Obasanjo wrong man for the reconciliation job

Mon, 14 Aug 2017 11:46:21 +0000

Dear Editor,

In response to the front page story titled, “Be Careful” in the August 12, 2017 issue of the Daily Nation, I write to equally express my displeasure and reservations at the in-volvement of Olusegun Obasanjo, the former Nigerian president, as a special Brenthurst Foundation envoy tasked to resolve the stand-off between President Edgar Lungu and incarcerated UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema in Zambia.

Conflict resolution requires a mediator with unquestiona-ble character who all parties have confidence and respect for.

This calls for the services of diplomats and leaders who have consistently demonstrated trust, integrity, accounta-bility and faith with their people.

Obasanjo is a man who was in charge of his country while corruption carried on for years to the detriment of the good people of Nigeria.

We cannot forget his inability to organise a smooth transi-tion in his country, depriving his countrymen and women of the right to elect their leader.

It took Nigerians’ maturity to avert a situation similar to that which Obasanjo is now appointed by Brenthurst Foundation to resolve in Zambia.

Neither can we ignore how President Jacob Zuma who was invited by President Edgar Lungu to come and open the 91st Agriculture and Commercial Show with no excess baggage but decided to come along with Obasanjo to avoid a diplomatic tiff.

So, when the South African president came in to meet President Edgar Lungu, he brought in the uninvited Obasanjo who acted as his mouthpiece to talk about the incarcerated UPND leader and asked to go and see him at Mukobeko Maximum Correctional Facility.

The truth is that Obasanjo’s trip to Mukobeko has nothing to do with the interest of the people of Zambia, but rather for his own and Brenthurst Foundation’s.

This is the second time the former Nigerian leader has pulled a fast one in Zambian politics.

The other time was in 2014 after the late president Michael Sata’s death that was when former MMD president Rupiah Banda was trying to come back as the MMD presidential candidate in the January 20, 2015 presidential polls and Brenthurst Foundation entered in some negotiations with Zambia’s opposition presidential wannabes Hakainde Hichilema, Nevers Mumba and Rupiah Banda.

However, former President Rupiah Banda refused to take part in the conspiracy.

As fate would have it, Hakainde Hichilema and Nevers Mumba both wanted the opposition top seat, but Obasanjo as chairperson of Brenthurst Foundation allegedly opted for Hichilema which made Mr Banda and Dr Mumba up-set and they decided to go solo, the MMD former presi-dent was only to be stopped by then MMD leader Nevers Mumba’s interdict through the Supreme Court.

 And that is how the Rupiah Banda-led MMD faction joined forces with Edgar Lungu-led PF ruling party which carried the day in both the January 20, 2015 presidential by-election and the August 11, 2016 general elections.

What this involvement in the reconciliation job to mediate between the PF and UPND leaders in Zambia has done is to give credibility to Obasanjo who performed abysmally while in office in his own country.

Besides, the Oppenheimer family and their partners pledged to support Hichilema in both the 2015 presiden-tial by-election and in the 2016 polls.

As far as Obasanjo was concerned, it was Brenthurst Foundation’s regime change narrative as usual, regardless.

Mubanga Luchembe,

LUSAKA