PEDDLING NDF FALSEHOODS

IT is strange that some opposition political party leaders and other doomsayers who shunned the National Dialogue Forum (NDF) have continued to be in the forefront to disparage resolutions passed during the national event.

Unlike those who deliberately stayed away from the forum, delegates to the “indaba” put in time, effort and commitment to come up with the resolutions which they have continued vilifying every day.

Much as they can criticise the resolutions, left right and centre and undermine the efforts of the delegates as much as they like, their utterances are not only gratuitous but ridiculous as they failed to sacrifice their time for the sake of the nation.

If these cynics and armchair critics genuinely had the interest of the nation at heart, they should have at least attended the national event and made their voices heard.

The forum offered them the chance they have been longing for to address the glaring lacunas they have been complaining about.

They may have disagreed with modalities on how the NDF was constituted, but they should have attended the sessions and use them as a springboard to disagree or agree with resolutions before they were agreed upon.

It is pointless to talk ill of the resolutions now when the NDF bill is set to be tabled before the House where they yet have another chance to make contributions.

Complaints such as the “NDF was a sham as it drifted away from the Siavonga resolutions” do not hold water and just goes to prove the opposition’s penchant for peddling falsehoods aimed at misleading the nation.

They have themselves to blame for shunning the forum and as usual their actions smack of hypocrisy of the highest order.

It is mindboggling that the opposition alliance led by the whining UPND keep talking about the need for dialogue yet have the propensity for shifting goal posts on such matters when time to agree comes.

This is not how it should be.

We therefore agree with United Liberal Party president Sakwiba Sikota that if the UPND leadership wanted their issues to be addressed, they would not have boycotted such an important event.

The bottom line is that instead of condemning the efforts of other people, Mr Hakainde Hichilema and his cohorts should have attended the forum.

Then he would have been misinforming the nation that the NDF ignored most of the Siavonga resolutions. Then he could have been arguing from a stronger position.

As Mr Sikota observes, quite a number of the Siavonga resolutions were adopted during the forum.

But as expected, the UPND and the Opposition Alliance always rebuff whatever the government is doing.

That’s not what being in the opposition entails. We implore Mr Hichilema and alliance members to put the interest of the nation first instead of spreading falsehoods with a view to instigate citizens.

Shunning important national events is not the gateway to Plot One.