Augustine Mubanga’s Keynote Speech at the launch of the Pastor Brian Changwe’sbook- ” Tribalism in Zambia is it real or Imaginary”?

Keynote Speech at the launch of the book-  “Tribalism in Zambia is it real or Imaginary”?

By Augustine Mubanga – MBA, BBA, PD, DA
+260 95 5880820

President- Mine Suppliers and Contractors Association of Zambia.

Friday 7th August 2020,

Mulungushi International Conference Center (MICC), Lusaka, Zambia 

I WOULD to take this opportunity to first and foremost acknowledge the presence of the Guest of Honour, The Honourable Minister, Their Royal Highnesses, invited distinguished guests may I simply say ladies and gentlemen.

May I thank the writer of this book “Tribalism in Zambia is it real or Imaginary?” Pastor Brian Changwe, for inviting me to come and give a keynote speech at this occasion. I don’t want to take this opportunity for granted.
I can only assure you that, I will provoke discussion and not disappoint you. I would like to say, the topic you have addressed in this book, on tribalism is a very difficult subject but I would like to say, you are very bold and brave a true patriot. Your Strong passion to unit people through your book is very inspirational. Many people have commented on tribalism but have not had the courage to write about it like you have done today (in this nation).

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would also like to applaud everyone who has come to this book launch for your support to the writer. Especially under these very difficult circumstances where our country and the rest of the world are grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. We have to persevere and win. Thank you to everyone who made this fantastic event possible, and congratulations to Pastor Brian Changwe for a successful book launch once again.
I would like to speak to this wonderful book, As I mentioned that the writer is very bold to write on this topic. He has given a very controversial title to his book. The writer picks a subject that affects our relationship with one another more especially with different tribes,
The subject affects our econometrics, How the resources of this nation can be distributed if other tribes other than your tribe is in-charge of the affairs of the nation and how we can conquer and win as a people and not tribes.
As I speak at this launch today, my pertain of presentation will be:
• Briefly define Tribalism
• The effect of Tribalism on the economy • Tribalism and politics.
• Conclusion.
INTRODUCTION.
• Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” —Dalai Lama.
• When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”– Jimi Hendrix
We are built to be tribal. (God is tribal in the Positive sense). But sometimes tribalism goes too far. The worst type of tribalism is when groups align to destroy other groups, such as through ethnic cleansing and genocide. We have heard the word tribalism used a lot today in reference to our politics. Today in our political world, we have “bad tribalism.” And the writer calls it Toxic Tribalism. Bad tribalism is a group identity that fosters the bullying and scapegoating of others not like you. Bad tribalism joins people out of anger, jealousy, and spite, not for collective well-being. The unfortunate irony is that bad tribalism is easy to provoke, but not healthy to maintain. Staying angry is
stressful. At the same time, good tribalism is difficult to build, but healthy to maintain. When we connect with others to ensure safety and good
health, we lower our own stress.
The writer has defined tribalism but:
What is tribalism, Oxford Dictionary defines Tribalism as follows:
• The state or fact of being organized in a tribe or tribes.
• the behaviour and attitudes that stem from strong loyalty to one’s own tribe or social group.
Tribalism is the state of being organized by, or advocating for, tribes or tribal lifestyles. Human evolution has primarily occurred in small groups, as opposed to mass societies, and humans naturally maintain a social network. In popular culture, tribalism may also refer to a way of thinking or behaving in which people are loyal to their social group above all else, or a type of discrimination or animosity based upon group differences Tribalism may also mean;
1: Tribal consciousness and loyalty especially : exaltation of
the tribe above other groups and 2: strong in-group loyalty

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to quote from the writer’s book and other writings in reference to Tribalism,
Quoting the writer of this Book, we shall witness launched today and in reference to events that took place in 1967 after the Mulungushi UNIP vote,” the nation was divided into two tribal sections. Tonga’s and Bemba’s on one side and Lozi’s and Ngonis on the other side and North Western Province remained non-aligned on this fight for power ‘at least at this point’. In the same year the UNIP Emergency National Council came up with five resolutions to deal with challenges faced by the party after their Mulungushi elections. One of these resolutions which topped the list was to do with tribalism. “That tribalism could be one of Zambia’s worst enemies and should be stamped out at all costs”.
Wina (1985) quoting Munukayumbwa Sipalo’s contribution during the UNIP Chilenje Council of 1968, Sipalo analyzed the political situation in the country and the picture he painted was a pretty dim one. Sipalo said that; what is happening in the party and public life was not good. This, he said was a cancer eating into the soul of the nation”
Again the writer quotes Hon Sikota Wina that ” The 1968 resolutions at the UNIP National Council resolved that; “having fully discussed the internal problems facing Zambia today, in particular tribalism and all its consequences, we have decided that no one tribe should cheat itself that it can rule this country on its own without the entire support of the other provinces and tribes.”
Again the writer quote the former First Republican President Dr. David Kenneth Kaunda as follows; During the 1968 UNIP National Council the time was 22:15hrs, 5th February. Dr. Kaunda addressed the council with these few words “Fellow country men and women, I have for the past several hours listened to the views expressed in this hall. I must say how deeply shocked I have been to realize for the first time how deeply divided the party is – and even more shocked to learn that these divisions are purely along the tribal lines. During my tenure of office as your president I have done all I could to try and point out that if we fall prey to tribalism, we might as well write off the Republic of Zambia. I had hoped, with God’s help, that I would succeed, but it is now clear that all my efforts have been in vain.”
The writer says Kaunda in 1962 coined and developed the slogan of ‘One Zambia, One Nation’, to try and inculcate in the people a sense of unity and oneness.
I have agreed with the writer in his observation and I quote “From this point of view the writer tends to think that toxic tribalism was there and the impact was felt. But it will take a lot of courage to admit this hard fact. We must also gather enough courage to admit that only one sector, which is political sphere, manifested toxic tribalism.”

