 So tonight I have come to you now to talk about tribalism because it's a debate in the nation It's been debated on media stations and mean in media houses across the country And I thought that we need to talk about this and wait in on these matters now The reason I have responded so quickly and so Emotionally and please allow me to dare as I speak that I am I may be a little weepy because I am really Unhappy about the direction of this debate that a lot of our young people do not know what the repercussions of such Carelessness can bring to our country and that is why there's a thread of unhappiness in my voice today Because I'm dealing with the subject that I have prayed and asked God to allow me to say it in a way that it can build Us and not divide us that it can inspire us to do something about this Approaching enemy and stop it as quickly as we can So let me start by saying when I heard one of my young brothers by the name of Tyali mentioned bambas and Placed them at the center of this debate. I Could not hold back but have this Production and this discussion and conversation with the Zambian people Because we first of all have to understand I am a member and I will be introducing myself in the next few minutes the question is Does mr. Tyali qualify to say what he said on behalf of them of bambas? Does he have the authority to even disrespect or insult a senior member best on his own? assessment for political reasons and That's what gives him the authority to insult a senior leader in this country without any remorse Setting an example to our younger generation that they can do this anytime they want So because I'm a member I thought that I qualify to deal with this matter and I want to deal with it with the authority that I believe I Do have based on Where I'm coming from the first thing that I've said in introducing myself, of course I'm a member from Tinsali like I said Tinsali is there. It's the heart of the Bamba people We call it quichinga. That's where the Chitimukulus are laid to rest. That is the Capital city of the Bamba people so I do qualify I grew up there I did I was not born in town having a village in Tinsali I grew up in Tinsali Understood the culture of our people and what it is important to us and what is not important to us And I believe that the Bamba people have certain values that they Embrace and have embraced for centuries and not a single individual a political leader is going to take that away from us as a People we shall stand with our dignity with our respect and we shall make sure that we represent ourselves in the appropriate manner not to say Bambas are this way because we see one Bamba Like I've said most of the time every village has one that just goes off and that should not be the person That defines that people group that should not be the person that defines that people group Therefore, I am asking the Zambian people from the north south east west and east not to take the words of Mr. Tyali as representing the The people the Bamba people and what they believe and what they stand for First of all the credentials don't support him Because the question is in what author with what authority In what authority is he walking to be able to say the words he said? So we would like our colleagues across the country to disregard that, but I introduced myself as coming from Chinsali The name sequela is a name that actually appears on the list of the Chitimukulus and There was a Chitimukulu by the name of sequela the 19th Chitimukulu or sequela Places me right into the center of this debate and qualifies me to talk about that I also would like to mention that from the political point of view with dr. Kenneth Kaurinda gone with with Simon Moisaka Pue Pue gone with Michael Satter gone with Frederick Chiluba gone with Lupando Muapio gone. I could say with confidence that Political in terms of positions held in this country at a political level I remain the most senior political leader from the Northern Bloc and therefore I qualify to be able to say one or two words Concerning this very very touchy subject I Also come of course from the church as a senior leader of the church who has preached the gospel in this country for 44 years And some people think this issue we're dealing with with tribalism is a political and social matter But it is also a spiritual matter The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6 and verse number 2 that we fight against we do not fight against flesh and blood But against principalities powers the rulers and the darkness of this world because they are rulers From the darkness of this world that would like to control this country or to divide this country Or to put this country into jeopardy where we start to fight against each other So we are going to use that background of church work and obviously I remain a family man Married with children and grandchildren and the very foundation of any nation or any people is the family unit And therefore I present myself To the Zambian people to deal with this subject because I believe I qualify to talk about the repercussions of this situation Now my young brother and you must understand I talk about him because he talked about it and I'm not trying to Exaggerate his situation except to say that he probably is not speaking on his own behalf They could be those people that could have talked to him or encouraged him to say what he said Something that I'm going to just take one line and deal with it because the subject is vast In his statements In one of the things that he said Was to cause senior leaders of Bemba descent as useful idiots Useful idiots the interpretation that he gave was that Those who support a non-Bemba president like Haka in the hitch lemma or make Statements that are positive over any one of his programs and he's Bemba. He's a useful