#PERSPECTIVE FRANK MUTUBILA WRITES ✍️
Congratulations to the people of Northern Province for reminding us of what Zambia can and should be. Your action stands as a moral statement to the rest of the country, a clarion call that national consciousness must rise above narrow loyalties. Some will insist this cannot happen in certain provinces. Others will argue it will not happen in August. That resistance itself reveals how deeply the problem runs. The truth is painful, but it must be spoken, because a nation cannot heal from a wound it refuses to acknowledge.
Zambia is divided. Tribalism sits at the centre of that division. It breeds suspicion, resentment, exclusion and quiet hatred. It turns neighbours into rivals, citizens into strangers and politics into a contest of surnames rather than ideas. It rewards mediocrity when it wears the right identity and punishes excellence when it does not. In doing so, it kills merit, destroys trust and poisons national cohesion.
This issue disturbs me deeply on a personal level. My son Mwamba Mugwagwa Mutubila is of mixed parenthood. Which tribe does he belong to. What box does he fit into in a system obsessed with labels. There are millions of Zambians like him today. Children who embody the future of this country, yet are forced to inherit divisions they did not create. A nation that defines belonging by tribe condemns such children to confusion, rejection and silent discrimination.
When votes are dictated by tribal affiliation rather than performance, accountability collapses. Failure is tolerated. Corruption is excused. Incompetence is defended simply because it comes from one of our own. The result is poor governance, economic stagnation, deepening poverty and a growing sense of injustice among citizens who feel permanently locked out. Tribal politics does not only divide us emotionally. It impoverishes us materially.
I know that speaking this truth invites criticism. That criticism itself proves how normalised this disease has become. Silence would be easier. Silence would also be dishonest. We cannot continue burying our heads in the sand and pretending all is well.
Tribal affiliation must be banished from our politics. Let us differ on ideas, policies and visions for development, but never on identity. To all political parties the message is clear. Speak about governance. Speak about the economy. Explain how you intend to change the fortunes of our people for the better.
A nation only stands tall when tribe dies. As long as tribe lives in our politics Zambia will limp. When love for country defeats loyalty to tribe, Zambia will rise.
*DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article are purely those of its author and may not reflect the views of Zambian Day – this publication. In the interest of fostering a culture of true public debate and facilitating the airing of divergent views, this publication hosts commentary and analysis of issues of public interest by different schools of thought to enrich the public discourse.
Frank Mutubila be real. You mutubila, so privileged all your life, today
can cry that Zambia is divided? UUUH. You frank mutubila, with only
3 months of formal journalism education and nothing more, got favoured and rewarded
beyond your educational achievements all the years. You were being rewarded
beyond what you deserved but tribe and some good mix up and jelling disguised your
true inequities and deficiencies. You were given opportunities to showcase your practical abilities and I am
glad you didnt disappoint. You delivered in journalistic work even though you still lacked the requisite
academic schooling. Those who favoured you, partly as we know, because of where
you came from, at least could point to your delivering on the ground, and claim that you were capable. That doesnt take away the fact that Frank mutubila was never academically qualified for the positions
he was appointed to.
During all that time, some of us saw the tribalism you are only seeing now. Frank, we have survived the tribalism since 1964. You are only seeing it today because under HH regime, no special considerations for frank mutubila like you were rewarded by sata. Wasnt it tribal for sata to appoint a less qualified journalist Ambassador? Stop pointing to tribalism like it has only started today. It has always been there in Zambia. That is why no tumbuka ever lacked a job from 1964 as long as they could read and write. Tribalism has not come because of HH. NO
Please live by just working hard quietly. That is how decent people have lived since 1964.
No one will come to you now because your time is long up and past please. Its got nothing to do with politics.
Mutubila cannot talk of tribalism today, who is he trying to fool? When PF was in power, he was quiet and even eat with his wife as diplomats, both appointed to Italy as if there were no other Zambians. In what sense is there tribalism in the winning by UPND of Kasama Mayoral elections when voters were predominantly northerners? Let him just join politics not issue uninspired opinions.
The author of tribalism in Zambia is PF. It was a defacto policy of both the party and its government personalised in the then President, Mr. Lungu. They openly talked about their tribalism and essentially ruled out the possibility of people from certain regions ascending to the presidency. They divided the nation along tribal and regional lines like no other regime before them. The wounds they left are deep and we have yet to heal.
PF was an unmitigated disaster for our country and healing from its devastating rule will take at least one generation if we work really hard at it.
Even during the just ended Kasama mayoral election, Mr. Kambwili was back with his divisive politics, shamefully dragging the funeral of the Chiti Mukulu’s late spouse into his primitive politics. How uncouth and inhuman!
Congratulations to the people of Kasama for exhibiting maturity and refusing to be duped by regional sentiments. You have shown the rest of the country how politics should be done.
HH is not perfect but held against the current contenders for the presidency, he stands head and shoulders above them all. He has shown maturity in the face of unwarranted criticism and constant harassment. He is hard working and a man of integrity. A husband of one wife and his household is disciplined.
HH has my vote.
Frank go and check NISIR where your relative Kambafwile is doing today. The worst CEO who has ever led the institution and drag it down. He was appointed on tribal lines by Brian Mushimba.
It’s unfortunate what you could be going through now, but thats what every Zambian is going. Just work hard and leave quietly
Well it seems that people are not as naive as some might think. Trying to portray that you are fighting tribalism that has just reared its ugly head and is about to engulf our nation while at the same time lacing your message with subliminal tribal innuendos just won’t cut it.
It is becoming clear now that this old chap is missing free wine in Italy. That was your moment man and it is over now. You went with you wife and came back alone. Sober up and let’s just enjoy our wine at the villagers on Friday…the place for the veterans.
Frank Mutubila is hallucinating and has nothing meaningful to offer. After years of a playboy lifestyle, he now wants to lecture the nation on tribalism. Which tribalism, exactly is he talking about?
The UPND government under President Hakainde Hichilema is an equaliser non-biased and committed to fairness for all Zambians.