The opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) has angrily reacted to accusations by the Patriotic Front (PF) that it is championing politics of tribalism when Zambia is a unitary state.
UPND deputy spokesman, Cornelius Mweetwa, says such attacks are unwarranted, arguing that the opposition party has never championed ethnic politics.
Mr. Mweetwa says his party is saddened by the remarks made by PF Secretary General, Wynter Kabimba, at the PF Southern Province consultative meeting in Choma that the UPND leadership is tribal
He told ZANIS in Choma today that all what Southerners are asking for is fairness in the distribution of the national cake as well as government service delivery.
Mr Mweetwa said it is unfortunate that Southern Province, which contributes greatly to the country’s economy, has continued to lag behind in developmental issues, hence the reason people seem to have disassociated themselves from the rest of the country.
He pointed out that the tribal xenophobia being perpetrated by some politicians against Tonga speaking people should not be entertained as it will promote division in the country.
Mr Mweetwa said the UPND is concerned with the government in implementing the relocation of provincial administration to Choma as the Provincial Minister, the Provincial Permanent Secretary and other government institutions have continued operating from Livingstone.
He said the situation is not so for Muchinga Province where the relocation process has been sped up with most of the provincial offices being moved to Chinsali.
Mr Mweetwa has also refuted claims that the PF is slowly gaining popularity in the province, adding that the opposition UPND is still strong and intact.
He further added that people of Southern Province cannot vote for the PF in its current form unless it addresses a number of issues that have greatly affected the people such as delayed provision of farming inputs and others.
ZANIS
Kabimba alilwala umutima! How can PF be gaining ground when the country is in a mess? Please Wynter double down on you ARV intake otherwise the little brains that you are left with will soon turn into useless sponge not even fit for cleaning your greased frying pan!
UPND is the champion of tribal politics! everybody knows that, it is even the main reason that anytime Sata appoints a Northerner/Luapulan/Copala (which he does ho often) they are quick to jump to tribalism!
Just read watchdog comments and you will see the UPND tribalism even in comments and support/protection for HH
True my brother. The comments on watchdog are a sad reading. Tribal remarks against bembas and Sata confirms that Watchdog is anti Sata and Pro HH. They call Sata Ukwa, CNP, Kolwestan etc. With such comments do they expect a vote from a bemba when they have unleashed such tribal remarks? They are actually confirming the HH and watchdog are anti-bemba.
YOUR OBSERVATION IS ONE SIDED, WHAT BOUT THE OTHER SIDE
I am not Tonga but I read the zwd and blog on it a great deal. I was a supporter of Mazoka because I believed in his policies and really supported upnd. What I have come to believe is that the most tribal group is one group that never learns the language of others because they think everyone in zambia understands that language. All the time I have met Tongas they speak to me in a different language so that we can communicate whereas when I come into contact with this other tribe they carry on in their mother tongue. It is anyone’s guess on what the this tribe is that fels everyone should learn their language. My opinion of course.
Kabimba Please stop insulting tongas but just campaign and outline what you can do to southern province. In this era such tricks are only divisve..
Summer K walilwala kalaye noko,I think ilekupenya nomba!
This tribal enclave member is talking nonsense. UPND is going nowhere and they have began feeling the heat that Wynter is putting up in the southern province. UPND can make noise, form unprogressive alliances with other tribal leaders such as Milupi and clueless Mumba but they certainly wont go far. Zambia is a unitary state and its pointless to think you can ascend to power with the support of one tribal grouping. Bitterness definitely clouds the UPND’s stratgic thinking and makes them dull visionless politicians
Are we so short of memory? Did these guys not squeeze Sikota’s balls? Did they not say that Mazoka must be replaced only by a fellow Tonga and lo and behold it came to pass? Don’t insult our intelligence. Tell us you regret it and that you would like to “re-brand”, but to tell us you have not ridden on the tribal tag is to suggest that you cannot be honest.
I totally agree with you pal!!!!!!!!
Winter worms…………..lol
Ba Mwitwa Don’t insult our intelligence  zambian will NEVER forget how Chisanga, Sikota , bob were forced to leave you party , ONLY TONGAs should be in top leadership. Not until you renounce your tribalism and balance  you party leadership may be just may be I can VOTE for UPND. but not HH the guy hate Northerners.
stupidity is to continue doing the same thing and expecting different results, what is hurting you so much that you still want pipo to be talking about the same thing over and over? The issue of choosing a leader for UPND is buried. What we have is PF in Govt. You mean just because some is tonga they cant comment on how the country is being Governed? WK should have been more level headed and talked about what development will take place in SP than talking about divisive things. Small minds dwell on pettiness like you. Advise those PF pipo to concentrate on developing the country unlike just making random decisions like building a stadium in WP instead of asking the pipo what the really need
Actually both UPND and PF can be referred to as tribal parties. Only MMD can be classified as non-tribal.
