Hakainde Hichilema says the decision by the government to introduce teaching in local languages up to grade four in public schools is an attempt to impose one local language on Zambia, and that eventually, this one local language will be declared a second national language to English.
It is not difficult to discern which language Hakainde is talking about. It requires little intelligence – if a little is all one has – to realise that the language Hakainde is talking about is Bemba or Ichibemba. Over 43 per cent of our population belongs to the Bemba-speaking group of tribes. And next is the Nyanja-speaking group of tribes, which accounts for slightly over 18 per cent of our population.
There are many issues that can be raised about the government’s new policy of teaching in local languages. We don’t believe this is a policy without challenges or problems. Nobody claims that what is being done is perfect no matter how much effort is devoted to trying to make things turn out in the best possible way. Only life itself will be able to tell us where the shortcomings are and which aspects or details leave something to be desired. But we should always be able to improve the instruments we have established.
Let dignity and decorum, courage and manliness, spirit and progressive honesty take the floor. Let criticism of defects be a constant and be directed at all alike. We are referring to correct criticism, well-founded, healthy, constructive criticism at the right time and place and formulated in the right way. We should be able to make a clear distinction between criticism formulated by progressive people and ill-intentioned elements, insidious, and slanderous attacks made by selfish and destructive characters, or which play into the hands of selfish and divisive elements.
Hakainde is right; there are elements of this policy that need to be questioned, that need explanations. But Hakainde is deeply wrong both in his analysis and in his conclusions that this policy is there for the sole purpose of imposing one language on Zambians – a language that will in five years’ time be declared the second national language. This is a lie.
There are many contributors to this policy. This policy draws heavily on UNESCO’s early childhood care and education report of 2007. It is also informed by similar work from UNICEF. And there are many language experts and educationists who have been involved in this decision. However, this is not to say the involvement of these people and international institutions in itself makes the policy perfect. But when the best opinions, the opinions of the most competent men and women, the most capable men and women, are discussed collectively, they stand a better chance to be cleansed of their vices, of their errors, of their weaknesses, of their faults. We don’t think all these men and women and international institutions who were involved in this process knowingly or unknowingly rendered themselves to be accomplices, tools to be used in the imposition of one language, a second national language on our people – Bemba.
Here, Hakainde is clearly lying, is not being honest. But we all know that nothing works without honesty.
It will be impossible for Hakainde to prove this claim of his if challenged. He is simply telling lies to achieve a certain political goal of his.
But such dishonesty does enormous harm to the community. Once people lose confidence and stop trusting one another, that opens the door to veritable chaos.
Hakainde is saying all this – knowing it’s not true – in the hope that it will help him get into power. But once getting into power becomes an obsession, truth is thrown overboard.
Hakainde’s obsession with tribe is dangerous for a politician who is seeking to be president of our Republic. Every mistake, every poor policy, every defect, Hakainde sees in it or reads in it tribalism. For Hakainde, nothing happens outside tribe or tribalism. Yes, this policy can be defective, and everyone, including Hakainde, has the right to criticise it. But to immediately attribute this policy and its defects to a Bemba language domination project doesn’t make sense.
This type of excessive ethnocentrism and particularism arising from pride, jealousy, greed and selfishness is very dangerous and should not be tolerated. It deserves all the denunciation and condemnation.
Superiority complex resulting from ignorance should equally not be entertained. Prejudice and stereotyping that breed contempt, disdain and shutting oneself off is very dangerous.
Hakainde’s approach to this issue is simply manipulation of the outlook of ethnocentrism in order for him to gain power.
Tribalism is a deformed form of nationalism. Political claims based on tribalistic outlook are destructive.
All through history, tribalism has been the cause of innumerable conflicts. Among the tribes, as among individuals, dignity is a virtue and pride is a vice.
Tribes, like countries, are not closed groups. They are but a small part of a wider society: that of the human race. It is not by segregating ourselves from those who are different that we shall preserve our own particular achievements. It is by sharing them that we become richer. Refusing to share our achievements is one form of under-development; refusing to learn from others, is another. We should open our minds and hearts to the human values to be found in the language, customs and culture of the people who are about us.
It is not necessary that our tribe should be superior to others’ tribes in anything. It is enough that it be faithful to its own identity and purpose, that it contributes what it can to the common cause and receive the contribution of others in a mutual collaboration and exchange.
