Edwin Lifwekelo
Edwin Lifwekelo

(In exercise of the right to reply)

Gunston Chola seeking attention, job

…Hon. Lunbinda, Hon. Chilangwa were ejected from Nc’wala in the name of the President

By Edwin Lifwekelo

OUR attention has been drawn to an article under the headline ‘Chilangwa, Lubinda: a toady which blew itself up trying to imitate a buffalo’ written by Gunston Chola on page 5 of the Thursday, March 17, 2022 edition of the Mast.

Mr Chola, a former journalist, politician and diplomat, used very offensive language in reference to the Patriotic Front (PF) Acting party president, Hon. Given Lubinda, and our acting secretary general, Hon. Nickson Chilangwa, over their announcement that they had been ordered to leave the venue of this year’s Nc’wala ceremony on February 26, 2022 on President Hakainde Hichilema’s orders.

We maintain that State House police could not have behaved in the manner they did without orders from above. They were acting in the name of the President, and no amount of damage control or malicious propaganda by desperate job seekers like the old man Gunston Chola will change the truth.

Zambians are not fools. They know what exactly happened at Nc’wala ceremony. Hon. Lubinda and Hon. Chilangwa are seasoned politicians with many years of service as very senior government officials who understand protocol and sitting arrangements at such functions better than Chola.

It was therefore unnecessary for him to bore readers with a lengthy lecture on what he believes should happen during such functions. We are surprised how he wandered away from the issue and maliciously dragged the former President, His Excellency Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu, into his emotional and hate-laden article in his shameful desperation to endear himself with the United Party for National Development (UPND) government and President Hichilema.

The question old man Chola and his sponsors have failed to, and must answer, is how would Hon, Lubinda and Hon. Chilangwa who were seated peacefully and conversing happily with fellow invited guests have endangered the President’s life? How would they have caused confusion?

Chola and his sponsors claim that the issue could have quietly been sorted out with the organisers and State House security, and the other guests would not even have heard about it.

Was he there? Did he see how civil and reasonable the PF leaders tried to be and how adamant and arrogant the police officer, Mr D Mwanza from State House, and his cronies were?

In his rambling article Chola used very disrespectful adjectives to belittle Hon. Lubinda and Hon. Chilangwa whose selfless service to the nation, especially to their constituencies remain indelible in the annals of Zambia’s political history. He should reflect on the path of self-destruction he has embarked on. It is not too late for our senior citizen to retrace his steps.

We will not waste space and readers’ time to start explaining again how the scheme to embarrass the PF leadership was executed. Was the farce not condemned by the Nkhosi ya na Nkhosi, Paramount Chief Mpezeni, himself when he heard about it?

However, we sympathise with Chola. We understand that things may not be rosy for him and he is trying hard to endear himself with the lamentably failed UPND regime for favours.

We are aware that he retired as deputy managing director of the Times of Zambia, after which he became member of Parliament for Chitambo in Serenje on the MMD ticket and was appointed deputy minister in the Levy Mwanawasa administration. After failing to win adoption again he was sent into Foreign Service. He was later recalled from Brazil, which he seems to still be sulking about.

Chola was fortunate to have more than three handsome separation packages but we don’t know what he did with the hefty benefits. That is not our business. We are, however, aware that he is now eking a living as a preacher man. As a ‘servant of God’ we expect him to preach peace and reconciliation instead of spewing hatred in his desperate bid to get the UPND’s attention.

His articles lately are embarrassing for a veteran journalist and former diplomat. Maybe he has been promised a reward by the incompetent and clueless New Doom regime for penning such toxic articles whose aim is inciting public hate and vengeance against the PF and its leaders, and singing praises for President Hichilema. He has turned himself into a senior member of the shameless praise singers. But we wonder what job the UPND will give him at his advanced age.

We also advise Chola to moderate the length of his articles. No one has the time to read an article that fills a whole page of a newspaper. It reflects dearth of skill.

The author is the Deputy Media Director of the PF party.

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