Hyde Haguta
Land and power are usually the source of conflicts and wars the world has witnessed since time immemorial.
In some case, the battle is drawn against fauna and flora with the former having an upper hand over the later.
In Zambia for for instance, a lion that was terrorrising domestic animals in Chief Sikoongo’s area in Southern Zambia, was on October 30 last year killed by revengeful villagers according to reports from Mukuyu Project.
However, in human leadership, power in this sense is not measured on the basis of physical strength as for flora, but rather the ability to rule over others.
According to dictators, it means exercising an influence (by the powerful) over the subjects (the weaker ones of the kingdom).
It means enslaving subjects to the wills and dictates of the leader, whatever his or her kind, traditional, religious, and political and so forth.
Power is actually a cross-cutting force that can break up people’s social, family and occupational ties and geographical mobility.
That in itself then presents a source of conflicts as people will resent such a leader.
HISTORICAL AND PRESENT ROOT CAUSES OF CONFLICTS AND WAR
In the history of the world, some of conflicts stem from tribal or ethnic misgivings and religions intolerance among others.
The former is the source of 1994 Rwanda Genocide which saw the battle line being drawn between the Tutsis and Hutus.
The later is the source of perpetual conflicts and wars in the Middle East, Kashmir while in Afghanistan the issue becomes more complex.
In Zimbabwe, the present economic malaise that that country faces all started with the current regime’s land reforms.
Whether, the intention was good but perhaps poorly executed is another matter.
The fact is that land wrangles was one of the key issues that may have brought Zimbabwe to a shameful status quo.
ZAMBIA’S RECORD – PROUD AND FREE!
However, Zambia has enjoyed peace in the last four decades albeit with negligible political difference and land and succession disputes among chiefs.
For a multi-ethnic country with about 73 tribes to enjoy peace in such a long time, credit must first go to God and secondly, the people of Zambia who are governable and their successive leaders who united them.
How grateful the country should be to former President Dr Kenneth Kaunda.
He chose a path of peace even when Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) late leader Ian Smith bombed some of Zambia’s strategic infrastructures like Tuta Bridge and others.
This he did all to discourage Zambia from supporting freedom fighters like Robert Mugabe and late Joshua Nkomo who were at the time fighting Zimbabwe’s independence.
Extending the discourse, it is not an over statement of truth that Zambia actually fought with Zimbabwe in that country’s liberation struggle.
ZAMBIA’S ROLE IN SOUTH AFRICA AND ANGOLA
South Africa owes much of its success over apartheid to the role that Zambia played. Most freedom fighters prominent among them former president Thabo Mbeki lived and fought from Zambia.
In the post Kaunda era, his successor Dr Frederick Chiluba initiated the historic Angola peace initiative in May 1995.
His was the effort that saw the first ever meeting between incumbent Angola president Jose Eduardo dos Santos and shake hands with his late rival and MPLA rebel leader Jonas Malheiro Savimbi.
Only last year Zambia’s late president Mwanawasa defied the odds of diplomatic silence by African leaders and voiced out his disapprove of Robert Mugabe’s poor style of election management and leadership style.
Yet shortly after Dr Mwanawasa’s demise, Zambia went to the polls and chose a new leader RUPIAH BWEZANI BANDA in a peaceful manner.
The world actually does not seem to know that Zambia has a new president although they remember that the country lost its president last year.
It is all because the country went through a peaceful power transition.
This is the proud record Zambia enjoys and hopefully will continue to shine as a living an example.
THREAT TO PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT
It gives me sad reading therefore that in a country so immersed with this honour of being reputed a hub of peace in sub-Saharan Africa, there can be a chief Chipepo in Zambia instigating strife!
A chief urging villagers to demarcate land belonging his subjects, encouraging them to ransack property of another.
If the correct position is that the government’s recognised traditional leader for the area is chief Sikoongo, by what power then is chief Chipepo attacking innocent people for their allegiance to chief Sikoongo?
HEIN MYBURGH a volunteer at Mukuyu Child Support project tells me that “while putting up the fence in the afternoon I was met by a mob of about 40 drunk villagers from Chalokwa. They were led by the secretary of Chief Chipepo and I was overrun, slapped around, cursed and insulted”.
“Without being given any chance to have my say I was cuffed and dragged to a waiting truck about a kilometre away in quite a violent way.Reaching the truck I saw that Chief Chipepo himself was waiting there, clearly being the one who instigated all this himself”. MYBURGH says.
But that was not the end of the story for MYBURGH as he was “taken to Siavonga police station an hour away where I was left in cuffs until about 21:30 [9 30 pm local time] that night”.
He adds that “the police who are severely compromised by the strong influence of Chief Chipepo refused to let me go and demanded I be thrown into the cell even though no charge was laid”.
PRIMITIVE BEHAVIOUR
What was chief Chipepo up to? I fail to understand why a chief would resort to intimidation in order to force obedience even on innocent and defenceless volunteers helping to better the lives Zambians.
More illogical, MYBURGH is not even a local breed in Sikoongo although he may be serving local interests – the people over whom chief chipepo wants to preside.
How can he justify the brutalising of a person giving aid to his coveted subjects?
The best way to force obedience is never to force obedience at all!
A leader must serve the subjects as a servant and not victimise them.
If Chief Chipepo wants the villagers’ allegiance, he must behave like a politician who knows what to tell the electorates – campaign peacefully!
Chief Chipepo should not sink so low and paint Zambia with the primitive age of bow and arrow in his efforts to gain control over disputed territory!
In fact, if this is the correct account of what he did, Local Government Minister BENN TETETAMASHIMBA should de-register chief chipepo and dissolve his so called territory.
Similarly, Acting Inspector General of police Francis Kabonde should unleash his men and arrest chief chipepo for breach of public peace, assault, and being an accessory before and after facts.
His actions encouraged the villagers to ransack MYBURGH’S house and theft of all property.
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