By Merlyn Mwanza
President Hakainde Hichilema’s statement was instinctive, unmeasured and emotional, and unnecessarily fired up the anger of many, says New Heritage Party leader Chishala Kateka.
In a press statement made available to Daily Revelation, Kateka said the President’s statement was not one that would unify the country.
“In our opinion, the statement was instinctive, unmeasured and emotional – unnecessarily firing up the anger of many. We would advise the President to not only tone down but to guard his heart. Emotions must not be his way of leadership,” Kateka stated. “The seemingly unending finger pointing to failed past leadership whilst self-praising is becoming most irritating. We want to see maturity and we want to see results. Please let the people do the praising.”
Kateka quoted what transpired at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) upon being asked by a reporter, what President Hichilema thought of the pending appointments of PSs as well as Police Commissioners, over the re-instatements issue as well as his thoughts on some opposition leaders accusing him of being tribal in this regard.
“Regardless of the party we belong to, we must objectively look at the current political environment and make comments that are not divisive. What the President actually said and which we have quoted verbatim (please note, I wrote this as we used to write the words of a song back in the day – you play the song, you write the words, you play the song some more, you write the words some more) … Our understanding is that the President is referring to the ‘tribalists and the hegemonists’ who have been feeding off public resources from Independence and who do not think that someone else can run a country better than them,” Kateka stated. “While the President may have meant something else, most people believe that he said past presidents were a clique of thieves. The President should, as much as possible, avoid statements that are subject to different interpretations as is the case now. The damage control statement, issued by his office, added
very little value to people’s understanding of the issue at hand.”
Kateka argued that the issue of reinstatements as asked by the reporter is a double-edged sword and that is why people are concerned.
“It is good in that those that felt wrongfully dismissed get to apply. However, this then begs the following questions – who is going to determine the ‘fairness’ or otherwise in each case? What measures of transparency will be put in place? What if these
were fired because they were clearly working against the government of that day? What would happen if some people started sabotaging this current government – would their dismissal be deemed to be ‘unfair’?” Kateka asked. “The cases need to be put before the Public Service Commission or some Independent Appeals body. We must not focus on appeasing people but we must be seen to be doing the right thing – the future starts here and now.”
She said “we have moved from a camera-shy President to an extremely camera-happy president.”
“Unfortunately, the likelihood of making statements likely to upset the electorates is increased (for example, telling Zambians that jobs do not come from rocks). Reckless or careless statements will not easily be forgotten by the people hence the need for caution in the manner public statements are made,” stated Kateka. “Zambia is looking for a President that will be seen as bringing unity to the country – in other words, a unifier. The current environment in the country is not conducive for statements that
may be seen to be divisive.”
