By Hon. Bowman C. Lusambo, MP, Kabushi Constituency
The recent happenings in Namwala and Lukulu districts serve as a sad reminder of how deeply entrenched ethnic divisions have become in our beautiful country.
The attacks and maiming of innocent men and women including children simply because they belong to different tribes is despicable and unZambian.
In condemning the attacks, I wish to categorically place it on record that leader of the opposition UPND Hakainde Hichilema should squarely take the blame for the unfortunate situation happening in Southern Province and parts of Western Province.
In the aftermath of his election loss to His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, Mr Hichilema and his gang (Miles Sampa, Nevers Mumba, GBM and Guy Scott) have been holding countless press briefings sometimes at awkward hours of the night to show their desperation for state power.
In doing so, the leaders of the opposition have failed to provide the much needed leadership to reign on their membership to remain calm, peaceful and accept the outcome of the election.
What we saw and have been seeing is the opposite, Mr Hichilema and his gang have instead been inflaming the situation by showing a lot of disrespect for President Lungu and the millions of Zambia who re-elected him into office.
The attacks in Namwala and Lukulu where government and private property has been destroyed should not be treated as isolated incidents but as part of a grand scheme by Mr Hichilema and his gang to instil fear among Zambians and make the country ungovernable.
I should hasten to mention that Mr Hichilema is not the first opposition leader to lose an election since Zambia returned to multi-partism. We have had many distinguished men and women who contested elections, lost, accepted and moved on without bringing any tension to this nation.
In 2001, late Anderson Mazoka who was poised to win however lost, challenged the election in the Supreme Court and when his verdict did not go his way, he appealed to his supporters to remain calm and respect the outcome of the entire process.
In 2006 and 2008, late Michael Sata was expected to sweep to victory. He lost, accepted the outcome and on countless occasions appealed to his supporters to remain calm and respect the outcome of the electoral process.
In all these episodes, Zambia did not witness any skirmishes to the level we have seen today.
I am left with no option to conclude that the attacks in Southern Province and some parts of the Western Province have happened because Mr Hichilema and his gang have allowed them to.
I strongly believe that if Mr Hichilema cared about national unity, he would have done everything in his powers to bring the attacks and the tension we have seen in Namwala and Lukulu to an end.
But I also know that asking him to do so would be asking for too much because Mr Hichilema is not a born leader and therefore does not care about the people whom he seeks to lead.
Granted he is a successful businessman but that does not automatically translate into him becoming a great national leader.
What we know is that in the corporate world, greed and dubious deals sometimes can make some people rich overnight but the same cannot be said about political leadership.
Political leadership calls for selfless undertakings where the wellbeing of the majority is placed at the core.
I therefore make a clarion call for Mr Hichilema and his gang to step up and demonstrate leadership by putting a stop to the attacks going on in their strongholds.
Mr Hichilema and his gang should know that Zambia is bigger than any of their political ambitions put together.
This country has enjoyed uninterrupted decades of peace and it would be shameful if that record would be lost due to some individual’s selfishness.
President Lungu is in a hurry to work and he needs our support. The opposition leaders should not continue holding this nation to ransom. We have an economy to fix, jobs to create and peace to safeguard.
In conclusion, I wish to call on Mr Hichilema and his gang to reflect on wise words of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr who said and I quote, “We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools,” end of quote.
And yet LAZ makes no mention of them in their so called amicus curiae
I am sad to see this fighting. The only way Zambia will ever be taken seriously as a true Democracy is when they have elections and accept the results with total calm and no violence. Only then will Zambia rise up as a strong and smart country.
Hon. Bowman C. Lusambo, MP, Kabushi Constituency, what do you know about peace? You are like a big snake in the grass or like a goat dressed in the sheep clothing. We have not forgotten, are you not the one who was dragging Major Kachingwe on the ground in Lusaka? You think we have forgotten how you were behaving in MMD. Bowman, MP for Kabushi Constituency blaming HH without any proof. What kind of leadership is this? Honorable Bowman you want to impress people that you care about people. If you were a man of integrity and God fearing you should have blamed and condemned both PF and UPND cadres, those who are causing problems. I do not like leaders who do not walk in truth that’s why our country is in poverty.
How many Tonga’s have been attacked? If Chiefs are custodians of pipo why are chiefs in Tongaland quiet? Report HH and GBM to ICC please!
18 dead Zambians by the hand of criminal clique masquerading as political party whilst preaching Christianity is not enough for tr1bal 1mbeciles like you?
Count how many times the word “gang” has been used. So Bowman is saying 1.7 million people who voted for HH and GBM were supporting a gang? The Kabushi,masala people are now missing your free beer.
Chief Mukuni & many other chiefs say otherwise. No ‘ethnic cleansing’ happening in S/Province. One thing is for sure, whatever division PF is trying to create among the big ignorant portion of Zambia, it’s working. It’s perfectly working.
The PF Government are creating a perception of violence. That is why they have silenced all independent media, so that only what they say is taken as fact. The real picture on the ground is very different. ECL is looking for a pretext to impose martial law. All our freedoms gained in 1991 have been thrown out of the window by this incompetent PF administration.
PF shot and beat people in our communities. Today they want us to respect them? What is wrong with Zambians?
Zambia police hasve been given power and guns to kill local citizens like criminals, yet you still want Lungu for top office?
BOWMAN LUSAMBO, NEVERS MUMBA HAS ALREADY TOLD US THAT THE PF ARE CAUSING MEYHEM, BURNING MARKETS AND THEN FALSELY ACCUSING UPND.
WHY DID YOU NOT TAKE PICTURES IN LUKULU AND NAMAWALA? NEVERS TOLD US THAT THE PICTURES USED BY THE DAILY NATION ARE DOCTORED PICTURES WHICH CAME FROM A SOUTH AFRICAN MAGAZINE ABOUT THE XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS ON FOREIGNERS. THE POLICE WHO WERE CAPTURED WERE WEARING SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE UNIFORMS. COMMENT ON THIS NOT ON WRONG THINGS.
BOWMAN, TELL EMMANUEL THAT THERE IS NO WAY HH CAN ENGAGE IN BEATING PEOPLE. YOU SHOULD HAVE ARRANGED THAT HE BEATS PEOPLE IN NORTHERN OR COPPERBELT. YOUR STRATEGY DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.
SO BOWMAN, COME UP WITH ANOTHER FAKE STORY. THIS ONE HAS FAILED AND IF YOU ARE THE BEST SPOKESMAN THE PF CAN USE, THEN THINGS ARE REALLY…
No Bowman Lusambo is saying the truth, only that it pains when it is happening in your area. The Namwala issue and Lukulu are real so UPND carders on this fora don’t just support because you like UPND , let’s condemn these bad happenings why do you want to hide that nothing happened in Namwala when the displaced people are still in the secondary school there and perpetrators have been arrested.