idiot fellow countrymen such a statement should never Come from a human being who has been born of a woman and a man and fears God and Realized that we are all created equal in the sight of God There are no tribes That God uses to divide people God created us in his own image That is why when the white people came and tried to suppress us abuse us and use us as slaves God stood for us and we started to get our independence and now almost the hope of Africa today is liberated because God could not look down upon Those who have been oppressed the same thing with Egypt. I mean Israel in Egypt Continued to be oppressed by the Egyptians until God gave deliverance to Israel the same thing here every person in Zambia who Qualifies to be a Zambian must be respected and honored and must support Who so ever you once whether someone from his own tribe or somebody from another tribe? That's not the point. The point is we must build Zambia together So we want to distance ourselves as the Bemba people have given you my CV I would like Mr. Tayali also to give us his CV of what he has done for this country the Sacrifices that he has made for this country the price that he has paid to create the current Zambia, which is at peace with itself He needs to give his own CV so that we can see where he's drawing the authority to make such huge statements with the capacity to divide us as a nation Useful idiots. That's what he calls Big people the interpretation of that is that to support a Bemba leader in his eyes Is okay. It is normal But if any other tribe the Bemba support any other new leader in the country in this case Let's be specific President Haka Inde Chilema is the president of this country. He's a Tonga from southern province So the implication of the statement of my young brother is that any Bemba who supports HH is an is Is as we are hearing it. He is a useful idiot Now some of us have been insulted before so I would not take it personally But I just want him to see the fact that the path he has taken Nobody is going to follow him because that's not who we are That's not Zambia and I think that I'm disappointed that we can start to discuss this today Now let me help him to understand The implications of his statement when he says that those Bembas who support HH and he mentioned people like Mrs. Mutalo Nalumang with the current vice president of the Republic of Zambia Now obviously even from the point of view of seniority She is a mother. She can be a mother to Thayali She has contributed Massively to this country. She has been many things before she came into politics She has a whole her whole history of being a teacher and everything else that she was I've only known her since she's been in politics when I was vice president She was minister of labor. She was also a minister of information After what she became deputy speaker of the National Assembly now. She's vice president and Mr. Thayali raises his finger to speak so Humiliatingly to a lady that has jeopardized her life for this country and call her a useful idiot This is not the Zambia we are going to create This is not the Zambia that our children are going to inherit We will not allow the Thayalis of this world to change who we are We are a dignified people who are a people who respect those that are Order than us or if they go wrong We have protocols in which we can discuss those issues But to call Mrs. Nalumango a useful idiot forget about me I'm called many things and I can handle that but I think that it's unfortunate that our brother said that but the implication of that is that Mr. Harin Kumbala who worked right alongside dr. Kenneth Kaurunda to liberate this country They gave this country the very best Mr. Harin Kumbala was a tongue the man a Well-to-do man who invested a lot of his money in the liberation movement even helping the President Kaurunda many times in order for independence to come to us When time came the elections came and unique one, but they didn't have enough numbers ANC led by Harin Kumbala decided to combine their votes and to form a government that gave us the new Zambia He could have said I will not do it because I want to be president as well But he chose Zambia beyond himself He chose Zambia beyond himself According to my young brother Mr. Harin Kumbala is a Useful idiot because he supported a member instead of not supporting a member he is by implication saying that They revered Naluminum undias of this world were useful idiots for supporting Kenneth Kaurunda at that time He means that they revered Humphrey Mulembas of Northwestern province were useful idiots for supporting Kenneth Kaurunda as president He is also going as far as saying Ruben Kamanga from Eastern province was a useful idiot Why did they support a member person that is the reverse of what you're saying? That is the reverse of what you're saying He is actually saying people like V. J. Mwanga who have demonstrated That level of commitment to country that tribe to him did not matter and Supported Kenneth Kaurunda in the manner he did You are calling V. J. Mwanga a useful idiot These men and many others a long list of them can never be useful idiots these are patriots who loved this nation and Died to self so that Zambia could live knowing fully. Well, they can only be one president at a time and They died to self and allowed their colleague to be president and supported him Against even their own feelings of saying I wish I was the president So my young brother on this one you do not represent anyone from our province You don't represent the Zambians on the street because we are one people Zambian people decide who they make president They will make a president anybody they want he can come from any province of this country our Responsibility whether we are opposition or we have belong to the ruling party or civil