By Zondiwe Mbewe
JACK Kalala says Paramount Chief Chitimukulu should appoint a Council of Elders as his advisors, through whom he should speak, to avoid dishonouring the chieftaincy.
And Kalala, who was president Levy Mwanawasa’s Special Assistant for Policy Implementation and Monitoring, says it is regrettable for His Royal Highness to make such demeaning and malicious claims against him when he clearly lacks the right information.
Speaking in Bemba when he featured on Radio Mano in Kasama last week, Paramount Chief Chitimukulu charged that Kalala lacked brain capacity, and that late president Mwanawasa appointed him to his post because he was his relative, and that he could not post him away from him for fear of embarrassment.
But in a statement, Tuesday, Kalala stated that he was shocked to watch and hear not only an elderly person, but a Paramount Chief, spreading falsehoods about a person he least knew.
He stressed that president Mwanawasa was not his blood relative, contrary to the Paramount Chief’s claims.
“I have received from many friends and colleagues a video clip in which in His Royal Highness (HRH) Chief Chitimukulu disparaged me over my response to his tribal remarks he had earlier made. It was dismaying and shocking to watch and hear not only an elderly person of his age, but also a chief, not just an ordinary chief but a notable Paramount Chief, who is supposed to be a fountain of wisdom and a beacon of integrity commanding respect and honour, shamelessly spilling downright falsehood and slurs with brazen audacity about a person he least knew,” Kalala stated.
“It was unbecoming and regrettable for His Royal Highness Mwinelubemba to make such demeaning and malicious claims about me on how and why president Mwanawasa appointed me to work at State House with him. Contrary to what His Royal Highness Paramount Chief Chitimukulu Mwinelubemba maliciously claimed on Radio Mano, president Mwanawasa was not my blood relative, just like I was not related to president FTJ Chiluba, who had appointed me Consul-General to Lubumbashi in 1992.”
Kalala, however, said he would always remain indebted to both president Mwanawasa and Chiluba for the honour and privilege to appoint him to serve the nation under their leadership.
He also offered to buy books for His Royal Highness so that he could learn more about how he (Kalala) found himself working at State House.
“I offer to buy for His Royal Highness books authored by Mr Amos Malupenga and Mr Ng’andu Magande so that he can learn more about how I found myself working at State House, first as Principle Private Secretary to the President and then as Special Assistant to the President for Policy and Project Implementation and Monitoring. I hope the books will help him to know the truth so that he does not, in future, engage in peddling slanderous falsehood about me,” Kalala stated.
“I challenge His Royal Highness Mwinelubemba to tell the nation why and how I excelled in Foreign Service where I served as Consul-General and fully in charge of the mission as controlling officer, and how and why I did not bring disgrace to the nation ‘newushikwete amano’ as he claimed, and yet could fail to do the same under president Mwanawasa. As PPS at State House, I was sent as Special Emissary to Libya to meet Colonel Gadhafi and to Iran to meet president Khatami. I also did other special assignments. If I was a person as described by the Chief Chitimukulu, I do not think the president would have sent me to see these important statesmen on his behalf.”
Kalala further stated that as Special Assistant to the President, he worked for and through the president, adding that his success was reflected in the success of the President.
“As Special Assistant to the President, I worked for and through the President. I worked under the shadow of the President. My role was to advise the President, but also to do things on his behalf. Whatever I did or initiated, I did them on behalf of the President. My success was reflected in the success of the president. For example, no president writes his own speeches. The aides and others do write speeches for the president, but they become his speeches,” he stated.
And Kalala urged the Paramount Chief to desist from commenting on matters he had little knowledge of for the sake of his own integrity and respect.
He added that as a traditional leader, Chief Chitimukulu should consider himself as a leader of all Zambians, regardless of their ethnicity.
“For the sake of his own integrity and respect, and to avoid exposing himself to scorn and ridicule, HRH Chief Chitimukulu should desist to talk on matters he has very little knowledge about and to disparage people he is least familiar with. In addition, as a traditional leader, he should consider himself to be a leader of all Zambians regardless of their tribe as any Zambian is free to settle in his chiefdom just as many Bembas have chosen to permanently settle in other chiefdoms and will never go back to Northern Province,” Kalala stated.
He advised Paramount Chief Chitimukulu to appoint a Council of Elders as his advisors and through whom he should speak.
“I wish to advise His Royal Highness Mwinelubemba to appoint a Council of Elders, who will be his advisors and through whom he should speak instead of himself to avoid dishonouring the Chieftaincy, which he found and which he will leave. He should learn from his counterpart, the Litunga, in Western Province,” urged Kalala.