IT’S TREASON ...HH warned

...he is treading on very thin ice inciting army to emulate events that led to Mugabe downfall

“What is evident and very sad is the quality of advice that Hakainde Hichilema is now receiving from his inner circle. It is so poor that it utterly degrades the man and endangers his life,” said former UPND vice president for politics Canisius Banda.

IF Hakainde Hichilema is inciting our army to emulate the events that led to Robert Mugabe’s downfall in Zimbabwe, then he is treading on very thin ice and can again be cited for treasonable behaviour, former UPND vice president for politics Canisius Banda has warned.

Dr Banda noted that Zimbabwe now represented the very first successful military coup, albeit bloodless, in many years on the African continent.

He reiterated that if this was the kind of change Mr Hichilema, the UPND president was advocating in Zambia, then he risked being cited for treasonable behaviour again.

Dr Banda pointed out that former President Mugabe was overthrown by the military in Zimbabwe and that the military takeover was carefully sanitised by a hostage Judiciary.

He said that Mr Hichilema’s utterances meant that he would be glad if the military overthrew President Edgar Lungu under the pretext that he (Lungu) had resigned, and instal him as republican president.

Dr Banda warned that Mr Hichilema’s statement amounted to a veritable case of incitement, which itself was a criminal offence.

“Now, if this is the kind of change Hakainde Hichilema is advocating in Zambia then he is treading on very thin ice indeed. He is walking a dangerous line. He could again be cited for treasonable behaviour. This would then mean that he is in support of undemocratic and unconstitutional change of republican presidents.

“What is evident and very sad is the quality of advice that Hakainde Hichilema is now receiving from his inner circle. It is so poor that it utterly degrades the man and endangers his life,” he said.

Dr Banda noted that it seemed the UPND leader did not really care how power changed hands in Zambia so long it favoured him.

Meanwhile, Dr Banda emphasised that what happened in Zimbabwe was a very bad precedent for democracies the world over.

He reiterated that what happened in Zimbabwe was the very kind of thing SADC did not need as Mr Mugabe should have managed the succession issue well, which he didn’t and that other leaders should learn from this.