DID PRESIDENT HH MEAN TO HAVE A REAL MEAL WITH PRESIDENT ECL?
By Miles B. Sampa,MP (29.12.2022)
So yesterday President HH unleashed rather surprisingly an olive branch to his predecessor former President ECL. He appealed to him to consider honoring state functions despite their personal differences as “the nation needs” them both. For the first time l heard him refer to ECL as “the 6th President” and which is a good development.
The ‘Praise singers’ (HH backers) have gone to town loud on social media praising HH in the Pavarotti soprano tone for this gesture to ECL. On the other hand the equally die hard ECL supporters are outraged with the gesture and calling HH a hypocrite for himself not having honoured state functions when he was in opposition and ECL was the President.
Post HH winning their relationship started badly with the loud booing of ECL as he handed over the instruments of power at the Heroes stadium. We however recently witnessed the opposite elsewhere in Africa. In Kenya former President Uhuru Kenyatta was applauded inside the Nairobi Kasarani stadium as he handed over power to the new President and own brother William Ruto who he did not support when it was his turn to.
I do not think in yesterday’s rehearsed call to ECL the President meant they should actually sit and eat together. How when it’s public knowledges that himself does not eat anything at public events. Even when he walks to the buffet and picks, notice how quickly the ADC (from Beijing) sneaks away his plate with food from the table.
This so while in opposition and as President. Guess he does not trust anyone with his food away from his home. Nothing wrong here as thats his choice but then how should a former President be invited to come eat with him. So in reality I think the actual eating or dining with ECL is impossible as things are.
I stated before how it is Africa’s pride on how ECL the 6th President at Statehouse took fatherly care of the 5th President RB (MHSRIEP). It did not mean doing cosmetic luncheons together in front of Boba TV cameras. It involved ensuring his safety and peace of mind without any form of harassment to his family members. Thats actually the era when RB’s son Henry Banda got to even visit Zambia freely without state harassment.
So may President HH gesture yesterday be commended to the extent that it is genuine and not usual hypocrisy of saying one thing and acting the opposite. May it not be just a PR stunt and only time will tell.
Any Republican leader has a key role to mend bridges be it literal actual ones during these heavy rains or ones to warm strained relations between two individuals. This also includes broken relations where one of the individuals is the President himself.
We cannot have a Country where everyone from top to bottom, winners & losers, young & old etc etc….are all bitter and fighting each other every day as a hobby.
May we do politics of divergent ideas on how to serve people better using the West, East or median ideologies and not politics of constant hatred.
May we exhale love even as we disagree on ideas.
Amen 🙏🏾
MBS29.12.2022
Leave a Reply