THE CATHEDRAL ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN HH AND ECL WAS TENSION-REDUCER
Dear Editor,
STATE House photographer, Chellah Tukuta released the footage showing an intimate engagement of equals between President HH and former President ECL during the requiem service for late veteran freedom fighter, Sikota Wina at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Lusaka on June 20, 2022.
The footage sent a message of the two leaders being at peace with each other and hopefully the same message of peace was deduced by the warring cadres between the UPND and the PF.
That is the kind of behaviour that we expect of the two lead ers, the former and current head of state to live by beyond the funeral etiquette.
The two leaders only require to observe the unwritten Presidential rule of not denouncing each other in public and resolve their differences in privacy without waiting for the church leaders to organise peace summits which produce nothing because they are not led by the Holy Spirit.
Differences between President HH and former President ECL may run deep and probably irreconcilable, but they can still be managed in a manner that is civil and honourable fit ting their political standing and responsibility.
So far, ECL has tried to keep calm even under unwarranted provocation by the excited UPND heavy weights. His public statements have been balanced and well measured.
It is important President HH reciprocates by reining in his officials who have kept calling ECL all sorts of names.