BULLYING in schools: my experience

Clive Mutame Siachiyako

Bullying happens in many sections of society. Some people are bullied at work, school, social club or home. Bullying can be tormenting. Some bullied persons become suicidal or abusers of others in future. The imprint of bullying leaves huge scars in their lives that they fail to erase. It disorients them and robs them of their good life.

Bullying is defined in many ways. Some people call it a deliberate misuse of power through repeated verbal or physical behaviour that causes physical, social or psychological harm. It can be done by an individual or a group misusing their power (e.g. political cadres, prefects in school, police officers, etc.). In the digital era, bullying happens online as well. It can be overtly or covertly (in a subtle way) done to anyone the bully intends to get it.

In boarding school, bullying is like a ritual to welcome others into school. St. Mark's Secondary School was well known for bullying years back. I went there in 1998. We found Obby (pseudonym). He was huge, rude and tall. He was chief bully. No one could stand him. He was feared. He was merciless.

The first week I arrived at school, he rounded us (Grade 8s) and told us to give him whatever we had to our name. He got from us money, biscuits, sweets, roasted chickens, anything. He came to every dormitory and commanded G8s to line up and open their lockers so that he could get whatever he wanted. It was non-negotiable. We had to oblige or risk getting the worst beating in our lives. Just by looking at him, no one could dare refusing. I was tiny and new, I didn’t know how to get around such challenges. I obliged just like any other “Kwiyo” as G8s were called.

Our nightmare had just started. The same week, we were taken to the river next to the school. St. Mark’s is near a beautiful Kawiya river, which could have attracted the missionaries to construct the school in that bush. The river is perforated by umbrella like trees that provide good shed for insects and any other living because. Its vegetation provided good hideouts for weed smoking pupils. It was our turn to taste the marijuana of the area. We queued up and made to smoke the weed. We were not allowed to puff the smoke out. We were not to tell anyone or face the wrath of Obby. That day we bathed with clothes, ate nshima with salt, laughed endlessly, walked to classes for evening studies barefooted, etc. misdeeds due to the weed effects. 

It didn’t end at Obby. A teacher joined in the bullying, he lied that he was the only teacher of English (it is the correct way of saying it, right?). We had to pay him to be learning English or never to learn the subject in our lives. There was no specific amount to pay him. Each one paid him according to how much he had. We paid him even for useless books that were not even in the syllabus. He laughed at us for anything he wanted to mock us on e.g. hairstyle, shoes, size of eyes, height, complexion, etc.

Then we had to wash pigs to remove the urbanite/town mentality in us and to welcome us to real life. Being a Grade 8 was tough. Some of the Grade 8s were taken to wash pigs for not giving Obby anything. The pigs were huge and scary. We were made to wash them to sparkling clean. Workers at the production unit had Christmas as we did their work.

The Cadet Force engineered bullying was another nightmare. Cadet Force members woke us up in the mid of nights for the joy ride of it. Whether one liked it or not, we went for running (chilailai). We were told we were prepared to be solders (kaya where that came from). Some Cadet Force members were often clad in military uniform to satisfy their ego. They really made the military dream so real.  

Most of the members never got closer to any military camp nor anything in life. They spent their time smoking marijuana and failed Grade 12. Without good school certificate results, it became hard for them to find footing in society.

The systems in the school failed to end bullying. Somehow, bullying that time seemed permissible. We had nowhere to get help. Some pupils (they called weak soldiers) left St. Mark's within a single term. Some of our friends who had money paid their way to get away with it (paying bully leaders. It was survival of the fittest. Each one had to find a way of fitting into the system.

 School Prefects were uninterested in helping the poor Grade Eights. They were doing nothing to make life bearable for Grade 8s. Those who had money/good food to give them got the protection. Some loaded boys could even shift to be staying with the school prefects. It was a corrupt system indeed.

Survival of the fittest was the rule of the game. We had to apply many strategies to survive. These included be-friending bullies. However, be-friending any of the bullies came at cost. We had to sustain their lives. We had to give them money, buy them favorable fritters (known as Jogintos) and other goodies for safety. Whenever we ran out of money we called home begging for more money. It was such a complicated stay.

