‘Zambia’s security at stake’
THE speed at which the UPND government is turning Zambia into a colony of the West is a source of great concern, PF acting president Given Lubinda has said.
Mr Lubinda said with only eight months in power, the new dawn administration was about to give away the country’s sovereignty to the United States of America by giving large geographical areas for the establishment of USA Military bases (AFRICOM).
He said this would turn Zambia into an automatic target of any country that was in a military conflict with the USA.
“This announcement coming on the day that we are honouring the Pan Africanist and beloved KK, is most disheartening. The bodies of our founding mothers and fathers of Africa, must be turning in their graves when they see that their principled and visionary policy of nonalignment is thrown in the dustbin in exchange for temporary aggrandisement and power,” he said.
Meanwhile, New Heritage Party president Chishala Kateka said Zambia would indirectly inherit the enemies of the USA and thereby making it an unwitting target for terrorists and other such negative forces if the new dawn administration of President Hakainde Hichilema goes ahead to establish and locate the USA Africa Command in Zambia.
Ms Kateka said the establishment of the AFRICOM in Zambia, which was a military command centre for the US government against its enemies on the African continent, would also be against the country’s long standing neutral foreign policy position of nonalignment which has been premised on being a truly independent sovereign state.
She said she had strong misgivings about the announcement by the American General Peter Bailey, that the American and Zambian governments had agreed to establish and locate AFRICOM.
“Should this project be implemented, it carries very serious national security implications for our country, including, but not limited to the fact that our country will be indirectly inheriting the enemies of the USA, and thereby making ourselves unwitting targets for terrorists and other such negative forces.
This is against our long standing neutral foreign policy position of nonalignment which has been premised on our being a truly independent sovereign state,’’ Ms Kateka said