WE hail Government’s assurance to traditional leaders that it will continue to support the preservation of tradition and culture in all chiefdoms in the country.
We also agree with Eastern Province Permanent Secretary Chanda Kasolo that peace in the nation has not emerged from without, but to a large extent, because of traditional leaders’ influence of the grassroots, which enhances the promotion of unity.
In the same vein, we salute Government spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili for stating that Government will not interfere in disputes among traditional leaders.
Mr Kambwili, who is also Information and Broadcasting Services Minister, said it was not Government’s mandate to resolve disputes among traditional leaders.
However, we are behind Mr Kambwili in calling on traditional leaders to dialogue and resolve the misunderstandings that arise within themselves.
Traditional leaders should not frustrate Government’s effort to maintain peace since they are partners in meaningful development.
Since the advent of modern governance, traditional leaders have been pivotal in national development since they enhance Government’s effort in development.
For full development to be effected there is need for Zambia to understand the various elements of its culture and traditions whose main custodians are traditional leaders.
This is cardinal since in many respects our culture or traditions are best captured in our traditional authorities which embody the memories of the past.
Even colonial authorities who were normally ambivalent to the African way of life recognised the role traditional leaders played during British indirect rule.
This, they did by constituting institutions like local administrative centres or bomas (derived from a ki-Swahili word meaning an enclosure) which were the eyes and ears of the colonial governance system.
The colonial authorities worked through well-oiled traditional authorities (native authorities) to govern the largely native populace by acting as go-betweens between the colonial state and the people.
This was done almost after the dawn of British colonial rule which put in place Native Authorities in 1929, through the enactment of the Native Authorities Ordinance (NAO).
Over time, the Native Authorities were fused into bigger and evidently well-organised structures.
Indeed, by the end of colonial rule in 1964, there were about 60 large Native Authorities, with 233 senior and junior chiefs.
This system was modified after Zambia gained independence in 1964.
Several years after, traditional leaders have remained the bedrock of efficient governance, especially under the Patriotic Front (PF) Government which supports such traditional structures of governance wholly.
It is for this reason that we expect traditional leadership to reciprocate by complimenting government’s effort in development to avoid a sandpaper relationship between the two entities.
Little has changed since colonial times when we had Native Authorities which have been replaced by the House of Chiefs that performs almost a similar role.
Once more we call on traditional leaders to supplement government’s effort in governance since the two are like hand and glove in development.