16 January 2012
editorial
THE issue of the Barotseland Agreement (BA) of 1964 has been raging for a long time now in Zambia and as President Michael Sata has repeatedly said, the way forward to resolve this issue is through dialogue.
And there is no better dialogue than involving members of the public like Mr Sata has decided to do today.
Mr Sata has facilitated that the whole agreement be advertised, in full, in the print media so that as many people as possible can have access to it.
This is for the sole purpose of involving or according a chance to all Zambians to air their views on the matter.
This is what dialogue is all about, where the citizens all participate without restrictions to specific groupings or individuals.
Dialogue is about citizens being free to state their position on a particular issue and in this case, certainly the public input on the matter will hopefully help settle the matter once and for all.
Mr Sata started this process of dialogue when he recently met with representatives of the Linyungandambo, Barotse Freedom Movement and the Movement for the Restoration of Barotseland.
So the publicising of the document should not come as a surprise to Zambians because dialogue is an on-going process that eventually embraces all stakeholders.
Zambia has always been a peace haven and envied by many even when elections take place. There are no tribal wars in Zambia.
It should be made clear that the Barotseland Agreement if not properly handled, has the potential to bring about despondency in this peaceful country.
Obviously some people, especially politicians want to take advantage of the Barotseland Agreement to incite people of Western Province to rise against the Government of the day.
But because Zambians are peace loving people, those people agitating for anarchy have failed to accomplish their selfish motives.
But even as the public engage in debates over the Barotseland Agreement, it is important to bear in mind the consequences of secession of the province from the rest of Zambia.
Like politician Vivian Mubukwanu rightly observes, the people advocating secession are negotiating from a weaker perspective considering that Western Province has no real development in the health, education, power, agriculture, mining and many other sectors.
Mr Mubukwanu is merely agreeing with President Sata that the province has no meaningful developments at all to warrant the people from there to feel they can be weaned from Zambia.
Therefore, the initiative by Mr Sata to publicise the Barotseland Agreement for public consumption should be supported by all well- meaning Zambians who should make positive contributions to Government and help in peacefully bringing to an end a matter that has potential to instigate violence.
AllAfrica – All the Time
See more here:
Zambia: Barotse Agreement Publication Welcome