society Is to ensure that where this government or the president is doing right? We must stand with him and supporting just like the order group supported Kenneth Kaurunda Supported Fredric Chiluba supported all the other presidents those who supported them and crossed the tribe Cannot be useful idiots. They are patriots They are real Zambians with the spirit of God to build this country So my brother if we want to do politics do it away Do it away from these issues that have held us together for all these years Don't weaponize our tribes and no one has any right to weaponize the tribes that God has given to us so Let me Make a statement here that really expresses how I feel about what has happened to my young brother Any one of us that has been given an opportunity to have a following whether it's on social media Facebook Twitter Whatever it is Instagram, and you have a huge following God and the Zambian people call for responsibility in how you speak and present yourself to those people The fact that your followers does not mean you are doing the right thing all the time Anybody can have followers on Twitter anybody can have followers on Facebook people with really questionable behavior can also have following their prostitutes that have Following on Facebook that you cannot challenge. It does not mean what they represent is what Zambia needs So the fact that one has a following does not make him special Because people are anxious to find out what why this guy behaves this way why this woman behaves this way So they follow that person don't misinterpret that to mean that you are so popular Everybody likes what you represent. No, they look at you and wonder does this world have people like this? So please let us be careful when we address people Let's not deal with issues of tribalism in the manner of weaponizing tribes against one another We must stop that Kenneth Kounder would say to my young brother to early stop it stop it young man Stop it right now because that's a wrong direction to take and I hope that my young brother Understands that there are many things he can say and do but this thing we have come a long way And I thought I needed to say that now. Let me move to something else that is also on my heart I've talked about responsibility Now let me go into actual issues that are connected to tribalism that have a reason over the past few days and weeks my young brother Antoni warrior was deployed from state house and sent to Tanzania as deputy High commissioner and there's a debate around that and the reason I talk about it is because it's connected to Tribalism some of these people that we are talking about have now gone to town to say that he has been removed from there I'm taken to Tanzania because he's been back once again Can tweak grow beyond tribe and start to realize that a president has the right and prerogative to appoint and to disappoint to promote and to demote as Long as he feels this is the best way to build the country He always has to think of the best team at any given time that we help him build the country Look if I were president this will not even be a question. I'll be dealing with because I would appoint people Based on their capability and not always to be pushed around to say that you know There are too many members. Yeah, there are too many losses. Yeah, there are too many tongas here But because this president and other president have constantly wanted to make sure that we are balanced in trying We do the best we can but that doesn't take away the authority and the right that the president has to appoint to disappoint to also promote or demote and I think what is important here to my colleagues is that let us serve the Zambian people Let's save Zambia not the positions that we talk about. They are not important not as important But being able to serve the Zambian people in any category Of course, there is this thing that is going around that Anthony has been demoted and because he's a member you know the position he held of spokesperson for the president is Equal to the deputy secretary to cabinet and now he has gone to the deputy director and therefore they have demoted him And it's become a big deal. Well, the truth of the matter is that look You can be promoted and you can be demoted. We have a question of General me under who was moved from being vice president of this country to minister of education Because his focus was on service to the Zambian people are not positions That man served in a manner that shocked this nation as a minister of education Position was not an issue to him I felt I also had that situation as you know former vice president becoming A high commissioner in Canada a position which is below permanent secretary But I served with joy Because I was able to represent my country and to be able to put the agenda of Zambia to the western world in the manner that I did So there is no big position and no small position Even the assistant director that they refer to as being equal to the ambassador. It is not even true ambassador You know the deputy director doesn't fly a flag The deputy director is not the one who mingles with presidents in foreign countries and Expresses the position of the president of the country to those presidents. It's ambassadors So every position has got its blessings and its strengths and therefore We say what we are saying today to make a point that those who are saying Anthony has been demoted. They are just trying to use that to further push this talk about The tribalism I'm not afraid to answer difficult questions. I've seen some people that are asking some real Questions that they consider difficult. Let me deal with some of them today because I know you're not expecting me to deal with them Somebody said look president And I'm not a spokesperson for president. I'm a