Joining them was another strategy to survive. This could mean being a spy for bullies, joining the karate club or sports. Alternatively, joining the Cadet Force or the notorious groups in the school such weed smokers become a safety vault. We just had to do something or get chocked by bullies. Some Grade 8s tried faking sickness, it never worked. Some bullies bruised them before they could explain their situation. Weakling had no room at St. Mark’s.  

Our all-powerful head teacher did nothing much. He was a nonsense man. But he did little to help the situation. Kaya maybe it was believed that without bullying we remained 'babies' and weak soldiers even when we were not a military barrack. It was hard to get by. But all of us had to find a surviving strategy no matter how temporary or useless it was.

Side effects of our lived-experience of bullying were many. Some boys became ruffians. They looked forward to revenge when new Grade 8s came. They became rebellious and trouble makers. Other bullied boys lost self-esteem and became disoriented. Substance abuse (weed) was rife as a coping measure. The weed influence gave us “dark courage” to cope with the situation. What a life it was!!

Political rhetoric against pledges with substance: How can the electorate tell?

Clive Mutame Siachiyako

Talk is very cheap. Anyone can promise you heaven on earth even when they live in hell. Some people are blessed in sweet-talking others. Sweet-talking electorates by politicians is common in for the sake of getting votes.

 A tip of the iceberg story of political promises was made by Malawian Presidential candidate Bakili Muluzi prior to the 1994 elections. The folktale is that Muluzi promised to dish-out pairs of shoes to everyone if voted into power.

 After winning the 1994 polls, he never delivered the shoes. His argument was more ludicrous than the sugar-coated promise itself. He told Malawians that he couldn’t deliver on the promise because “didn’t know their shoe sizes.” It wasn’t his fault to fail; the promise itself was unreasonably bizarre. He simply told them that he will “work hard to make other promises possible.” That’s how the shoe saga ended.  

 The Bakili Muluzi absurd campaign pledge shows that politicians can make daftestcampaign promises they don’t even know how to deliver on them. Voters should thus assess the substance of the pledges made by their prospective leaders.

 Why do politicians make pledges? Why do we pledge? Our actions start as ideas. We speak about them. In the bible, God spoke and creation happened. Animals, humans and everything came into existence. Pledges made by politicians are planned actions for the betterment of people’s lives.

 The power of words can be exemplified by how architecture engineers visualise a house in their mind, draw it and later turn it into master piece physical house. Pledges made by anyone are shades dreams to be done e.g. for the people by politicians when voted into power.

 Anyone who can’t dream doesn’t think. They are dead. For us to act on something, we have not conjured in our minds is very hard. We can’t achieve what we have not conceived in our minds, dreamt and speak it into our lives. Our belief into something is the beginning of actions.

Some of the ways to assess reasonability of pledges made by politicians include PLEDGE PRECISION. The correctness of the pledge is principal. Some politicians make very vague pledges that they can twist afterwards when they fail to deliver on them. We once had “more money in your pocket” pledge by the Patriotic Front (PF) when in opposition. After winning the election in 2011, new shade was thrown on this populist pledge that it meant “people working hard to increase their income levels and not monetary freebies from government into their pockets.”

 Voters should interrogate what exactly the politician is pledging. Uttering a bunch of vague words is insufficient. It is time for pledge precision. People need SMART pledges i.e. specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. Some pledges are forever standing and irrelevant to people’s wellbeing. Electorates should ask critical questions to ensure pledges are well crafted than throwing romantic words anyhow without substance. Pledges should be precise, articulate and audible.

Precision means spelling out what and how it will be done. If you pledge to diversify the economic; which sectors exactly will diversification embrace? How will it be done and why hasn’t it worked before? How will it work this time? Even if someone doesn’t know what made it fail, they can present pros and cons of what has been done before and how it didn’t work. How it will be done better should be articulated.

Articulation and audibility can combine being knowledgeable and practical in pledging. Over pledging is the quickest way to discredit your political CV.  It is taking voters for kids to promise anything and think they will not question. Pledges to address power outages should get to practicalities of doing it. What energy alternatives is the politician bringing on the table? Someone who talks about diversifying power, and explains how they will focus on solar and wind energy is more audible.

