Sat, 25 Mar 2017 09:45:42 +0000
Editor,
It is ridiculous for UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema to distance himself and further disown his MPs over their disgraceful and unconstitutional conduct when they boycotted Republican President Edgar Lungu addressed the nation as per the Constitutional requirement.
These MPs swore to uphold the Republican Constitution but because of pettiness and myopia, they elected to contemptuously abdicate their parliamentary duty.
The decision, whether arrived at during their caucus as MPs was informed by Mr. Hichilema’s conduct and disrespect for a duly-elected President. All the UPND MPs did was to please their master and it’s immoral that he should be the one to wash his hands in this matter. The buck stops at Hakainde Hichilema and let him take responsibility for the consequences which will accrue and the impact thereof on UPND.
UPND is today at its weakest since its founding and this is a direct consequence of an arrogant, myopic and mediocre leadership at the helm of the organization. Zambians will recall UPND’s days of glory under the late Anderson Mazoka, Patrick Chisanga, Sakwiba Sikota SC, among others. The UPND of today is a heart without a shell if one compares with the days the Opposition party served as a proposition of new ideas and alternative policy frameworks. under Mazoka, UPND as a mature party would go to the extents of presenting alternative National Budgets. That was the mark of maturity and objectivity UPND was known for. Alas, today UPND under Mr. Hichilema is nothing but a poisoned chalice whose role in the life of the nation is informed by bitterness and a delusional belief that there will be a day before 2021 when Mr. Hichilema will be sworn in as Republican President for an election he lost.
It is this bitterness which has rubbed on some of his MPs who are ready to betray the trust of their Constituencies in order to please their paymaster.
It is shocking that UPND cannot wake up, listen and understand that Mr. Hichilema’s insistence to stay in Court over an election thats now water under the Bridge is his own personal political strategy to keep him at the helm of the organisation until 2021. It is plan calculated at stopping the expected calls for a change of leadership guard in the UPND especially that Mr. Hichilema has lost five (5) Presidential elections in a row, starting in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2016. While consistency is a virtue respected by all, one cannot be consistent with failure. what happened to intra-party democracy because clearly HH is UPND and UPND is HH.
There is a clarion call to the UPND MPs to understand that their party is on a slippery slope. It is quickly losing its efficacy and if UPND where to be a spare tyre on a vehicle called Zambia, it is nothing but a flat spare tyre which does not serve any purpose in case of a puncture. Luckily PF’s threads are good enough to drive on the road to a better Zambia for the next (5) when the mandate shall be renewed.
Sunday Chanda
Lusaka