It is difficult to understand what type of eyes and mind Hakainde has, which only see tribe in everything. Where others see mistakes, defects, deficiencies or errors in policies, Hakainde sees a tribal domination scheme.
A lot has been said about Hakainde and tribalism but he seems to have closed up his mind and is not willing to listen to anyone or to anything. When Hakainde is mistreated or wronged by anyone who is not from his tribe, he doesn’t see it as a mere wrong but as a tribal attack. He has a serious problem and doesn’t seem to be able to change his ways. This makes Hakainde ill-suited to be a national leader of a country such as ours with 73 tribes. Hakainde can only lead a Bantustan that has only one tribe – his tribe. If he continues on this path, it will be very difficult for Hakainde to realise his dream of one day becoming president of our Republic. The choice is his.
The Post
Silungwe
January 25, 2014 at 4:14 pm
HH is not a tribalist as Mr Sata..rite HH is winning favors from lots of people he z actually in the pole position to win 2016 BUT should work hard in tribal areas like Northern and Luapula.
HH
January 25, 2014 at 4:19 pm
& who ar u yoslf & wat ar yo intetions by mentioning one language here & also hw do u think HH can influence & also wat benifits can one get frm speaking bemba let one try it & see it?
Foloshi
January 25, 2014 at 4:21 pm
Us farmers our hope is in HH
mwendabwangu
January 25, 2014 at 4:22 pm
i like hh,next president.
UMWAUME
January 25, 2014 at 4:26 pm
HH should come to terms that Bemba is a second lagest spoken language after English.Every country has a common local laguage such as South Africa,Tanzania,Malawi,and many more countries.If bemba is widely spoken does not mean that bembas are special before other tribes.No one choose to belong to Tongas,Luvales,Kachokwes.It was the design of GOD.The hate for bembas will not help HH.If I were him,I could come up with a strategy to bring on board bembas as he fight for presidence.Lastly,tribal coments can lead to tribal conflicts.Ask Rwandis,and Central Republic what tribal conflic can do.My principle still is one Zambia one nation.
Ken
January 25, 2014 at 4:29 pm
Zambia should b ruled by intellectuals not comedians i personally voted for PF but am upnd i Just wanted MMD out coz they became arrogant as the case with PF
Sata
January 25, 2014 at 4:36 pm
Bembas are many and uneducated we hope Paul mushindo and Robert makasa university including Lubwa university will help in educating the bembas as at now there just good at hurling insults
Mweembe
January 25, 2014 at 4:57 pm
Maybe lambas can take it not in luvale/kaonde/kalunda,tonga & lozi land wanya satanyoko yebo…tonga strong man is here..
mj banda
January 25, 2014 at 5:09 pm
HH has a problem of which he is the one to solve it. I do not support Sata but people shouldn’t politise every thing. Sata that mind is useless cos u will b blocking people who might be going abroad to work. If Sata is not educated, that’s not a national crisis
CHITOTELA RONALD AND ROGERS MWEWA
January 25, 2014 at 5:10 pm
IAM NOT A BEMBA BUT I LIKE BEMBA COZ IT IS THE BEST.
Janza kumbele
January 25, 2014 at 5:51 pm
Zambians
A good local language to promote is that with good morals and cultures that promote prosperity of Zambia. Some of these languages widely spoken are responsible for impoverishment of Zambia owing to their cultures. Most Zambians are now rejecting impoverishing cultures and their accompanying languages. A language widely spoken that negates development is useless. In RSA people have rejected such languages already.
Monkey
January 25, 2014 at 5:57 pm
You re bemba chikala
icinshikululwa
January 25, 2014 at 6:14 pm
HH walikowela; your blood iz full of useless tribe dnn, what’s wrong with you young old man!? Are you mad? Tawakula bwino. Can you quit b4 you finish and dstroy our good Tonga tribe group. UPND; you luck of leadership in chosing will end you. HH will live to be remembered sa selfish young old man; who managed to distroy a well founded party. Just watch, this is Zambia baba!
wazanga
January 25, 2014 at 6:30 pm
hh is bad in all terms
Kayla
January 25, 2014 at 6:40 pm
It is sad indeed to always think in the line of tribe!! I feel sad that if we are not careful we will find ourselves divided as a nation. We harbor too much hatred, it’s too embedded in our lives. Let’s operate beyond tribal lines, we are all one with the same desires, tribe is just accident that we find ourselves born into!!!
temwanani
January 25, 2014 at 7:31 pm
I long for the time were atleast one local language shall be used up to univesity leval in our mother Zambia. I think this is the bigning of tha direction of my dream. Long live Sata may God bless you and keep you from all sorts of sicknesses.
