By Mwamba Peni II
1. Foreigners are accorded more respect, attention and hospitality than natives because from a cultural point of view, we are obliged to treat our visitors the way we would want us to be treated when in a foreign land.
2. Zambian's don't mind foreigners owning shops anywhere within the boarders. Hence you have some Asians selling
even in open markets without trouble. The mind set of a Zambian is that how you make your money or your nationality is your business, just don't bother them.
3. We looked after Zimbabweans during their struggle for independence and when they got liberated and our economy was at its lowest, Zimbabweans begun to ridicule
us for lacking essential commodities and literally chasing us from their shops. Two decades later, we were able to feed Zimbabwe by donating maize to that country.
4. The South African ruling party ANC had its headquarters in
Lusaka. Our Government paid for the accommodation and
upkeep of all ANC leaders. Consequently, the apartheid
Government bombed strategic national infrastructures such
as the Chambeshi river bridge connecting the country to the
North and the Kafue river bridge connecting the country to
the South. Today, South Africans are not taught this history.
They don't even know how important Lusaka is to their
liberation story. The only thing Mandela did in appreciation
was to choose Zambia as the first country to visit after his
release from prison. Mbeki and Zuma who were kept here
have done nothing remarkable to show for our hospitality
and efforts to liberate South Africa.
All said and done, there is no humane society I have ever
lived in, having travelled far and wide, than Zambia. May be
we should start exporting our manerism on how to treat
foreigners to the rest of the world. This world needs healing
and Zambia might just be that needed coexist.
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