God Save the Kwacha: What Happened to Zambian Humanism?

 

I am posing this question because it is now a week after the national day of prayer and there seems to be no indication that prayer has made any difference in the problems facing the country. There is no sign that God has saved the Kwacha as Zambians prayed. God has not intervened and fixed the economy. The much awaited mercy of God has not materialized. The difficult situation in the country remains.Is that not a cogent reason to consider a different approach?

Once again I ask: What happened to what was used to be the national philosophy of the Zambian nation, humanism? What caused the eclipse and forgetfulness of humanist values in the country? This piece is not an attempt to get Zambians to readopt the ‘nationalist socialist ideology’ of humanism. No not at all.

Rather I think the government and people of Zambia can draw from the country’s humanist heritage in tackling the problems facing the nation. The country has tried praying and fasting and that has not brought the real positive change, result or difference which Zambians wanted. So is it not time to tap into the country’s humanist heritage? This is because, going by recent development, the Southern African nation is adrift and there is an urgent need for a philosophical rudder to redirect the nation and get it on the track of real and effective recovery. Zambia needs a practical not imaginary guide to solving its problems. This national reorientation is necessary to avoid further waste of time, energy and capital on wasteful schemes that do not bring real solutions. The humanist philosophy that once formed the basis of statecraft in Zambia holds some promise. Zambian humanism is based on the human being, not on God. Its human centeredness is captured in this line:

“Remember that the most important thing to this nation is MAN. MAN you, MAN me and MAN the other fellow. Everything we say and do evolves(sic) around MAN. Without him there can be no Zambia, there can be no nation. That is why we believe in Humanism. That is why we say MAN is the center of all activities”
While espousing the dignity and non-exploitation of human beings, the humanist ideology emphasizes ‘hard work and self-reliance: “Humanism declares that a willingness to work hard is of prime importance without it nothing can be done anywhere…” The value of self-reliance reechoes a provision in the Humanist Manifesto 11 which says: “No deity will save us, we must save ourselves”

It is pertinent for Zambians to rediscover their country’s humanist heritage and draw from it in tackling the nation’s problems. In this respect, Zambians need to understand that the human being, not God should be at the center of any attempt at solving the country’s economic problems. Zambians need to realize that God will not save the Kwacha. No deity will rescue the economy of Zambia. No amount of prayer will get the country out of its difficult situation. Only Zambians will save the Kwacha through hard work, not prayers.

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