| What Zambia Needs in 2007 |
| Written by Mubita C. Nawa | |
 There is a void in Zambia. And it needs to be filled. The question is who is going to fill it? I recently read through some articles and comments about some of Zambia’s leaders suggesting that “Bemba” and “Nyanja” be turned into official languages for Zambia. Some are claiming that by doing so, we will emulate countries like Kenya who have adopted “Swahili” as their official languages.
Well if that is the direction we want to take of emulating Kenya, then we need to also understand that with that model of divisive policies comes tribal conflicts. In Kenya, in Uganda, in Rwanda, and many other countries in Africa, they are still railing from years of fighting. Fighting for dominance about the legitimate tribe.I believe that Zambia does not need any shortsighted people to flame any kind of conflict and fight that may ensue as a result of tribal supremacy and turf fights. There is no single tribe in Zambia that deserves to be the official language. The Lozi’s in the west, the Bembas in the north, the Tonga’s in the south, the Chewa’s or Nyanja’s in the east or any of the other dialects where ever they may come from; they all deserve to stand and sing of Zambia proud and free. We are a land of work and joy full of unity. I know that many times we think that the Victoria Falls is our greatest treasure. It is not. Our greatest treasure in Zambia is our peace. Our peace for all these years. 43 years after independence we are still enjoying peace. Yes we fight and we differ on certain issues. But we are still here. We are here because we have preserved the peace that we have. I call upon everyone with a voice, to use it. Use it to speak out against these myopic voices whose intention is bent on divisive tendencies. In fact most people that suggest such policies will be the first ones to flee the civil war if we ever got to that. Let us learn from other countries around the world. Tribalism of any sought does not work. As far as I am concerned, Zambia’s wealth, governance, peace, and future belong to all of us. It does not matter, who you are or where you are. You must fight to protect Zambia. It is our country and our baby. Away with people who have all these degrees that they can not even use. Away with people who care for nothing about the future of Zambia. We are great people and we must be united and not be divided. One Zambia, One nation. Trackback(0)
Comments (3)
Why even debate this?
written by Joe McZambia, March 21, 2007
What bothers me the most is that the so called "leaders" are championing this language debate. Zambian languages are beautiful and unique, but alarmingly abundant. Hence, a globally accepted and spoken language such as English should counter any tribal or lingual superiority or inferiority debates that will obviously ensue such reckless ideas and opinions. I love my Nsenga and Bemba, but I think English is an equalizing factor when it comes to communicationing with my country people of all dialects and races.
Nevertheless, a few of our politicians and/or "leaders" are much better off indulging in their respective vernaculars when they attempt to articulate their thoughts in the most atrocious english that can be spoken. I know the notion of a national languages like the 'Kenyans have', or the 'Tanzanians have', has a very romantic appeal. But they have evolved with swahili speaking the same way Zambia has evolved with the use of English. So how do you super-impose their history on to Zambias and make swahili a national language? So yuou reckon just train more than 12 million people to speak a language that has been chosen because it is one of our 'many' dialects? Sorry, don't think so. We already have enough trouble dealing with tribalism. Let us all celebrate our individual languages with pride, but unify our Zambian identity with some soft spoken Zambian English. report abuse
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Journalist written by Situmbeko Sitwala, February 11, 2007
The language situation is differnt. In Tanzania, Swahili is a national language (not official language)and this was possible because Swahili involved from many languages including Arabic, African and some Indian languages. Swahili is an equivalent of lapalapa - a language that developed because of trade between Indians and Africans. Swahili does not belong to anyone. If we a language to unify us, then Swahili will do. How many people know that Swahili is one of the 73 Zambia languages?
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