The unprovoked vociferous personal attacks that opposition UPND president Hakainde Hichilema unleashed on President Michael Chilufya Sata on radio this morning has given us insights into the grim side of his troubled childhood which is now manifesting in hate speech and utter disregard for any other person but himself.
His ravings and ranting on a live radio programme on Hot FM radio, does not, however, surprise us because Hakainde’s disrespect for elders stems from his difficult personal circumstances that have forced him to conceal his parentage.
This hurting and hating man, who has shown contemptible disregard for his own father, cannot be expected to respect any other person.
It is not too late for him to reconcile himself with the past by accepting the realities of life, whatever the circumstances because there is nothing he can do about the past but can surely do something about his bleak political future.
It shall remain a fact that he was born of a father somewhere who he ought to recognise; it is fact too that he lost an election last year, something unpleasant, but nonetheless a reality he ought to acknowledge. This is the historical will of the people he can do nothing about!
The scornful disapproval of the will of the people he demonstrated during the radio programme is insulting to the Zambian voters who he falsely accused of “now living with regret” that they elected President Sata after being “fooled.” We wonder when the Zambian people appointed him as their spokesperson.
We shall leave those insults on the Zambian people to Hakainde because, as he will soon learn, the same voters will be there for him to face. We shall also leave to western governments represented in Zambia who ridiculed for “supporting a flawed constitution-making process.” We shall also leave it to the many other citizens he insulted simply for taking positions different from his.
[pullquote]This man insulted our cadres when he tried to order the police “to remove these PF dogs out of my way,” in reference to the cadres who were making their way out of the Cathedral grounds after seeing off the President.[/pullquote]
But as for the youths of our party, the ruling Patriotic Front, we have taken a position that this hurting and hating loser shall never again be allowed to abuse the goodwill of our President at any public function.
It is debasing for anyone who considers himself a national leader to purvey the kind of blatant lies this desperately bitter man broadcast on radio this morning. How could he lie to the whole world that he confronted and challenged the President to a greeting at the Cathedral of Holy Cross during the funeral of the late Princess Nakatindi Wina yet the President accorded him the respect as an opposition leader to exchange pleasantries?
How could he lie that the poverty and unemployment Zambia faces is a creation of the PF which is barely half a year in government? How can he lie that pensioners pursuing their money were suffering because of President Sata? How can he blame his own recklessness that earned him the ire of party cadres on the President and other PF officials some of whom were not even at the funeral?
[pullquote]How could he lie that the poverty and unemployment Zambia faces is a creation of the PF which is barely half a year in government? How can he lie that pensioners pursuing their money were suffering because of President Sata? How can he blame his own recklessness that earned him the ire of party cadres on the President and other PF officials some of whom were not even at the funeral?[/pullquote]
This man insulted our cadres when he tried to order the police “to remove these PF dogs out of my way,” in reference to the cadres who were making their way out of the Cathedral grounds after seeing off the President.
To get so bitter about an electoral defeat so as to descend into hatred is a dangerous condition that anyone seeking public office must avoid. For this reason the PF youths will not allow this man to get anywhere near the President at any function because he is abusing the honour and goodwill accorded to him by the Head of State. He has openly said he will be calling the President all sorts of derogatory names because he has the right to do so! Let him keep away from the President because this will not be tolerated.
After arriving late for the funeral, Hakainde voluntarily made his way to where President Sata and other dignitaries stood to wait for the arrival of the body of the late Princess and offered his greeting thus: “mulishani ba mudala,” to a receptive President Sata who was in the company of the First Lady, Mr. Given Lubinda, Mr. Wynter Kabimba and the clergy that were leading the valedictory service.
This exchange was warmly applauded by the on-looking PF and UPND cadres. It is therefore shocking that he made this friendly gesture a shooting point from where he abused the President calling him all sorts of names and other unpalatables!
Before he calls other people dictators he must examine his own conduct such his failure to call for a national convention to renew the mandate of the national management committee which has expired; his iron fist on the party whose MPs are suffering under the weight of his repression and the threats he issues against anyone with dissenting views.
It is also shocking that Hakainde could openly say the constitutional-making process can only succeed if people of a particular region were the ones to lead the process. He dismissed all the people sitting on the technical committee and suggested names from a certain region as the only ones suitable to lead!
[pullquote]We are not, as PF youths surprised that he does not regard any elderly person with respect because of his own person challenges with his upbringing. So, we understand that this, coupled with his failure to come to terms with the September 20 electoral defeat, has caused him to descend from bitterness to insolence and political mischief never seen in any losing candidate since the dawn of our democracy.[/pullquote]
We are not, as PF youths surprised that he does not regard any elderly person with respect because of his own person challenges with his upbringing. So, we understand that this, coupled with his failure to come to terms with the September 20 electoral defeat, has caused him to descend from bitterness to insolence and political mischief never seen in any losing candidate since the dawn of our democracy.
His support for lawlessness and industrial unrest before all avenues are exhausted at the University of Zambia is yet another demonstration of the desperation of a man on the brink of political extinction.
It is folly for him to fail to accept that President Sata was undisputedly elected with a resounding mandate yet he doubts the legitimacy of such a clear expression people collectively expressed. What cheeky is this that a losing candidate can insult the Zambian voters with remarks that they collectively made a mistake to vote in Mr. Sata and the PF?
I call on all progressive UPND MPs and Councillors to redeem their party from extinction courtesy of Hakainde’s greed, lack of respect for elders and authority. They should be brave to call for internal democratic elections in the party which are long overdue.
We the youth in PF will not allow Hakainde Hichilema to get anywhere near the Republican President at any gathering. We have given him a distance of 30 metres space away from the President or Acting President when incumbent is abroad.
We urge the Presidency and State House to totally ignore Hakainde Hichilema as he both not worth their time and also not the official opposition leader given it was Rupiah Banda that came second during the elections last year.
HON. MILES SAMPA
MATERO MP
