that this present Government has failed to do. If the New Dawn Government could humble themselves, they may just learn a thing or two from the culture of farming as practised by ‘the Northern Parts’.
Having travelled to Luapula Province during this 2023/24 farming season, our team were surprised by the extensive maize farming that has been undertaken as evidenced by healthy crops all over that Province. A Food Reserve Agency person spoken to, indicated that they expect nothing less than a bumper harvest from the Northern Part. Mr. President, even if your statement that Northerners have no culture of farming, had substance, people do adapt and learn to conditions that face them. People from the Northen Parts have learnt and are now growing maize and not just cassava, sorghum and millet.
Having said that, it is worth noting that there is no part of Zambia, North, East, West, South and Central, that did not and does not engage in agriculture and have a culture of farming.
Why did the President not merely say “We should not neglect provinces that do not have rains” and leave it at that? No one, in their right minds, would have disagreed with him. Why bring in ‘the Northern Part’ in that disdainful manner?
Here is wisdom. Whether we like it or not, the fact of the matter is that the rain-belt has shifted and ‘the Northern Part’ which include North-Western, Parts of Copperbelt, Luapula, Muchinga and Northern Provinces receive above average rainfalls. In addition, these same Provinces are the ones that have a lot of perennial streams, rivers and in the case of Luapula and Northern, large fresh water bodies. Other parts of the country to those mentioned above, receive less rainfall. We say this in all humility knowing that none of us are able to control weather patterns nor the location of water bodies. It is what it is. Planning around this fact, rather than making emotive and divisive statements, will greatly bring value to us.
Recognising the above, going forward, we need to plan our agricultural crop spread, not in accordance to our area of origin, but in such a way as to maximise our production from the sector – for the benefit of the whole nation. We must encourage the growth of crops that are more rain-dependant in the rain-belt and those that are more drought resistant, like sorghum, millet, cassava, cow peas and groundnuts in the drier areas. That way Mr. President, we shall leave no one behind.
Chimba Lumande.
Who said wisdom is common. It is not. It is a rare gem. It is elusive even to those entrusted with the supreme direction of the Zambian state today. Since independence, we have never had a group of leaders as those in the UPND with open disdain for people from regions other than their own. It is a wake up to Zambians to reflect on the low calibre of leaders we have today in government who are morally insensitive to the situation of others.
I meant to say, “it is a wake up call…”
Black minority rule is very dangerous.
If the statement came from mweetwa it wouldn’t have bothered but coming from the supreme leader is just an open manifestation of his deeply held negativity for the people who put him there.
From time imemorial we have not just been food secure but also practice strategic mixed farming such that failure of one crop (maize the only crop the agricultural regions the man hails from know and do as farming) does not make us declair a disaster, we go get kaleleka, bwabi, tute yandala and life goes on.
And we say AKANWA KALI MIKANDU KALAIBALA.
Sir you were not constrained to say what you said but as the holy writ says “out of the multitude of the heart the mouth speaks”
REMOVE THE BITTERNESS IN YOUR HEART, WE NEVER NEITHER DID YOU CHOOSE TO HAIL FROM NORTH OR SOUTH EAST OR WEST.
JUST APOLOGIZE FOR NOT DISTRIBUTING FERTILIZER TO THOSE REGIONS OUT OF YOUR HATRED.
Lasty be WISE- keep your words few, that is wisdom. By
Forgive him!
He was speaking in full villager mode!
After all, he is a self-confessed village champion!
He has failed to rise above his prejudices!
This explains why he makes more working visits to his village than the northern regions! It’s a tragedy for a sitting president to show this level of bias!
While it’s a good thing that CDF is distributed equitably on paper, such imisango from ba kateka can easily skew things! It explains why distribution of inputs is skewed to favor Southern province. God has a good way of exposing injustice!
Ba Kateka, if you think people in the north don’t have a culture for farming, you better start visiting the northern block more often to confront your own misplaced prejudices!
Maybe this drought is God’s way of reminding you that the northern regions which you have consistently given less inputs also has viable farmers!
All human beings were created farmers!
Stop the discrimination!
Apologize and Repent!
So when did he say this? Did he really say it or it’s like the story of police officers surrounding the home of the Emeritus Archbishop of the Lusaka Archdiocese of the Catholic Church? The story of not taking inputs to the northern region is false. The farmers themselves have been saying on camera in front of their maize fields.
Figures for Agricultural Produce are published annually from UNIP time to date. Figures don’t lie. We have different cultural backgrounds sometimes influenced by nature( living near lakes). Crop farming is good if you are progressing, trading is good if you are progressing, fishing is good if you are progressing so what is problem. We need to accept who we are and what we are good at. There is nothing wrong in learning from others and if need be change the culture. The truth remains the truth those who are farming oriented they are so, just learning from them, those who are trading oriented they are so learn from them, those who are fishing oriented they are so and life goes on. There is nothing being regionalism or what ever moreover HH is the Republican President and he has the mandate to encourage development in any part of the national without fear.