By Daily Revelation Reporter
Opposition UPND deputy secretary general Patrick Mucheleka says the party will make efforts to visit paramount chief Chitimukulu of the Bemba people, saying the real person they must fear is Nkandu Luo and not Hakainde Hichilema.
Mucheleka’s recent statement to Daily Revelation that the Chitimukulu has sold the Bemba kingdom to President Edgar Lungu’s running mate, Professor Luo, because of love for money, has not sat well with some chiefs in Bemba land.
But speaking with Daily Revelation over the cries from the chiefs, Mucheleka said the one the chiefs should be de-campaigning is Prof Luo, who opposed the rise of Chanda Sosala to the paramount chieftaincy, and that she has not given up plans to take the Bemba kingdom to the Ngoshe Mukote clan of the Bisa people.
“The person they should be de-campaigning is Nkandu Luo. Is she not the one who is a threat to them? Is it HH? Did HH ever threaten them? The person they should worry about is Nkandu Luo and Lungu. In Bemba we say ingulube bakonka iilile umumbo, meaning you have to go against the person who is against you,” Mucheleka said. “HH is not a danger to anyone, if anything he will be their savior because for him it’s to restore the respect and dignity that the chiefs around the country deserve, including chiefs in Northern and Luapula. He has never threatened any chief, it’s Nkandu Luo who has threatened chiefs.”
Mucheleka said the PF had turned the chiefs into ruling party cadres, saying they have been “blackmailed” into being recipients of different types of things, but that the UPND will work to restore their dignity.
Asked if the UPND will make effort to visit Chitimukulu, Mucheleka said: “Of course why not? Why not? He’s our parent. Why not? We shall go to every (chief), we have every right to visit any chief in Zambia, including Chitimukulu himself. Whether or not he will welcome us that is something else, but we cannot fear to go there? Why should we fear? He’s our parent.”
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