As I make my comments on the tribalism in Zambia I tend to agree with the writer as I quote him as follows “It is important to take this into account the division we are experiencing on the political stage, which is being generalized even to other social interactions in Zambia, is so because of the unconfirmed information about our history dangling in the face of a younger generation which is the majority in this nation”. This division is deeply rooted in the hearts of the politicians.

• THE EFFECT OF TRIBALISM ON THE ECONOMY
Any economic structure is run by people who come from tribal settings, the government and its institutions are run by people who are coming from tribes. The success of any economy must ensure that professionals are the ones running the economy and not tribes. If the employment of people in Government institutions is based on tribal selection this will spell out danger and most definitely failure is a sudden option.
Tribalism has been an inherent part of the human history. There has always been competition between groups of humans in different ways and with different faces, from brutal wartime, nationalism to a strong loyalty to a football team. Evidence from cultural neuroscience shows that our brains even respond differently at an unconscious level simply to the view of faces from other races or cultures.
At a tribal level, people are more emotional and consequently less logical: Fans of both teams pray for their team to win, hoping God will take sides in a game. On the other hand, we regress to tribalism when afraid. This is an evolutionary advantage that would lead to the group cohesion and help us fight the other tribes to survive.
The writer acknowledges that the ballot paper is seen as a means to money, power, tribal prestige and many more of such. In most cases ethnic groups seek access to administrative positions in government as an opportunity for an individual tribe’s mobility and as a means of presenting group interests in the decision making process. The basic argument for a bureaucracy that draws from all segments of society for its personnel assumes that individual civil servants will articulate the values and interests of their social background. Thus influence the content and implementation of policy.
It is as if there is a feeling of dissatisfaction when there is any other man or woman from any other tribe in charge of national affairs. Unless there is a man or woman from us, when he or she gets into power we are going to be free to move within the civil service, our voice shall be heard and our tribe shall be a key in decision making process. And in the end our tribe shall be known to be a powerful, wise and resourceful. (quotes the writer)

• TRIBALISM AND POLITICS.
Tribalism is the biological loophole that many politicians have banked on for a long time: tapping into our fears and tribal instincts. Some examples are Nazism, the Ku Klux Klan, religious wars and the Dark Ages. The typical pattern is to give the other humans a different label than us, and say they are going to harm us or our resources, and to turn the other group into a concept. It does not have to necessarily be race or nationality, which are used very often. It can be any real or imaginary difference: MMD, PF, UPND, GREEN PARTY, white men, Muslims, Jews, Christians. The list goes on and on.
This human tendency and ability of destruction of what is unknown and unfamiliar is meat to the politicians who want to exploit fear:
If you grew up only around people who look like you, only listened to one media outlet and heard from the old uncle that those who look or think differently hate you and are dangerous, the inherent fear and hatred toward those unseen people is an understandable (but flawed) result.
To win us, politicians, sometimes with the media’s help, do their best to keep us separated, to keep the real or imaginary “others” just a “concept.” Because if we spend time with others, talk to them and eat with them, we will learn that they are like us: humans with all the strengths and weaknesses that we possess. Some are strong, some are weak, some are funny, some are dumb, some are nice and some not too nice.
In politics fear is a tool used to keep tribalism alive. Fear is a very strong tool that can blur humans’ logic and change their behavior. Fear is arguably as old as life. Its roots are deep in our core psychological and biological being, and it is one of our most intimate feelings. politics and religion are as old as human history.
I do agree with the writer:
A ballot paper is not enough to show how much we love each other. It is not just enough to judge a Tabwa, Nkoya, Luchazi, Luvale or Kaonde’s love for each other. No! It is not enough. It therefore would be wrong for any person to use a ballot paper which is not enough for the love we have for each other as a measuring tape
A vote has become a trap to a number of many nations Zambia inclusive. This is the same trap that pushes them into civil unrest. This kind of a trap possess itself a danger to many so called stable nations on the African continent including Zambia. Many people buy into the idea of using a ballot paper as a measuring tape for love.

Conclusion
The writer states that, the level of maturity between the freedom fighters and the current political leaders in relation to toxic tribalism is different. The former managed it with dialogue while the later feels uncomfortable to dialogue. In order to overcome Tribalism and conquer, we need to have a change of Minds. Mind set change is very key to embrace the dynamisms of our cultures and tribes.
To fight Tribalism which is real, our church leaders, traditional leadership have a natural role to play rather than a politician who have interest to protect.I still believe that we can fight this cancer that is creeping into our unity as a people and destroying the fiber of our oneness. We should never allow to accept divisive voices and segregation that are perpetuated by cowards and failures. We go to same churches, schools, hospitals even when we die we are buried next to each other in graves, so why should we allow tribalism to divide Us.?
Today is a good day, because this book speaks to our consciousness and to open our eyes for us to believe and appreciate our diversities which is our heritage.

• This is a call for us to rise above pettiness and embrace love, Like Jimi Hendrix who said. When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”– Jimi Hendrix
We here are more than enough to drive change, lets determine to bring change.

May God bless Zambia.
I thank you.

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