And any aspiring national leader will be deluding themselves if they pretended tribalism is not an issue that needs deliberate attention in Zambia. My problem here is that current literal space does not allow me to address myself fully to the subject, although on the other hand I strongly believe that narrowing national strategies down to tribal balancing is as questionable as it is nebulous at this campaign stage. However, reducing the presidential aspirant' s tribalism concerns down to a 'bitchy child's whimpers' denigrates a serious social issue facing our society. The fact that tribalistic protests in Zambia are benign, rather than malignant as in other countries that continue to experience ethnic conflict, should not necessarily mean we relax or be pretentious about it. You have to be the victim to fully appreciate protestant sentiments.
Tribalism provokes types of polarisation familiar to racism.
And this brings me to Chileshe Phiri's article. Chileshe ought to limit his debate to the Zambian setting. If as Zambia we have failed to deal with our environment and economic development, does not entitle us to shower unsolicited remarks on the condition of other communities that we apparently understand little about. The black American community may today find his remarks slightly unsavoury and offensive. There is little need to elaborate on such an obvious aspect.