What do you do when you are a leader and find yourself equally guilty of an offence committed by your peers and you get punished for it? This is the dilemma CLARA KINTAMBWE found herself in and at a price. Read on…

WATCHING a fight is fun, of course, if you’re not a participant. I enjoyed watching fights until I was involved in a fight myself.
The incident I’m about to share with you happened to me when I was in sixth grade.
Although it was a small incident, it left a huge mark in my life.
From the time I started my Grade One, I enjoyed the privilege of being a class monitor.
So it wasn’t exactly unusual nor a surprise when, in Grade Six, I was appointed class monitor.
Some shirk responsibility when it avails itself, but when I was given the chance to lead my class, I had no problem with it.
Even though I was used to the role of monitor, carrying it out wasn’t quite a walk in the park and there was always going to be a price to pay for being entrusted with responsibility.
As monitor, I used to receive numerous threats from my fellow pupils who were not happy with my role of enforcing discipline.
However, I was always able to defend myself until one fateful day.
We were in the second term of Grade Six when our class teacher did not report for work because she was unwell.
It was a field day for everyone in my class and, as the saying goes, when the cat is away the mouse will play.
This rare freedom gave us a chance to make a lot of noise, which attracted the attention of the teacher on duty.
When the teacher on duty entered the class, he demanded for a list of the noise makers, because we were given work to do which should have kept us busy.
Not unexpectedly, as class monitor, I drew up a list of the culprits.
We were all culprits, but the noisier ones separated themselves by making my list.
Believe you me, the list was a long one, but to escape it, you needed to have been on good terms with the monitor-me!
I took the list to the teacher on duty who, in turn, took it to the deputy head who severely punished those whose names I had caused to appear on the list.
When those found wanting returned from doing their punishment, they were breathing fire.
They threatened to deal with me after classes.
However, I did not take their threats seriously. It was not the first time I was hearing such threats. Big mistake!
As class monitor, one of my responsibilities included ensuring that the class was left neat and tidy for the following day’s lessons before I could go home.
We used to knock off around 17:00 hours, so by the time we finished cleaning, almost everyone had left the school premises.
So after ensuring the classroom was cleaned, I started off for home.
I reached the school exit gate, and there, I found the group of my classmates who had been punished.
They were waiting for me! No sooner had they seen me step outside the school premises than they pounced on me!
They were about 30 and half of them began to unleash their violence against me alone! They gave me the beating of my life.
I was punched, pinched, kicked, heckled – you name it – and I became helpless as I tried to defend myself in vain, throwing weak punches which disappeared in the air before landing on anyone.
Just when I thought I was taking my last breath due to the savage blows I was receiving, a teacher who had stayed behind to finish some work emerged on the scene and came to my rescue.
His intervention was welcome, though it came too late because I’d already been soundly beaten.
My home was not far from the school.
By the time I was rescued, news about my disaster had already spread like bush fire and reached the people home, including my grandmother who had also arrived to fetch me.
The following day my grandmother went to my school and demanded that I be removed from playing the role of class monitor immediately as I could have died from the beating.
I stayed home for almost a week nursing my injuries.
When I went back to school, I was told to identify my attackers which I did with pleasure.
All my assailants were punished for a week after their parents were summoned by the school authorities.
In all this, I learnt that being a leader is not an easy task. You are prone to all sorts of criticisms, threats and even physical attacks.
But what you should not forget is to analyse each criticism carefully so as to be a good leader.
As a leader you should have a strong character and be able to always stand up for yourself for and what is right.
Those who beat me up were wrong, but so was I because the whole class was making noise, including me, and in all honesty the list of culprits should have included everyone in the class.
But as a leader, you discover that this happens when you abuse your authority, which might lead those you are leading to rebel against you.
When you ascend to a leadership position, it is not the time to settle scores with anyone.
Unfortunately for me, I had to learn it the hard way.
Although the experience was nasty, it has helped me to be a better leader whenever given an opportunity to lead.
-Comments: 0965911505.
NB: Contributions to this column, the column you write, should be sent to The Editor, “It happened to me” P.O. Box 30394, Lusaka, email: tozletters@gmail.com or drop them at any of our Times Printpak offices.
Please note that it may take some time before articles are published; this is because they are published on a first- come- first-served basis. Don’t lose hope. Keep sending in your valuable contributions. -Editor