BE HONEST AND PEACEFUL – M’MEMBE TOLD
By Memory Zulu
LUSAKA – October, 31, 2022
UNIVERSITY of Zambia Lecturer and Researcher Ntazana Mutungwa Musukuma has advised Socialist Party (SP) president Fred M’membe to be factual and embrace peace in his practice of politics.
Reacting to Mr M’membe’s recent statement that ‘there clearly was a very dangerous failure of leadership on the part of Mr Hichilema and his league’, following an alleged UPND attack on an SP campaign camp in Serenje, Mr Musukuma said such utterances by Mr M’membe bordered on dishonesty because President Hakainde Hichilema has not failed but succeeded in leadership.
“M’membe tells everyone that one of the values of his party is honesty but it’s surprising to see him manifesting pronounced dishonesty every now and then. Let him be reminded of the values of his political grouping,” said Musukuma.
The UNZA Lecturer observed that President Hichilema and the UPND Government were on course in steering Zambia to great heights as evidenced by numerous unprecedented achievements scored so far, including the eradication of cadreism and the restoration of law and order which have clearly helped in curbing violence in the country.
“The position of His Excellency the President on violence is clear, he doesn’t condone it. Therefore, it is wrong for M’membe to draw the name of the Head of State into the violence allegedly suffered by his party members in Serenje and it is false to say that the President was involved,” he said.
Mr Musukuma advised Mr M’membe to avoid attributing violence to the Head of State and ruling Party but simply report to the police for investigations and subsequent arrests.
“What evidence does M’membe have that the thugs who attacked his campaign camp were UPND and sent by the President? What if they were PF? Or ordinary criminals? It’s important to allow the police to carry out investigations before anyone rushes to social media to accuse others of being perpetrators of violence. Let M’membe be factual in the best interest of peace and unity in the country between the ruling Party and the opposition political parties,” he said.
The UNZA Don further condemned Mr M’membe for inciting violence amongst his followers in the name of self-defense; violence directed at UPND members.
“Let M’membe desist from inciting violence in the name of self-defense. What the nation expects of an elderly person like him is to categorically condemn violence in all its forms because violence in any part of Zambia is violence in all parts of the country,” said Musukuma.
Earlier today, Mr M’membe accused President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND of having caused violence in Serenje, where he claims one of his campaign camps was attacked by alleged UPND cadres.
“If this continues, we will have no choice but to order our members to defend themselves with any means necessary. This violence if not stopped may lead to insurrection because violence begets violence,” warned Mr M’membe.
However, this violence-triggering stance taken by the SP leader, a man who heads a party whose values include PEACE and HONESTY, has baffled the UNZA Don, who has wondered if there was any peace in plotting violence.
Of late, socialist M’membe has made shocking headlines including the recent endorsement of known ineligible capitalists for the just concluded Kwacha and Kabushi by-elections, a decision which left majority of SP members not knowing exactly how the socialists would campaign for capitalists, with one notable member Eugene Mulenga likening the situation to ‘rats campaigning for cats’.