Let peace prevail among us—a house divided against itself cannot stand
by SW Mwaekwa
In the last few days I have noted, with much lamentation, bitter exchange of words among our leaders. This sad state of affairs should never at all cost be allowed to go-on because its effects would be devastating on the people of Barotseland who for a long time were very productive, peace loving and cared for all, including strangers. In Matthew 12: 22-27, and also Mark 3: 22-29 and Luke 11:17-26, the Lord said, (22) Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, in so much that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. (23) And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? (24) But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. (25) And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. (26) And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? (27) And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges. If we keep on quarrelling among ourselves, we lose focus and delay progress that could have been made, had we all worked together, appreciated the skills, contributions and support of one another. Does it really matter who does what, if their contributions are towards achieving the ultimate objective of actualizing Barotseland statehood? We are all created differently and like flowers in a garden, we all contribute to the beauty of the garden as we blend together. A garden with only one colour may be drab to behold. No single person should take credit of what has been done so far. The achievements made have been made as a result of combined efforts whose authority was sealed at the Barotse National Council of March, 2012 that gave the mandate to a selected group to spear head people’s desires. I believe it was Adam Smith, who, during the industrial revolution, observed a worker in a pin making factory. He watched him going through all processes of making a pin right from cutting a wire up to the last process. The worker made so many trips between machines and at the end of the day just managed to produce no more than a hand full of pins. After noting every stage that the worker made, he devised a process in which every stage was performed by a different worker. When all stages were separated and shared among workers, the production was much more than doubled in a day. This was the genesis of division of labour. It was effective and efficient. Looking at the submissions of my warring leaders, I note that they are all very well-schooled people with a lot of knowledge and wisdom to guide and give us direction. However, I fail to understand why they ignore the fact that we are all like workers in a pin factory or vehicle plant. There are so many people that have contributed to the final product of the cars we take pride in driving. When you come to think of it, even a sweeper in the assembly plant is of much importance in the production of every vehicle that rolls out from the plant. All the workers pride themselves in the production of the vehicle. Why then should we look down on the efforts of others and exalt ourselves. This is the issue of a house divided against itself not being able to stand. If we are to stand and get what we all need, it should be a matter of “Tukongote wa mwana nongolo.” What has happened to the adage of “Kopano ki mata” or do we just recite these only when they suit us the most. Our leaders need to help in uniting the Barotse. In order to do this, they should themselves be united. The confrontations that we have recently witnessed don’t do us any good. In as much as I understand that the present does not necessarily and passively grow out of the past, but also actively controlled by the conception of our future goals. If the future goals are centered on us as individuals and also on the privileges that we hope to accrue to satisfy our own personal desires, then we are missing the point. Everything we do should be for the future good of all. We should realize that the power we have in whatever capacity this might be, comes from the people as were gathered at the March 2012 Barotse National Council meeting—united by the consent in one person or a group of people. This power is always and shall always remain for the good of those that have entrusted us with the mandate to do things on their behalf. My appeal to all is let whatever we do be for the good of that old man, that little boy or that widow in the remotest village whose prayer is that one day they will stand up and raise their hands in air, with tears flowing un controllably on their chicks thanking God for his goodness—all crying aloud “Free at last”. It would be great for our leaders to understand the mind of God in all their walks of life. To cut down on this animosity. Let us be mindful about what the word of God says in 1Corithians 12 with special emphasis given to verses 4 and 5, which are also the basis of my submission, (4) “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit and (5) And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord”. We are of different sizes, shapes, shades, heights, endowed with various skills, intellect, and temperaments, but all in all we are members of one old and great nation—Barotseland. We can agree to disagree but still go on us brothers and sisters. I also wish to appeal kwa ba shemi baluna to put a stop to this public show of confrontations. Where our leaders have some misunderstanding, there is always a better way of resolving their differences without the “led” and the world knowing it. I pray that they will help us in maintaining unity. Let each one of us take time to meditate on Romans 12: 18, if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. This can only come about if all will work together like workers in a car assembly plant; all doing and playing their roles in fields they are best qualified to the very best of their ability in order to hasten up people’s expectations as they keep on asking questions like, “Kanti lu zamaela kai”? and “kanti hape ki mañi ya lu liyehisa”? The last half of verse 27 of Matthew 12 reads, “…therefore they shall be your judge”. I would rather they do not judge anyone of us harshly. No one wants to be judged harshly, but this will only be possible if we all do the right thing now. Let us live and do according to people’s expectations. I would like to borrow the words of one US President, JF Kennedy, who appealed to the Americans during one of his address, that each one should be “impregnable and togetherimpenetrable”. How I wished that we too, would be so united and unshaken not even at the slightest provocation or enticement. Let us all remain focused, determined and move on as one. “Litunga ni lwetu” we should all have a sense of esprit de corps. Lubana ba mba and there should be unity among us. We should quarrel but not to the point of making public display of it or putting a wedge between us. We need each other and one another.