From what I see, Southern Province is second to Copperbelt interms of infrastructure in towns , the road and rail , so, what National Cake has not been shared equally?. This is being greedy ba Mweetwa, because almost all the towns in Southern province have electricity , the people there have access to the markets interms of roads, the people there are well educated. I think Mweetwa and HH needs to travel alot inorder for them to appreciate that this Country is too remote in Northern ,luapula,Eastern,North-western and Western provinces . Even lusaka province’s Luangwa district is also too remote despite sitting on an economic hot-bed. Only people who have not travelled across this counrty will believe what Mweetwa is complaining of.Zambia is vast and remote, it will take yrs to develop.
True that, boss!!!!!!!
Easily said, easily done, easily forgotten. Know where you are coming from, where you are and plan where you are going.
Sata is a Ruler not a Leader. He thinks Development comes by decree’s and orders. PF Kolwestan’s are tribalists. They only know how to speak Bemba. They can’t speak any other Language.
Is it possible to convence people that you are not tribalistic while sounding tribalistic, “Mr Mweetwa said it is unfortunate that Southern Province, which contributes greatly to the country’s economy, has continued to lag behind in developmental issues, hence the reason people seem to have disassociated themselves from the rest of the country.”
Is southern province the only undeveloped province in Zambia.
Look at WP and the step they want to take and it will answer your silly question
@To Hell:
You are indeed “hell”! And if you don’t change, you id!ots will plunge this country in chaos. What has PF done in WP that they have not proposed to do SP?? Haven’t the PF decided to create more districts in SP, same as in WP? And you f00ls opposed this! Isn’t a world class stadium being built in SP (although only suspended at the moment)? Haven’t the PF suggested to turn one of the technical colleges in Livingstone into a University? Where is the biggest Hydroelectric plant being built, is it not in SP? And there is another one on the books after they sort out issues with Zimbabwe. And where is the coal-fired power plant being built, is it not SP? What is it that PF has built in another provinces that id!ots like you keep complaining about? Please stop this nonsense!
@Yambayamba you are the that is a fool. The things you have mentioned are in SP simply because that is where resources are and where put there by the nationalist government and not the tribal one you pathetic fools support. Even so the villages and people that were displaced to create power plant have not benefited. Go to Lisutu on Siavonga road & u will see how dry the place is, no power or irrigation scheme for pipo who were settled there in order to create the dam. Moreover, PF has only proposed one university in SP and how many in NP? Facts can not lie. So before you should think b4 you yap. Besides the reference to WP was to merely make a point that SP is not the only province that feels isolated and not that I support their move. Â
@Yambayamba you are the that is a f00l. The things you have mentioned are in SP simply because that is where resources are and where put there by the nationalist government and not the tribal one you pathetic fo0l support. Even so the villages and people that were displaced to create power plant have not benefited. Go to Lisutu on Siavonga road & u will see how dry the place is, no power or irrigation scheme for pipo who were settled there in order to create the dam. Moreover, PF has only proposed one university in SP and how many in NP? Facts can not lie. So before you should think b4 you yap. Besides the reference to WP was to merely make a point that SP is not the only province that feels isolated and not that I support their move. Â
@ To Hell:
“The things you have mentioned are in SP simply because that is where resources are and where put there by the nationalist government…”
How ridiculous and childish can one get? If you are talking about resources in Zambia my friend, Copper belt Province would be the Paris of Africa, you id!ot! It is the copper from Lamba land that has built Zambia by whomever this Nationalist govt you are in love with. But do you ever hear Lambas b!tching the way you f00ls have been whining? NO! So what makes you think the resources of SP shouldn’t be equally shared among Zambians!?
I can just imagine if SP was as rich as CBP, you “tribal inbreeds” would have started a civil war. Get a grip you tribalism prophet. I am tired of failures like you tarnishing the good name of Tongas!
@Yambayamba you are the one who is an id.iot. Most site suited for electricity generation are in SP, or the simple fact has eluded you
@Yambayamba for own information I am not from SP you idi.ot
@To Hell:
“Most site suited for electricity generation are in SP, or the simple fact has eluded you…”
There you go again, and you wonder why I am calling you an id!ot!?
