‘Hostile’ chiefs queried
TRADITIONAL leaders from Southern province who have been snubbing government have been challenged to justify why they should continue drawing a salary from a government which they do not recognise.
According to former UPND deputy spokesperson Edwin Lifwekelo, deliberate exclusion of government from traditional ceremonies by some chiefs in Southern province was an act of reckless defiance and an intransigence disregard for those in power.
He said it was tantamount to declaration of self-independence and warned government not to sit idle.
Meanwhile, Mr Lifwekelo has demanded that Parliament must give back powers to government to identify and appoint traditional leaders in consultation with people to avoid the introduction of ethnicity which is a danger to national unity.
In an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr Lifwekelo observed that some traditional leaders openly belonged to political parties defeating the whole purpose of self-regulating.
He said traditional were supposed to be leaders of respective communities with a huge support base who were highly revered in the country.
“It is against this background that it is imperative for chiefs or traditional rulers to stay away from partisan politics to avoid the situation where they pave way for their subjects to openly disrespect them in the name of politics.
“It must be said that the relevance of chiefs in the country to a large extent should be managed by their contribution to the democratic development and environment matters,” Mr Lifwekelo said.
He said it was unfortunate that the good people of Southern province were being abused and subjected to suffering because of the choice of wrong leadership by those entrusted to lead and had chosen not to work with successive administrations.
“One wonders how some traditional leaders in Southern province who have nothing good to talk about government have managed to amass wealth at the expense of their subjects who are walloping in poverty.
“Not even President Lungu owns a private limousine,” he said.
Mr Lifwekelo said traditional leaders opposed to President Lungu’s administration must come to reality that he was President until 2021.