Tue, 05 Sep 2017 14:55:52 +0000
…for what he did in Mongu
By Bennie Mundando
UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema would have been “instantly” shot dead by state security for blocking a presidential motorcade if it were in countries like the United States of America, an analyst on African affairs, Izak Khomo, has said. He said the motorcade incident was a display of temerity that was not acceptable.
And Mr. Khomo has blasted the Southern African Partnership for Democratic Change (SAPDC) for pushing a neo-liberal agenda on the continent and has challenged African countries not to accommodate ideologies which the rest of the world had reservations against.
Speaking on SABC, Mr. Khomo said the bickering between the UPND and PF has brought division in the country and that Mr. Hichilema’s decision to block the presidential motorcade in Mongu and his consequent arrest was testimony of how volatile the political space had become in Zambia.
“It is a personality clash. Mr. Hichilema’s incarceration is evidence of how the bickering has gone which was as a result of his refusal to give way and allow the presidential motorcade to pass as required by the law.
That was a sign of creating spikes onto the President and I think state machinery came in and they threw him into prison. Funny enough, if it was in the USA, doing such a thing to a presidential motorcade, he could have been shot by the security service.
“Even if someone was your friend and you used to drink together, once he becomes President, you should respect the office. He should have given way. For the state machinery to incarcerate him for such a long period of time was to show him that they had the powers.
“These two people are bickering but this is not right. It is time for them to start talking about issues instead of bickering,” Mr. Khomo said.
He said the political instability that had engulfed Zambia did not start on Election Day but had been a process which started way before.
“The political situation in Zambia is bad and it does not start with the elections. The period leading to the election in 2016 and itself was bad. The contention between parties was very violent and it has divided Zambia for the first time into regional and tribal entities.
“For the first time, we saw these political parties having militias which fought against each other. There was a breakdown of the normal Zambian peace as militias and groups were arming themselves as militias and vigilantes.
It is not only President Lungu’s party but also Mr. Hichilema fermenting anarchy which has led to a threatened state of emergency,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Khomo blasted SAPDC and has taken a swipe at South Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane for taking a partisan stance in what was happening in Zambia when his role as chairperson of SAPDC was to mediate.
“We have this big group for opposition political parties in Southern Africa called SAPDC which has taken sides but they should be careful because when you are doing such a thing, you do not take sides but you mediate as an outsider. You don’t go there as a partisan entity and start making statements against the other.
“Mr. Maimane has taken sides. When President Lungu came, they refused to meet him but invited Mr. Hichilema. What he is doing is amateurish. This big alliance is actually an extension of the African liberal movement funded by the Germany Christian democrats. These are groups of people pushing a neo-liberal agenda and so you Africans have got to wake up and know what is happening on your continent. What Mr. Maimane is doing is very wrong,” he said.
