In an interview, chief Mwamba said instead of being political party cadres, chiefs should provide a powerful argument as civil libertarians and become champions of the most disinherited, oppressed, wretched and physically the most ailing class in the nation.

CHIEFS are again in a political quandary ahead of the 2011 elections, says senior chief Mwamba of the Bemba people in Northern Province.

In an interview, chief Mwamba said instead of being political party cadres, chiefs should provide a powerful argument as civil libertarians and become champions of the most disinherited, oppressed, wretched and physically the most ailing class in the nation.

“As the hot race to the 2011 general elections has begun to gain momentum, the chiefs have again found themselves in a political quandary between the ruling party and the opposition as their ancestors experienced during the struggle for our independence since the nationalists regarded them as sell-outs to the imperialists,” chief Mwamba said.

The traditional ruler said he believed that a chief should ideally be an impartial leader of the people in her or his chiefdom, regardless of their political affiliation.

He said a chief’s active participation in the current cheap party politics of insults could inevitably place her or him in an adversarial position against those subjects that might have different political alignments.

“We as traditional rulers are always and permanently living with the people in villages, while politicians disappear immediately after the elections into the credit-card and chauffeur-driven world of abundance,” chief Mwamba said. “I keep wondering with dismay at those chiefs who are too critical and are also contributing to the wild, unrealistic and unattainable promises being proclaimed by politicians on both sides.”

He said he wondered if such chiefs would be in positions to give proper accounts or be answerable to the people for any shortcomings because it was obvious that the wild promises being carelessly pronounced are a political gimmick and would definitely not be fulfilled, except to those within the inner political circles.

He said he felt bound to work with civil servants and not party cadres.

However, he said the greatest problem Zambia had was that there was a distorted myth in the country that equates politics with superior intelligence.

“Therefore, our politicians at whatever level regard themselves to be ‘geniuses’ far above the collective intelligence of society,” chief Mwamba said.

Chief Mwamba, who is also chairman of the board of trustees at Radio Mano in Kasama, expressed displeasure at Kasama Municipal Council’s attempts to suppress press freedom after the community radio station aired information about misappropriation of funds based on an audit report by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing

YOU THINK UKULOLESHAFYE WILL CHANGE ANYTHING?????

Stop it! You are mental parasites.