PLEDGE CONSISTENCY with policies is the other aspect. Politicians like promising bubbles. For example, Bill 10 was packaged, inter alia, as means to increase women presentation in parliament. But the 30% women requirement was far from being achieved. Nothing was espoused on how Bill 10 was the real deal except giving empty grand narratives. Pledges should be supported by consistent policies and increased incentives.  

 Voters know or infer characters of politicians who break pledges. Some politicians who make fake pledges or failed to honour them before are deemed unreliable no matter how sweet their pledge may sound. Once a liar, always a liar applies mostly in the political world. Voters believe that candidates are more likely to act on statements that fit with previous pledges.

 The August 2021 elections came with many pledges. It is time to document them and ask the politicians to account for them. We need to make them sit up and actualise what they pledge. Your councillor, council chairperson, MP and President made pledges. We have to remember them and remind them to put them into action.

What really does an election mean to our lives?

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako 

An election is not like a distant football match between Manchester United and Arsenal to a Zambian who is not an investor in any of the two clubs. In such a match, whichever team wins will not have far reaching implication in our lives. Elections have a bearing on our cost of living, our access to clean water,  education and affordability of many goods and services.

Voters have rights and responsibilities. Our active political engagement shapes our informed voting choices, and not based on emotional excitement or liquor intoxication. Our right to vote is inseparable from our general right to participate in public life such as managing of waste.  We cannot expect a clean environment when we do not want to be part of waste management. The waste will not pick itself. It requires our participation. Voting too requires our involvement at different stages of election.

Voting ushers into office candidates who will work on issues we need attended to. Our voting is key in crafting policies that shape the future we desire. A candidate with the best plan on job creation becomes a better choice. Our vote then becomes strategic in implementing programmes that result into more jobs created in the country.

We have the right and responsibility in choosing leaders. It is our right to support and vote for a candidate of choice. Our right required us to be informed about political choices available. It is our responsibility to seek information and familiarise ourselves with what each candidate is bringing on the political table. Knowing the polling stations, polling date and relevant documents for us to cast our vote are some of our democratic responsibilities. Information can be obtained from the mainstream media and social media. We have to be aware of misinformation and propaganda as we seek for information. Our choice can be distorted by the propaganda from other candidates.

Our vote has power to enhance national development. Some candidates are visionary and can help us fulfil our ambitions. The people we vote into office can either worsen our lives or improve them. That is why we should take voting seriously. We should not be careless with it. T-shirts, food and other campaign materials should not disorient us. There is more to life than political leftovers dished out during campaigns. There are school fees, rentals and other requirements we should be concerned about beyond political freebies thrown into our faces during campaigns.

We have to read party manifestos. Listen to pledges from candidates. Analyse them as we make a voting decision. If we do not know what a candidate stands for, we will not hold them accountable when they come into power. Let us get involved in democratic processes for us to be valuable to the democratic dispensation. We can hold our candidates accountable when we know what they are bringing on the table. We can push our check and balances through advocate groups if we are not part of such groups.

It is important that we focus on issues that matter than temporary enjoyment. We should focus on what each candidate is presenting in solving problems we face such as access to education and training, health care, business opportunities, water and environmental issues. We should ensure our candidates know our concerns. Social media has made access to them easier. We can engage them up on Facebook or Twitter. Gone are the days when we needed the mainstream media to give spaces to bring our concerns before political candidates. We can vlog or blog them for them to see and craft programmes that seek to address them.

  We need to bring issues of substance before political candidates. Away from personal business, we should focus on societal issues that need attention for our lives to be better. Actualising voting is selling our future. It is setting it asunder. Some of us settle for raw deals, lies and cheap talk because we fail to think beyond the immediate. We get excited with t-shirts, valueless alcohol, caps and other junk stuff giving to us in solicitation for votes. We should demand more than freebies. We should demand programmes that bring value to our lives.

If a candidate claims the opponent is a thief, ask them what they will seal loopholes to protect public funds. Corruption deprives the country of national development. Let us not allow candidates get away with it. They have to put practical solutions on the table. If we continue taking voting like distant football matches, we will continue suffering and aiming for better life we will never attain.

The ball is in our hands. Let us do the right thing. Let us be responsible and act responsibly before, during and after voting. We have to educate ourselves on what each candidate is offering, know what solutions they are proposing over problems we face and we should ensure that they put what they pledged. We should hold them accountable.