UPND’S TRIBALISM

WE ARE disappointed that instead of admitting that the United Party for National Development (UPND) a tribal clique its leader, Hakainde Hichilema, continues hiding under the thin veil of denial.

Despite the harm his politics of malicious propaganda and tribalism continues to do to his party, Mr Hichilema has continued to duck the issue.

One typical example is his response to the lone protest by Patriotic Front (PF) member of the central committee Kebby Mbewe against the toxic propaganda by Mr Hichilema, his foreign friends and local minions in the civil society and media.

Mr Mbewe has accused Mr Hichilema of dividing Zambia into two enclaves – the north and the south – based on tribe.

Apparently, Mr Mbewe’s solitary crusade has managed to catch some serious national attention, including that of traditional leaders.

But instead of addressing the issue he has raised, Mr Hichilema has counter-accused the PF of using tribalism to remain in power without providing evidence.

We find his reference to the composition of Cabinet laughable.

Who does not know that since 2011 the PF has not won a parliamentary seat in Southern Province, except in Livingstone?

The region has consistently been voting for UPND parliamentary and presidential candidates purely on the basis of their tribe.

But Mr Hichilema does not see anything wrong with that because he is the chief beneficiary. He is not even worried about the isolation of the region this has caused.

The Zambian Constitution only allows the republican president to appoint ministers from among MPs and nominate eight law-makers.

That makes it difficult for Southern Province to have any visible representation in Cabinet.

The propensity by Mr Hichilema and his sycophants to vilify and persecute any UPND member of Parliament who accepts a ministerial appointment from the current administration makes matters even worse.

Any patriotic UPND parliamentarian who accepts to serve the nation as a minister in the PF government is branded a traitor and relentlessly persecuted.

Recently, UPND die-hard and Mr Hichilema’s bosom buddy Senior Chief Mukuni angered the Bemba speaking tribes by originating and spreading fake news in which he alleged that their chiefs, led by their Paramount Chief Chitimukulu, were floating names of Bemba speaking PF politicians to succeed President Edgar Lungu in 2021.

Chief Mukuni alleged that he had ‘intelligence’ that President Lungu would not stand as PF presidential candidate in 2021.

He made an attempt to divide chiefs in the northern half of the country using tribalism on the basis that the UPND has been struggling to shake the solid support the PF continues to enjoy in its Bemba-speaking strongholds.

If Mr Hichilema does not see this as a blatant promotion of tribalism by his chief supporter and business ally then we doubt his understanding of the word.

In 2016 there were reports from one of the border towns in Southern Province that a few days before the general elections junior officers stormed the office of their supervisor, an immigration officer-in-charge.

They warned him that he would be ejected from the region if the UPND took over government because he was an easterner, encouraged by the tribal propaganda by UPND leaders.

We also recall the infamous UPND convention in 2016 that ushered Mr Hichilema into the presidency of the opposition party following the death of its founder Anderson Mazoka.

A senior official, who is still in the UPND’s national management committee, publicly declared that only a Tonga would succeed Mr Mazoka, and it came to pass.

Mr Hichilema has not distanced himself from that infamous declaration nor has he admonished Senior Chief Mukuni because he benefits from tribalism.