By NATION REPORTER
THE words used by President Hakainde Hichilema on his predecessor, Mr Edgar Lungu, were uncouth and seriously lacked civility for a President, Socialist Party president, Dr Fred M’membe, has said.
He said the head of state used language for “bakaponya” (call boys).
Dr Mmembe said Mr Hichilema doesn’t need to like or be happy with Mr Lungu for him to enjoy his rights as a human being and as a Zambian citizen.
The Socialist Party leader was reacting to Sunday’s verbal attack that the head of state unleashed on Mr Lungu over his purported intention to come back to active politics.
“Let Mr Lungu enjoy his rights to the full as long as he acts within the law. If the law allows him to stand in 2026, let him do so, and defeat him at the polls,” he said.
“There is no doubt that Mr Hichilema and many in the UPND have very good reasons to detest or even hate Mr Lungu. They were badly treated and brutalised by him and his regime,” Dr M’membe said.
He said Christ did not say, “we shouldn’t have enemies but that we should love them. To love our enemies and must have them in the first place.
“It’s very easy to love your friends and it doesn’t need much effort. What’s difficult is to love your enemies and that requires much effort, much humanity,” he said.
Dr Mmembe said Mr Hichilema may harbour a lot of hatred and anger towards Mr Lungu and he was entitled to. But Mr Lungu was still a human being with human, constitutional, and legal rights. “The statements Mr Hichilema is making against Mr Lungu as a result of what he sees as a desire or intention on his part to come back to active and elective politics border on inhumanity, unconstitutional conduct, lawlessness, and undemocratic behaviour. And it is contrary to Christian teachings, liberal democratic values, and the rule of law,” he said.
