UPND HAS LOST IT

THE United Party for National Development (UPND) quite simply does not cease to amaze Zambians in the manner that it behaves as an opposition party. It is an ongoing circus that leaves not only its followers but observers baffled. Who can blame them? Just consider the ongoing charade involving one of its own who has been banned for doing what is right – whether you are in the opposition or the governing party. UPND Kafue Township Council chairperson Thomas Zulu has been suspended for three months because he participated in the Keep Zambia Clean, Green and Healthy campaign in Kafue last month which was graced by President Edgar Lungu. Is that a crime? Ask the UPND top brass to explain whether it is because his presence meant he accepted results of the 2016 Presidential elections that declared President Lungu as the victor, something the opposition party does not want to accept – even after going through the Constitutional Court. Mind you, Mr Zulu was not at the cleaning exercise as an individual. He was representing an institution – public for that matter – that is funded by the government headed by President Lungu. As President Lungu said in Solwezi on Thursday, it was disheartening that the UPND does not want to work with him in delivering development hence Mr Zulu’s suspension. Granted that there is “bad blood” between the two parties with UPND president Hakainde Hichilema summoned by police in Ndola for questioning after the recent Kitwe riots, matters of state continue that are of a bipartisan nature. For the UPND to treat Mr Zulu’s conduct as “indiscipline” defies all logic and goes against the norms of a multi-party democratic state. The fact that Kafue is dominated by the UPND does not imply that the council should divorce itself from all government-related activities. President Lungu is the duly elected Republican President and it is expected that civic leaders, from which ever political divide, will as a matter of courtesy and civic responsibility attend any function where he is present in their locality. After all, the Kafue council does not only serve members of the UPND. Its constituency goes beyond. At national level, President Lungu represents all Zambians despite political affiliations. He presides over the affairs of State on every Zambian’s behalf. UPND has a tendency of riding against the wind instead of moving with the nation. It simply believes that it should oppose anything that the governing Patriotic Front is doing – even if it means disputing that 4 + 4 = 8. That appears to have been the spirit in which Mr Zulu was suspended. He did not breach the constitution except that he chose common good as against being childish. As development activist Dr Canisius Banda said in Lusaka, the UPND decision was irrational and amounted to Government capture because Mr Zulu’s presence at the cleaning exercise was a legal and required function of his office. “What the UPND is ignorant of or has chosen to malign in this matter is that though the Kafue District Council chairman is a member of the UPND, he is chairman of all in Kafue district, which district comprises both partisan and non-partisan citizens,” Dr Banda said. Or could it be one way of diverting attention from the bungling antics of Mr Hichilema over the ZAFFICO mess he has found himself entangled in and desperately wants to leave behind? Strange behaviour indeed from UPND for venting its political frustration on an innocent party functionary.