spokesperson for truth and for my country That's why my vision is Zambia shall be saved and I believe that where president Haga in the dilemma is doing the right thing He knows he has my support and I will not flinch or apologize To salute him when he does something that brings Zambia back in order from what it used to be and create a semblance of No mercy where we can make proper decisions because confusion is no longer there And carders are no longer running the country But people given the author to run the counter running and I salute him for that But some people are saying yeah, but he has appointed people from one province He has appointed the IG of police from the same area, which they call Northwestern Rhodesia I don't know if you know why we continue to call ourselves and divide our country in those positions You know, that is western province northwestern province and southern province They say the IG is from there. The Zaf commander is from there The army commander is from there the ZNS commander is from there They go through the list and talk about all that. Let me tell you the truth about these issues Without referring to the previous regimes and how they lined up those positions You can go back and see how they lined them up, but that is not really my approach My approach is that even in that situation The president has the prerogative to decide who he puts there And I believe that if you have a question for him, you can ask him And he will probably tell you why he put that person there and why he put that person there If tribe becomes the only thing to fight about You are always going to be fighting because there will never be a perfect government with equal members of Different tribes feeling the cabinet and feeling the government. No president has ever been able to do that President Hakainda Ichilema knows That he needs every Zambian to support him He needs Zambians from northern province. He needs Zambians from eastern province. He knows he does So he knows that even in his appointments He has to make sure that he balances that And we pray that that continues to happen But I do not think that it is right for us to say that Now he has become trouble because he has done that I've already told you that if I am president and I find that the most suitable person to be IG Is Is a period and I find out that the best person to be the army commander is a Mwanza Then I find out the best person to be ZNAC commander is a or rather You know these names from eastern province, which we you know, we find difficult to talk about Is they're all from eastern province. I'll use them because they qualify Because Zambia has been brought to a place where we understand that we're one people And of course in another department, you can have other tribes You can have but you have to make sure that every Zambian feels represented And I I believe the president understands this and is listening to this I want to go to the second question That has become a very touchy subject I I'm not afraid to talk about anything. They talk about the question that I'm seeing they keep asking But why is it that the people in southern province always vote for upnd And according to them for mr. Haka in the echelon and not anybody else And this is coming from some of our colleagues in the northern province And it really sounds like a real great Point when you don't think through it Ladies and gentlemen, we must come to understand that People are going to vote the way they want to vote If you want to find out why they vote that way It's a scientific research that you need to do go to southern province Ask those people why they vote that way do a census Because you're interested in one day being voted for by the people in southern province That question of why do the southerners vote for upnd should go right along another question Why is it that Haka in the echelon Was always rejected in the northern bloc for all these years That anytime it put his name out there. He lost By huge margins Why did he lose in the northern province and yet he was winning in southern province? This is a scientific research that you need to do and I think For me when I talk about this matter. I know how hard That president Haka in the echelon afford president Haka in the echelon found mean politics We started politics together with president under son masoka myself And I know that even in 2001 under son masoka carried southern province So people say yes, it is HH who is just you know, taking advantage of southern province on a tribal line. No, it's not They have a reason That they used to convince their province to vote for them whatever it is Just like my elder brother the late michael sat He convinced the northern bloc that he was the most appropriate president And he didn't even need southern province. He didn't need western province He didn't need northwestern province to win the presidency. He won the presidency without those provinces So that's why he said at the beginning If you think tribalism is there, yes, it is there But it is up to us to make sure that we Like what president Haka in the echelon has done over the years Is to keep knocking into northern province Keep pushing into northern province and I can assure you having campaigned with him in 2006 He earned each one of those votes the hard way He will reject him. He will go back. They'll reject but he never told them you are tribalists You only vote for members. He didn't say that because he knew one day he would need them to vote for him Now our colleagues that continue to condemn southern province tomorrow You will need the vote of the southern province. There will be no Haka in the echelon standing and the southern province And may want to vote for another person But they will not vote for you because they will remember what you keep calling them