COUNSEL HH

Fri, 08 Sep 2017 11:03:59 +0000

…Commonwealth, church must talk to him before any dialogue

By Bennie Mundando and Chite Mtonga

THE Commonwealth and Catholic bishops should counsel UPND leader, Hakainde Hichilema to recommit to the peace process before any dialogue can take place.

Both the Patriotic Front and an alliance of youths have urged the initiators of the proposed peace process to start by talking to Mr Hichilema so that he can assure the nation that he had changed and not what the nation had been subjected to in the last few weeks.

“No dialogue or reconciliation must take place before the Commonwealth compels the UPND leader to recommit himself to the process because he has become truant since leaving prison and may not honour the agreement,”  Kennedy Kamba, the Lusaka Province PF youth chairperson has said.

Evangelical Youth Alliance president, Reverend Moses Lungu has also asked the Catholic Bishops to engage Mr Hichilema to tame his cadres in Southern Province with similar zeal they showed in fighting for his release.

Rev Lungu said that Catholic Bishops should engage HH to tame his supporters in Southern Province, who were intimidating innocent Zambians because they had different political views.

He said that it was unchristian for Catholic Bishops to keep quiet when innocent people were being terrorised when some of them failed to sleep in their houses when HH was in prison.

“I am now forced to believe that these men of God do not have the great commission of Jesus Christ, which is to preach love. What they have is a human agenda, because we have heard of government workers and people with a different political view being threatened in Southern Province.

And commenting on the delegation from Nigeria which is in the country to initiate the reconciliation process between Mr. Hichilema and President Edgar Lungu, Mr. Kamba, said the PF felt duped by the Commonwealth because what it promised the nation on the commitments Mr. Hichilema made while in prison was the exact opposite of what he was doing.

He said Mr. Hichilema had become more arrogant than he used to be, a signal that he only committed to dialogue because he wanted to be freed and never meant any of the commitments he made.

And ZANIS reports that an envoy of the Commonwealth Ibrahim Gambari says there is need to have a roadmap and strategy that will build peace and create a conducive atmosphere for the 2021 general election in Zambia.

Professor Gambari said the Commonwealth is committed to ensuring that Zambia continues to be a haven of peace as it has always been. He said this is the reason he was sent by the Commonwealth secretary-general to come and work with all stakeholders to ensure that the process of dialogue is successful.

Professor Gambari was speaking to journalists at State House in Lusaka yesterday after a closed door meeting with President Lungu. He noted that President Lungu is committed to the dialogue process and that he is hopeful that other political leaders will also be cooperative in the same manner.

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