By NATION REPORTER
CHIEF Mukuni of the Toka Leya people has come out guns blazing
attacking the Bemba people’s Paramount Chief Chitimuku- lu for his revelation about the UPND and its leader, Hakain- de Hichilema whom he has accused of plotting his de- thronement.
In a scathing press state- ment, Chief Mukuni, a known UPND sympathizer, has de- fended the UPND and Mr Hichilema over accusations of plotting to dethrone the Bemba paramount chief in the event they formed govern- ment next year.
Last week, Chitimukulu re- vealed a plot to dethrone him should the UPND ascend to power and vowed to prevent that from happening. He has promised to decampaign the opposition party.
However, Senior chief Mukuni claimed that Bill 10 which Paramount Chief Chitimukulu of the Bemba people appears to be a propo- nent of is what will dethrone him and not UPND president Hakainde Hichilema.
Senior Chief Mukuni said he was initially reluctant to com-
ment on the matter but forced to do so because the circum- stances in which the accusa- tions were being made could longer be termed as ordinary.
He also said he found in- consistencies in the Mwine Lubemba’s statement against Mr Hichilema.
“I therefore find the effort to drag Mr Hakainde Hichile- ma and Hon Milupi into the Bemba royal family in – fight- ing by His Majesty the Mwine Lubemba unfortunate, unfair, unnecessary, and overbearing and without a solid, sound basis and legal or moral justi- fication.
“The evidence available and very much in the public do- main is that Mr Hichilema has never exulted in the dethron- ing of His Majesty, but, con- trary has on various occasions commiserated with him with unwavering support,” Senior Chief Mukuni.
He added, “The Chitimuku- lu appears to overwhelmingly depend on mere hearsay to find Mr Hichilema guilty by association, which by the law of natural justice is unjust and unacceptable and draws a dangerous precedent for fu- ture discourses.”
“In as far as I am con- cerned, what endangers His
Majesty’s throne is Bill 10 which he tragically appears to be a proponent of. The mon- strous Bill 10 advocates to re- move traditional Chiefs from their thrones at the behest of the Republican President. When I last checked, Mr Hi- chilema vehemently opposed this Bill while the Republican President supports its enact- ment into law. Who between the two is a danger to His Maj- esty’s rule in an unlikely event that the evil Bill is made into law? It’s definitely not Mr Hi- chilema,” he said.
The traditional leader fur- ther accused of Paramount Chief Chitimukulu of ad- vancing divisions instead of unifying the country in all his debates.
Further, he said, let me state that I find a lot of inconsisten- cies in the Mwine Lubemba’s statement. Among many is His Majesty’s assertions that ‘the Bemba had no problem voting for other tribes, like they did for Kenneth Kaunda, Frederick Chiluba, Levy Mwa- nawasa, Rupiah Banda and Michael Sata’.
“The apparent characteri- zation of late Presidents Fred- rick Chiluba and Michael Sata in His Majesty’s statement, as outsiders of the Bemba King-
dom is succinctly clear and categorical, but also brings to the fore the level of divisive- ness the Chitimukulu’s debate brings to the unitary nature of the Zambian statehood, which by our constitution is blind to ethnicity and other artificial boundaries,” Chief Mukuni said.
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