By Staff Reporter
Economic Front (EF) leader Wynter Kabimba says it’s not enough for the opposition to just advocate coming together for the sole purpose of removing President Hakainde Hichilema from office, but must devise a well thought out programme to avoid replacing one dictator with another and start having differences over issues like homosexuality.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Kabimba said it was always important to draw on the experiences of others who removed dictators from office through coalitions in other countries, saying despite it being too early to discuss the same here in Zambia, such arrangements should be encouraged to work.
But asked if it was conceivable that he could work with other opposition leaders like Socialist Party leader Dr Fred M’membe for instance given their well-documented differences, Kabimba said people were bound to fall into problems once they came together for purposes of just getting rid of a dictator, “the way HH is becoming”, without focusing on the future.
He said it was good to agree that there was one political enemy but effort must be made to go beyond that by designing a programe that was different from the political enemy they wanted to get rid of, arguing that it was not enough to get rid of President Hakainde Hichilema through the ballot box.
“For example we ought to agree, in this coalition that is composed of those who advocate for homosexuality and those of us that don’t advocate for homosexuality, what then will be the programme in government? We ought to agree. So my view is that yes we have a common political enemy, you know HH is becoming a dictator, he’s becoming intolerant, he’s becoming overly sensitive to criticism so he cannot meaningfully contribute to the development of democracy in this country. He’s a wrong fellow to promote democracy so he must go,” Kabimba said. “But against that we have to be cautious that we do not create dictators amongst ourselves for a dictator to replace another dictator. Or get into government and start having differences over obvious issues of principle. You know I don’t agree about homosexuality as others do. So I think it’s okay to have those drumbeats within the opposition ranks about coming together but we also have to be careful how we design the programme.”
Kabimba said it was a problem when parties did not have programmes and any values to promote except focusing on getting rid of one person.
Kabimba said those raising issues about the UPND being supportive of homosexuality must also ask the same of the SP, saying the reason people say that the ruling party advocates for the LGBTQ agenda was because of being members of the African Liberal Network whose principles he said included upholding LGBTQ rights.
He said they could not be members of that network and stand up the way President Hichilema stood up in Church “lying in Church before God, and you say no, we don’t advocate for homosexuality, then what you are doing as a member of the African Liberal Network?”
“And also when you listen to Fred talk about this matter all that he says is get the speck out of your eyes first. It’s not an argument to say that there is a homosexual in State House. Tell us what you believe in yourself. But to say that don’t question my organization because you yourselves have a homosexual in State House is a ridiculous argument in my view,” said Kabimba. “So both the Socialist Party and the UPND are advocates of LGBT rights. And that fundamentally becomes a problem in my view if we are to work together. I don’t think they will be willing to abandon that course just like I would not be willing to join them… For people to just say no, no, no HH out is that enough? We have to agree on why he should be out and what is it that we are going to replace him with?”