We should pray for our leaders for it is duty of Christians
humphrey
January 25, 2014 at 8:47 pm
Lets be analytical for once. Common language in luapula, northern, muchinga, copperbelt, parts of central and lusaka provinces is bemba. Nyanja will be used in Eastern province and parts of Lusaka. Lozi will be used in Western province. Tonga will be used in southern and parts of central provinces. Luvale and kaonde will dominate North- western. From this analysis, its clear that someone is promoting BEMBA over all other languages. We will learn using local languages as a subject and NOT AS A MEDIUM OF EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTION. ABASH BEMBA HEGEMONY.
umwaume mukalamba
January 25, 2014 at 9:04 pm
HH will never be termed everything to him is not about Zambia but tribe, he is a danger to our society.Remebmber one time he told sakwiba that he can not be UPND president because he is Lozi and that he will bring about barotse issue.HH will never be president of Zambia has long as he remainds tribalist.
KALUMBA
January 25, 2014 at 11:30 pm
If a leader of the opposition party like HH wants to be a leader of this country, then the least he should be talking about is this language o tribalism. By now people HH should know that Bembas are only found in parts of Northern (not even half of Northern Province) and possibly a quarter of Muchinga Province. The rest of the two Provinces, Luapula, part of Central and Copperbelt are not Bembas but if they committed a crime by soberly agreeing that they all start speaking and using Bemba as a medium of communication then they made a very good decision because this has united them and the whole region (Northern, Muchinga, Luapula and Copperbelt) became a BEMBA SPAEKING REGION and not that peoples or tribes of these areas are all Bembas. Given an axe to go and kill all the Bembas then the Ushis, Ng’umbos and others from Luapula; the Tabwas like myself, Lungus, Mambwes and others from Northern Province, the Tumbukas, Namwangas and others from Muchinga Province and other tribes from Copperbelt would all be killed for being Bemba-speaking people and not necessarily for being Bembas. In the same vein, it is not fair to call everyone who comes from Southern Province as being a Tonga when there are other tribes like Ilas as well.
Choosing a certain language as a medium of communication/instruction has not started today. There are over 73 tribes in Zambia and whoever, decided that only Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi, Kaonde, Luvale and Lunda should instead be used to represent the rest should then be blamed for that if there is anything to blame them for. I remember that in the colonial government to become a District Commissioner one had to be trained and be fluent in four of the Zambian languages i.e. Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga and Lozi and who complained? The police were trained to speak mainly in Nyanja and who complained? Let us not bring these issues on minority now because the mistake has already been made and which is now being diffused by intermarriages. May be what we need to be telling the government is that these intermarriages should make us remain with English as a medium of instruction and we then allow all these local languages to die a natural death with dire consequences on our uneducated local communities who only communicate using these very local languages as no one would be talking to them in these local languages. How do you govern them? Poor school results from most of our villages are not a result of unintelligent pupils but that the language used which pupils understand best is the local language of that area and even teachers teach them in this very local language with most of the explanations being made in a local language for a child/pupil to understand anything at all.
Let us weigh the benefits of these local languages and stop talking about this tribalism which is known to be very divisive indeed.
CHIPASA "INGE"
January 25, 2014 at 11:44 pm
My piece of advice to HH; Please do not let soldiers of the war think twice and turn back to embrace the enemy. Such talk is very dangerous and it is a sure way of discouraging people to move forward with you . There is nothing wrong if all our people, one day, became conversant and communicate in icibemba. I speak bemba and of a bemba dialect but i have not seen how important i have been over those who may not speak the language. If what is attributed to Hakainde is true, then i doubt if he is a people unifier. To be sincere, the language policy in schools is misplaced and will just create more problems than solutions. The ideal situation would be tolerant to accommodate children to express themselves, whilst in class, in any language that a teacher may understand, and not necessarily all pupils,and then the teacher responds to the concern of a child and make a point that the teacher explains to the class, in case some children may not have followed the conversation.
l
January 26, 2014 at 12:16 am
Kalumba and others……..
