UKA is calling upon President Hakainde Hichilema to uphold the dignity of the presidency and not down grade it through gate crushing at the Kuomboka ceremony to be held this coming Saturday.
President Hichilema should realize that the presidency is the people’s apex personification of their chosen governance system and must not be subjected to ridicule through an insatiable appetite to score political mileage or unwisely settle self created political disputes.
The President must realize that he created the unnecessary tension between himself and the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) through uncalled for comments on the Barotse matter. He should have sought wisdom from previous presidents on how this matter was treated each time it came up during their respective tenures.
It is worrying to see that the President’s chosen path in this ever-recurring Barotse issue has been escalating hostility rather than deceleration of the tension of the Barotse issue through a broad based consultative and mature deliberation approach.
The BRE has settled on the guest of honour in reciprocation to the same status accorded to the Litunga during last year’s Ukusefya pa ngwena ceremony by the Mwine Lubemba. It will be worth noting that during President Lungu’s tenure, it was actually decided that government officials were no longer required to grace the traditional ceremonies but that such ceremonies would be graced by their royal highnesses themselves. It therefore follows that whether there is tension between President Hichilema and the BRE or not, the BRE is in order and is on firm ground to choose their preferred guest of honour at the Kuomboka ceremony.
The president is being urged not to salvage his dwindling political fortunes through gate crushing at an event he is not invited to. The message from the KUTA and from the Barotse Youth Alliance is loud and clear and the president should uphold the dignity of the presidency by simply staying away. Zambians expect nothing less than the president respecting and upholding the apex of the epitome of their chosen governance system.
Clearly, looking at the militancy with which both the KUTA and the Barotse Youth Alliance are expressing their disapproval of the President’s un invited presence, the situation is most likely to escalate into possible chaos that might lead to violence and God forbid, loss of life. The total disregard to the safety of the lives of the people is reminiscent of the Biblical story in 1 Kings 3:16 – 28 in which the uncaring and unloving mother agreed to the cutting of the baby into two.
President Hakainda must desist from a seemingly never ending unwise desires to turn the Kuomboka ceremony into a theatrical specter to score political mileage as he did in 2017. Had it not been for the wisdom of President Lunga, who ordered his security detail not to escalate the situation but move his motor cade off the road to avoid a show down, lives would have been lost and history would have taken a completely different turn.
Zambians will hold President Hakainde responsible for any risks posed to people’s lives. He did it before save for the wisdom of President Lungu and he wants to do it again in another format and that’s why UKA dare says, don’t do it!
Hon. Lucky Mabenga Mulusa
Secretary General
United kwacha Alliance
