Invoking tribal divisions is unhelpful in addressing the problems faced by certain communities in Zimbabwe, according to political analyst Professor Jonathan Moyo.
Prof Moyo made these remarks during CITE’s X-space programme, This Morning on Asakhe, Wednesday, where the discussion revolved around the ramifications of the language of instruction at the ECD level.
This follows the dismissal of Deputy Minister of Higher Education Simelisizwe Sibanda, from his position by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Although reasons for his dismissal were not stated, it is believed that Sibanda, as a Member of Parliament for the Bubi constituency, took it upon himself to rid his constituency of an Early Childhood Development (ECD) teacher who reportedly cannot speak the local language.
The dismissal caused an uproar among citizens and analysts who continue to question the government’s policy on the deployment of teachers in schools.
Speaking during the discussion, Prof Moyo said it is regrettable that there is no solid, verifiable information about the circumstances of what exactly happened besides the incendiary audio circulated last week by either Sibanda, people working with him, or his audience.
He said the only other source about the incident is the letter from the Chief Secretary in the Office of the President in Cabinet announcing Sibanda’s dismissal from the office of Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science, and Technology Development, which doesn’t provide information about what happened or why he was dismissed.
“Lastly, we have in the public domain the apology press statement by Honourable Sibanda which he issued yesterday after he was fired. So, we have a bit of a difficult situation in my view. Here we are discussing something about which there is no independent, objective, or balanced account of the circumstances of the case, the facts of the case in terms of what happened. Without authoritative, complete, and factual information about what happened, we are in a precarious position because these are the sort of issues that one would rather have discussed or reported based on evidence,” he said.
Prof Moyo criticised the media’s focus on personalities, scandals, drama, and exciting staff, reporting purely, if not exclusively, based on an event without further investigations.
“They don’t investigate such topical issues, so we are left discussing these issues without a background of undisputed facts. So, we know little to nothing about the teacher involved in this case, we also know little to nothing about the school in question and even about the community of the school other than that it is in the constituency represented by Sibanda. Yet, people have drawn far-reaching conclusions about the incident and about what they think it means.”
He said the incident has been reduced to a tribal affair or debate about tribalism.
“Sibanda, who triggered the incident in the first case, has added fuel to highlighting the tribal undertones of the case, which in his apology press statement yesterday, he referred to as tribal connotations and he regrets that he addressed or handled the matter of the teacher’s language proficiency in what he says was a misguided and inappropriate way leading to perceptions of tribalism. But, in my view, Sibanda is wrong in thinking that the real noble of the matter he addressed the issue in a way that led to ‘tribal perceptions or connotations.”
Prof Moyo said Sibanda handled the matter in a political way that was unprofessional, procedural, and illegal.
“He clearly violated his oath of office, two oaths as an MP and Deputy Minister to obey the laws of the country. And in my opinion, what made his case worse is twofold: first, he behaved unprofessionally, procedurally, and illegally at a school in his own constituency.”
“There is nothing that should surprise him in his own constituency. If you go by his own audio, he appears surprised that there was a teacher like the one that has been described and characterized. Yet, in fact, he should have known about the existence of the issue, if in fact, there was a teacher who was not language proficient at that particular school in his own constituency,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said the dramatic use of a question about what ‘qethu’ means to test language proficiency was very unprofessional, “The fact that the teacher did not answer that question does not necessarily mean she did not know what ‘qethu’ means. It could mean that she was humiliated, embarrassed, or even traumatized by the public drama.”
“But of course, we don’t know since the circumstances of the case have not been reported in a sufficient manner. But related to this, as a Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Honourable Sibanda was, of course, part of the National policy team in government that is responsible for overseeing teacher training programs and teacher training colleges. It is his Ministry that oversees rather than runs teacher training colleges,” he said.
“If the school in question had employed an ECD teacher who is not language proficient in terms of the language used in the community, then that would mean there are teacher training problems or there are teacher deployment problems that are only correctable at the policy level and not at rallies or public gatherings and certainly not in political dramatic ways as contained in the audio that circulated last week.”
In his view, Prof Moyo said people avoid identifying or understanding policy issues or problems for what they are and instead invoke tribal tensions, “They guarantee that the problem would not be solved.”
“We will entertain ourselves as some seem to be doing on social media and the community affected by the problem will remain with the problem tomorrow when the commentators have moved to another issue of the day,” he said.
Prof Moyo added, “Furthermore, when tribal flames are wrongly ignited or raised where they are either a secondary issue as it is in this case or where it is even nonexistent, then the loser in my view is always the affected community. Thus, why tribalism is more often than not like patriotism refuge of scoundrels, there is always something dishonest about it, something incomplete.”
“The language issue, which is really at stake here, is in fact a constitutional question. Section 3 makes clear that one of the values and principles upon which Zimbabwe is founded, which binds the state and all institutions and agencies of government at every level, is the fostering of national unity, peace, and stability with due regard to the diversity of languages, customary practices, and traditions,” he said.
