Wed, 01 Mar 2017 10:47:02 +0000
By MUKOSELA KASALWE
HAKAINDE Hichilema yesterday told a Commonwealth delegation that his victory was stolen and that only his effort to restrain his supporters stopped them from taking to the streets to cause mayhem and chaos in the country.
Mr Hichilema challenged the Commonwealth international community and other international organisations to be proactive in handling issues as opposed to waiting until there were hostilities in a particular country.
But Patriotic Front Lusaka chairman Kennedy Kamba has charged that Mr Hichilema had opted to tell lies to the outside world with the aim of misleading them and that it was clear that even international election observers, having confirmed the election process free and fair, he had failed to accept defeat.
Mr Kamba said that Mr Hichilema had lied to the international community and that he should not continue to mislead the outside world that his votes were stolen or that he had helped stop political violence.
He said that it was a lie that the opposition leader had helped stop spates of electoral violence in some parts of the country and alleged that he appeared to enjoy the conflicts as he had remained adamantly silent to condemn the vice or visit areas such as Namwala district but that it was Jean Kapata, Bowman Lusambo and other PF members who took food to the affected residents.
Mr Kamba said that the declaration of a winner of the election was not carried out by President Edgar Lungu himself but by the Electoral Commission of Zambia which was charged with that mandate and that Mr Hichilema had missed an opportunity to convey an honest as well as a clear message which the international community would have taken.
“As the party we would like to caution Hakainde Hichilema not to mislead people from outside the country he has continued to lie.
‘‘It is a total lie that he talked to his people to remain calm after the announcement of the election results; it is actually HH who instigated violence but it was instead PF leaders led by chairperson for elections Jean Kapata, Bowman Lusambo and Alexander Chiteme among other MPs who donated foodstuffs and Mr Hichilema was nowhere near to the aid of the affected residents of Namwala,” Mr Kamba said.
He said that it was clear that Mr Hichilema had directed his MPs to shun the official opening of Parliament by President Edgar Lungu and that had allowed his party members to disown President Lungu’s presidency with impunity, saying that the UPND had not taken any disciplinary action against its members and alleged that the opposition leader was indirectly instigating a revolt.
In a statement issued yesterday, the opposition leader said this after he met the Commonwealth delegation led by Deputy Secretary General (political) Josephine Ojiambo where they discussed a wide range of issues regarding the governance of the country at political as well as economic level.
He said that that security of the country would have been out of control had the UPND allowed its supporters to take to the streets to claim their victory during the announcement of the 2016 election results.
“We maintained that things would have escalated out of hand had we allowed our supporters to get into the streets to claim the stolen victory,” Mr Hichilema said.
Mr Hichilema said that the party chose to take a ‘‘civilised route’’ of going to court but he expressed dismay that they were let down by the justice system as their petition was not heard.
He reiterated for peace and unity in the country despite the existing challenging and oppressive environment.
He said that during his discussion with the Commonwealth delegation, he put forward a strong case on the need to see reforms of governance institutions such as the Zambia Police Service, the Electoral Commission of Zambia, the Judiciary among others, saying citizens needed to be confident in the governance institutions, a situation he said would ensure stability and promote economic development in the country.
