Fri, 23 Dec 2016 09:26:31 +0000
It is time that UPND President Hakainde Hichilema realizes that his utterances are increasingly becoming odious and highly irresponsible.
The suggestion that government intended to assassinate him in the confusion that ensued in the premises of the Supreme Court is so profoundly obtuse as to deserve censure.
This country has no history of political assassination. HH cannot be the first leader to be assassinated because such an eventuality has absolutely no political value. Zambia’s political lexicon and mentality abhor any form of non-political manipulation. Zambia boasts of a long and documented history of peaceful elections in which political leaders have risen or fallen at the ballot box.
Election are long gone, HH lost the election, a reality that he and his supporters must come to terms with instead of heightening the political temperature with utterances that have no basis in fact or logic. Time has come for constructive and sober dialogue to help the nation heal and face the future as a united entity faced with near insurmountable economic and social challenges that must be tackled with purpose and determination as one united nation.
The continued portrayal of Zambia as an unstable political entity is a great disservice because it defies reality. To suggest opposition assassination exposes the very fringe of sanity and incredulity and represents the worst form of misrepresentation and betrayal of national ethos.
The majority of Zambians want the Government to hanker down and deal with the many problems that faced the nation rather than continually engage in political diatribe with the opposition.
Zambia has been an oasis of peace in which democracy is not only observed but has legal, social and political underpinnings to create a system of rules and laws that guarantee every individual the franchise, liberty all protected by the constitution. Therefore to suggest otherwise is folly.
The same constitution that guarantees HH the right to speak, association, conscience and indeed expression also assures other Zambians the rights to determine their right of conscience and association. They have the right to elect the leadership of their choice. This is a right HH continually violates by suggesting otherwise.
Periodic elections accord contenders to test their mettle and when they lose it is incumbent upon them to hold their peace and keep their ambitions in check until the next election, this time in 2021.
Statements suggesting that government was planning to assassinate HH the leader of the largest opposition, do not make sense and hardly stand any logical examination. If anything these statements perpetuate an aura of instability and unfortunately actually embolden the unlawful conduct of cadres and those who believe themselves to be in opposition and therefore under attack.
These sentiments fan political instability while undermining the tenets and roots of democracy.
While the majority of Zambians will treat such sentiments with the contempt they deserve, there are those gullible sections of society that will truly believe that the life of their leader is in danger
These provocative utterances feed into embers of disillusionment borne from electoral defeat that came with elections of 2016 presidential and general elections. They therefore feed into an underlying sense of loss and bitterness which unless allayed could explode into political mayhem.
Lessons from the sporadic episodes of rioting and lawlessness must serve as reminders that behind the façade of peace and tranquility lies the ever present danger of instability for which no country in the world is immune.
This continent has witnessed strife, ethnic cleansing and outright irrational fratricide perpetuated by a sense of lost opportunity.
There is no doubt that the latent negative political energy being stoked by such irresponsible statements can translate into real conflagration which could easily set the country on fire. Nobody wants an Armageddon for Zambia.
Let there be no mistake that an Armageddon can descend on Zambia, all it needs is repeated utterances and provocation to light insurgency and mayhem. In such an eventuality all stand to lose because confusion and ultimate civil instability will affect all.
It would be in the best interest of those close to HH to advise him to tone down and to avoid inflammatory language which exposes him as a political hawk and at times unreasonable.