Oooh poor HH. You have touched the red button again by stating the obvious – the bemba dominance. It is obvious that bemba is spoken in Lusaka, Central, Copperbelt, Luapula, Northern, Muchinga while it is not spoken widely in Western, Southern, North-Western (except Solwezi) and Eastern provinces. The sad part is that since PF came to power an impression has been created that bemba tribe (instead of language) is dominant in Zambia. This is the first time this has been allowed in Zambia by our politicians. The bemba composition of Cabinet and the diplomatic corps have raised eyebrows. The voting on tribal lines as well as the many comments from bloggers mocking HH for being Tonga and wanting to make Lusaka “dirty” by bringing cattle into the city are public knowledge. Indeed so much has been said about the tribe of this man (in cibemba for that matter) such that anyone who cares to notice will clearly see that HH has been a victim of tribal smear. Having sibemba widely spoken has puffed up some people to a point of pouring scorn on the so-called minority tribes especially when on one of theirs shows up on the Zambian political scene as HH is doing today. The question begging an answer today should be; “Should Zambians be denied the opportunity to have its cream in leadership just because the candidate belongs to the so-called minority tribes?”.
HH is not lying. He is responding to what is being said about him and around him and his tribe – most of it is written or spoken in icibemba. HH is merely reacting to the pain being inflicted on him, his tribe, relatives, friends and sympathisers. It is people like you Kalumba who are lying and twisting facts. We are not all blind and deaf, thanks be to God.
MiG
January 26, 2014 at 6:13 am
The biggest mistake most non-Bembas make is to assume that all tribes in Northen , Luapula and Muchinga province speak one language! What other tribe apart form bembas speak bemba language? Lunda’s in Luapula speak lunda, bisa speak bisa, Mkushi area they lala, these are different languages which make up the 75 languages of the country!
HH is a Xenophobe,he hates whites, other blacks except those of his tribe.
chile1
January 26, 2014 at 7:07 am
HH is a sadist,am tired of seein his sad face,the man is eva sad,learn to smile @ tymz Mr HH
WHY TRIBE
January 26, 2014 at 8:04 am
why told about tribe if you want to become a leader for all zambians. zambians are not forgetfull they always remember what you so called leaders are doing and the statements you are giving on tvs and radios
Espionage
January 26, 2014 at 9:10 am
One Zambia one Nation
shorts
January 26, 2014 at 9:18 am
Iwe ka under five,vuto yako ni chani kansi
Bongobongo
January 26, 2014 at 9:42 am
@chile1, you are spot on my brother. I completely agree with you. What kind of a leader is HH who never smiles? Chikulu chamukalipa HH, and one day ichikonko chakwe ichaikala pamukoshi will simply strangle him dead.
Dim Wit
January 26, 2014 at 10:37 am
Bembas are never keen on learning other languages!
Other tribes have had to accommodate them by learning and speaking Bemba.
It is not a sign that Bembas have conquered or a sign of weakness in the other tribes!
Unfortunately this misinterpretation of reality is quite explosive these days following the incumbent’s total disregard for tribal balancing by appointing Bembas in >90% of public office positions. This is now surely a ticking time bom.b!
Reveal
January 26, 2014 at 10:43 am
Let HH bury himself in his foolish pride. Zambian tribes are at peace,
Let them suffer quietly.HH is a trilionaire,jelous down.
ak75
January 26, 2014 at 12:31 pm
I wonder if sata was the one who introduced bemba . first , the founding fathers agreed to come up with seven languages to represent the rest of 73 tribes which are in zambia and have been in use ever since .
now i wonder why the leader whom i somehow trust can be so pessimitic with the government good intention .
BC
January 26, 2014 at 2:19 pm
I am Bemba; I have never belonged to any political party before and I am now willing to join UPND. The way the Bemba speaking group responds to HH’s concerns brings out the worst of tribalism in the hearts of the people in the group.Lets have a Lozi Finance as Lozis are A very educated group and a Tonga Information minister as for me I am have said it I am joining UPND.
pompwe
January 26, 2014 at 3:52 pm
pf post maggots..
Mmembe is Satan's son
January 26, 2014 at 5:22 pm
No tribe was mentioned but Tumfweko and Daily PF mail had to bring in the word “Bemba”.
Tunfweko is being paid to publish Mmembe’s vomitorials.
PF cadres are eating it like piles of nshima going free.
PF must be voted out in 2016
January 26, 2014 at 5:26 pm
Sata is the ugliest president of Zambia ever.
Its easy to see he is the tribalist by his choices of jobs given and his Bemba canibet meetings.
His fighting the Bemba chief is not about tribe but money from the area.