In democracies you go and find what is going on in southern province And persuade them to vote for you find ways in which they can vote for you Just like H H found a way for northerners to vote for him in the last election And I want you to know that even if we insult him or we want we won't change the minds of the southern province people We have to have a good reason for them to change to vote for anybody else Because at the end of the day We will see the sacrifices our brother my brother a church made in northern province I traveled with him during the campaigns He even taught himself In order to find a way to be accepted by northern province to the extent that one day He he actually used the bumper where he should not have used publicly and everybody rose up against him I didn't rise up against him because I knew how hard he was trying To learn the language so that he can communicate with our people in the language that we understand now That is what the northern bloke the eastern bloke any other bloke Political leader is expected to do you want southern province to come to you go there Learn some some some Tonga. How many of us in the northern bloke can speak Tonga That can do that And all I'm saying is if you want that group to vote for you tomorrow Have a strategy for southern province When I stood as president of the movement for multi-party democracy I lost in my own province in northern province My brother I'm cutting but when we went to southern province a province that is not mine But a province in which I had made myself clear that I'm one of you. I went to school there And you know for whatever it matters my first girlfriend was a Tonga girl And Told me things that I never knew about them started to learn Tonga and all the Tonga they told me and my friends at Hillcrest were insults Just like my colleague HH was speaking insults in one insult in northern province, but we were learning So all I'm saying is that if you want to break into East southern province Find political means in which to win the hearts of the people in that province Insulting them and telling them they are tribalists because they vote one way. We will not change the situation Let's withdraw from this tribal preoccupation and put Zambia in the center of what we need And I want to say this today Because I call for responsibility in all of us leaders That let us work together to rebuild this country Let us work together to ensure that every Zambian feels comfortable President HH is listening right now To all the debates that are going on and I know he's taking His notes to make sure that he does what is right and what the people are talking about And it is important that I've said it before Those of us that have supported President Haga and Hilema on some issues We do so having known where we are coming from That some of the things is doing may not show until in the next year or two And he needs to be encouraged on this path of creating order in this country But we are doing so because we love Zambia Not this talk they talk about that you are looking for jobs. These are job seekers. They call them Useful idiots. I think let's withdraw those words. All of us have only one job I have a job already So this thing of saying job seeking is really what we call it belongs to the bottom feeders That's what we call them in the united they call them in the united states They're bottom feeders. They think about jobs as being the way to save themselves It's job will not help you if you cannot take The opportunities that are presented in the country use your hands use your head to create a job for yourself In an environment that is now being created This thing of looking for jobs will not answer your questions Yes, some people be given jobs, but how many jobs are in government? Can can all the 19 million people get jobs in government impossible? So what happens to the rest of us? You've got to use your heart your gift that god has given to you to make sure you make yourself useful in building the country So what job should we all have? It's a job of uniting zamir Never spoon but already has a job of uniting this country And I would like all of us to make sure that we submit ourselves to this very very important program So I am going to end now by saying I have said what I've said to say What has been said about members? By my young brother does not represent the views and the position of the BEMBA people First of all the credentials of our brother Do not give him the authority to speak against or insult a senior BEMBA leader in this country And we think that we need to openly Disown that and we have made it very clear That if president Haka'in Ichilema goes wrong somewhere We will be the first people to tell him you're going the wrong way If he goes the right way, we will tell him as we've been telling him And there's nothing wrong with that and I think that zambians must support this president in his efforts But when he goes off zambians must remind him that that is not the right way And I think that it is expected in a democracy but to call those people That are supporting that program of government as useful idiots. It's not who we are We are not that way Zambians are not like that This is not the zambia that would like to live in the hands of our children Let's respect one another. Let's love our country and let's make sure That we use right words. You can win an election without insulting another person If god wants you to be a president he will make a way He will make a way It may not be today But if you remain faithful and you want to be president Insults are not the way there But a love for the people of this country a love for god will get you there It may take long But stay the course But let's not be abusive of one another. I thank you And may god bless each one of us. Thank you