By Fred M’membe
Information and broadcasting services minister Dora Siliya says they are not ready to hand over power to anyone in 2021.
“We shouldn’t relax that Edgar azawina since he is an Easterner but if we vote lazily, our friends in Southern Province will challenge us and we will be removed in power. Let’s not vote lazily the way we did on Rupiah. We lost him because we are many but few voted and we lost him. Those eight bags of fertiliser we got under Rupiah disappeared because Sata ate Cassava which doesn’t require fertiliser and you started calling us Paya Farmer and it’s now under President Edgar Lungu that agriculture has been revamped.
These elections of next year are not an easy one. It’s war abale anga. It’s a war, we should make sure everyone registers as voters and vote on 12th August 2021 or else we will lose. Napapata, we go wrong, we in government, but forgive us please. Pray for us, we know we have gone through problems in these five years but let’s not lose this presidency because we still have a lot to do with it in our families, communities. We are not only happy for Edgar to be in State House but to work for us. If this presidency leaves, Eastern Province, nobody among us will be alive when it will be back here…Let’s not be lazy.
If Edgar Lungu loses next year, good agricultural system will collapse. So we have to put on much effort if Edgar is to win next year because we still have a lot to do. For now, we are not ready to hand over power to anyone unless in 2026 we are going to say ‘now namwe a Tonga mungatoleko ici cinthu but pakali pano usogoleri tikali nao nacocita,” Minister Siliya pleaded with over 300 village headmen and indunas from Eastern Province last Sunday.
This fear of losing power, of change is widespread among our colleagues in the current government and the ruling party. And it has been openly expressed by many, including the President himself. It has actually become a phobia.
Philosophizing a little on this issue, I would say we have no alternative to meeting the future, we have no hope but the changes, advances, and improvements that the future may bring. Even if our current leaders want to stay in power forever, they won’t be able to do so. Nobody controls the future. No matter what schemes they may pull, other times will come.
The fear of change or changing things is called Metathesiophobia. It is often linked with Tropophobia which is the fear of moving. The origin of the word Metathesiophobia comes from Greek ‘meta’ meaning change and Phobos meaning fear.
Metathesiophobes often tend to live in the past and may also be depressed. Their phobia makes them unwilling to move, to progress, or to change anything. This can severely impact one’s work and personal lives.
The fear of change is evolutionary in humans. Since times immemorial, man has liked routine. Our internal predispositions – heredity and genetics – teach us to resist change mainly to ‘always feel in control’. But the normal fear of change becomes a full-blown phobia when it is irrational, persistent and very intense.
Fear of being unable to adapt can also deter one’s adaptability. Insecurity and guilt are other common emotions behind Metathesiophobia.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “When you are finished changing, you are finished.”
The fear of change is a natural survival instinct ingrained in humans. However, in cases of extreme Metathesiophobia, life can become very difficult. It can negatively impact one’s work and/or personal lives.
Thought of change or adapting to a new environment may lead to a full-blown panic. Avoiding change, one may go to great lengths, break ties, tell lies, or make excuses, manipulate electoral processes, rig elections, commit human rights violations. This can affect many things and lead to irrationality. Often the phobic is aware that his/her fear of change is irrational. However, he/she is unable to overcome it.
The root of Metathesiophobia is deeply embedded in one’s psyche.
Many people suffer from this phobia but the key is to accept change as part of life. Nothing lasts forever. Change is inevitable, there’s no need to fear it. We must always prepare for it and be ready to embrace it.