What kind of an argument is this? So you want govt to start mining Copper or Gold in SP, where there is none, just so they can meet your ridiculous threshold of fairness? Or are you saying that huge hydro-power plants should also be built in NWP or Muchinga where there are no suitable rivers for this kind of infrastructure, will that satisfy you? Is there anything wrong with the govt developing and building infrastructure around our entire nation in accordance with resources found in these different regions for all Zambians to enjoy and benefit?
@To Hell:
Brother, you would have made sense if you complained about govt neglected readily available resources in SP and instead concentrated on developing similar resources in other regions. But that hasn’t been the case in the history of Zambia. So where is this GREEDY ATTITUDES coming from?
Look, you started your argument by accusing govt to have neglected SP, and I asked you a simple question which I will ask you again: What is it that PF has built in other provinces that they have NOT done in SP? It is a very simple question really!
And quite frankly, I don’t give a sh!t whether you are from SP or not. Your whining and b!tching is getting out of hand and it surely is “tribal” in its flavor and becoming very sickening!
But why are you only found in SP if its not for tribal reasons, Mwiitwa answer that query
The Truth is they are not only in SA but also in NW province and Western Province. Only Bemba dominated territories have rejected Tongas because Bembas are Tribalists. Every single one of them!
What a weak response ba @The Bricklayer! Wait until PF penetrates SP and we will see how your bumbling id!ots of leaders in UPND handle that one. Are you now going to blame PF of bribing SP??
I hope you guys soon realize that the tribal strategy you have been pursuing so far will lead you nowhere! Instead of getting to work and making sure you organize your party in areas you did badly in the last elections, you are instead busy playing to the gallery with your stup!d tribal politics. Come 2016, you base will shrink even further and you will still be blaming Bembas and the “fictitious tribalism”!
Politics is hard work. If you are not willing to work for votes, please simply blame your lazy bums than continually blaming people who have nothing to do with your mess and failures!
Only cheap and stupid zambians can believe in tribalism.Zambians love one another regardless of where they come from.bloggers gauge yourselves and look around you and you will notice that you have friends and relatives accross tribal lines.Simple
Sata and his PF are the worst tribalist Zambia has known look at the chimutengo Bemba appointments Sata has done its there in black and white even u idddiots who want us not to believe it know deep down your hearts that PF is the worst tragedy that has hit our country. Nothing is moving dollar na ipena . I regret voting for these corrupt  thugs
…..Mweetwa, the why did you join UPND? UPND = ANC
What PF wants under the advise of KK is to turn Zambia back into a one party state. That will justify and exonerate Kaunda’s decision back then. As has been mentioned bembas are the most tribal and usually what to say anyone that does not support them as being tribal. Ask any bemba guy who offers alternative leadership in the opposition and everyone will tell you its Chipimo. Yet when it comes to HH they are quick to point u to the fact that he is under 5. The same tactics were used to take Nkumbula out of contention in KK’s day because he was seen as a threat.
Anyone that goes to NP or CB learns bemba. Go to Lusaka, Choma, Mongu, you will find very few bembas speaking languages that dominate in those areas. Instead natives have to learn bemba to communicate with them. I am from the east and I can speak bemba. nsenga, tonga, lenje, lozi but of late I have told myself I will only speak bemba if I am on the copperbelt or the 3 northern provinces. In Lusaka and elsewhere, it does not matter whether I am speaking to some bemba friends, I will not use. This thanks to PF and their tribal politics
What a weak response ba Mweetwa! Wait until PF penetrates SP and we will see how you bumbling id!ots of leaders in UPND handle that one. Are you now going to blame PF of bribing SP?
I hope you guys soon realize that the tribal strategy you have been pursuing so far will lead you nowhere! Instead of getting to work and making sure you organize your party in areas you did badly in the last elections, you are instead busy playing to the gallery with your stup!d tribal politics. Come 2016, your base will shrink even further and you will still be blaming Bembas and the “fictitious” tribalism of Bembas.
Politics is hard work. If you are not willing to work for votes, please simply blame your lazy bums than continually blaming people who have nothing to do with your political failures!
The countries waste tribalists in order of sequence ;
BEMBAS , LOZIS , EASTERNERS ,TONGAS with their respsective traditional churches under same order , spare us the nonsense please .
The worst tribalist i have ever known is Sata & PF
Monk Mweetwa, please call a spade a spade! Are you sure UPND is not championing trabalism? You are my brothers but I will never support your tribal politics!