Dear Editor,
I WAS greeted with a rude shock as different colleagues within the Patriotic Front made consistent inquiries regarding the slogan of “the Zambia we want” slogan.
They wanted to find out the circumstances under which the slogan was being used by the opposition yet it was an initiative of the PF members following the events after holding of the peaceful convention.
The background of the slogan is traceable from April 10, 2021 when the PF and Republican President Mr Edgar Lungu had opened the two-day elective conference. The convention was held in a peaceful manner with attendance from different political parties and other stakeholders. Among the political party presidents who attended included then National Democratic Congress’s Chishimba Kambwili, Forum for Democracy and Development’s Edith Nawakwi, Economic and Equity Party’s Chilufya Tayali among others. The event was unprecedented as never in the history of Zambia has the political party held a convention with its competitors in attendance.
It was after the said development that after consultations, we decided to launch “the Zambia we want” slogan.
The Daily Nation edition of April 12, 2021 at page 8 of the reader’s forum at the bottom right an article was published entitled, “THE ZAMBIA WE WANT.”
In that article, “the Zambia we want” was attributed to President Lungu’s initiatives towards peace building.
“The Zambia we want” originally was meant at encouraging President Edgar Lungu to continue with the same all-inclusive approach which knows no political affiliation. I’m very shocked that without attributing originality, my slogan could without consent be copied and pasted with the view to championing the agenda meant at discrediting President Lungu when that was not my intention when conceiving it.
I challenge the UPND president, Mr Hakainde Hichilema and his cohorts to adduce any documentary evidence that they had not copied my slogan.
It is shocking that even before the accusation of plagiarising the manifesto from a certain country could settle, the UPND has now been implicated in plagiarising from a private citizen.
This raises the question of integrity of their promises and Zambians should take this as a wake-up call not to be swayed by plagiarised promises.
I urge the UPND alliance to withdraw my slogan or else I will look at other options available including seeking legal redress to defend the integrity of “the Zambia we want” slogan.
MARVIN CHANDA MBERI,
Lusaka.
Author
