FACT FILE: HH WAS AMONG PIONEERS OF UPND IN 1998!
DID you know:
Mr Hakainde Hichilema was among the pioneers of UPND in 1998 but remained in the background until the death of the party’s founder, Mr Anderson Kambela Mazoka, in 2006?
For details, follow the excerpt below from (Conversations with Memorable Personalities)
Amos Malupenga:
I have heard some people say that you were not a UPND supporter per se but a Mazoka supporter because you thought that Mazoka would be President of Zambia and thereafter he would pay you back your investment in UPND after taking over power…
Hakainde Hichilema:
That cannot be right, Amos, because Mr. Mazoka was not the owner of UPND. He was one of the critical members of UPND, a very respected dignified Zambian, one of the best individuals this country will ever produce. And I think the country owes Mr. Mazoka that dignity.
But having said that, he worked with a team. Some of the team members know me; some may pretend not to know me. I think it is just a question of a competitive process going on now. I believe in the UPND manifesto. It is the best. Just look at it. The MMD have tried to copy it but they can’t implement as it was envisaged by the UPND.
I am not an opportunist. I have been offered several jobs in different places. You didn’t even ask me earlier, I went to study in the United Kingdom, to do a Master of Business in Finance and Business Strategy. I am a trained business negotiator. I am a qualified change management practitioner. So I had many offers out there but I wanted to be home.
Amos Malupenga:
But someone told me that you were much more on the reserved side of things at campus (UNZA) …
Hakainde Hichilema:
Largely people see me as quiet especially those who don’t have a close relationship with me because I tend to look at what is going on, observe and help out without wanting to be given credit. That’s my nature. But you find me in a boardroom situation, ask my colleagues, they will tell you a different situation. I am quite active.
Amos Malupenga:
How would you describe yourself, are you an introvert or extrovert?
Hakainde Hichilema:
You just have to look at the list of my friends. I have a lot of friends all over the country and the world over. I have friends in the business community, among the donors, in government and literally everywhere. And you will be amazed at the number of emails and phone calls I have received from the time I made this decision, encouraging me to go ahead because they know I can make a difference.
Amos Malupenga:
As you sat in the UPND’s back seat, did you ever think that one day you would take the leadership of the party or play an active role in the front seat?
Hakainde Hichilema:
I didn’t plan to take the position I have agreed to run for at the moment. But if you mean well to work with colleagues, they decide that you can play a role bigger than what you offer yourself for. That’s what I know about leadership. Let the people be the ones that decide that you can play a leadership role. This is what has happened.
I am sure you have been observing at The Post that when the request came for me to take up the challenge, I basically ignored it. The pressure built up and developed a life of its own until I gave up to that pressure.
Amos Malupenga:
To the best of your knowledge, where did this request come from?
Hakainde Hichilema:
Amos, I think let’s talk about it because it is important. A lot of people say the request came from Southern Province only. That’s incorrect. It’s only that people from Southern Province were mourning and angry and they talked about it first and talked about it openly.
But the request came from all over – the party members and people from all walks of life, the business community and my fellow village people. By the way, I do a lot of community work. Over the last fifteen years, we have done schools, clinics, deep tanks and we assist a lot in the areas where we have farms. I pay school fees for children numbering fifty who are not mine.
Amos Malupenga:
Why is it that this pressure was heaped on you who has always been in the background and not Sakwiba Sikota who is the vice-president and now acting as party president? I am asking this because it was much more expected to look at Saki as Mr. Mazoka’s natural successor considering the fact that he is vice-president…
Hakainde Hichilema:
It’s quite a tricky question but I like answering questions. I don’t like dodging them. I can only imagine that it is what people saw in me. If people thought that I would come in and destroy the party, they wouldn’t have asked for me. If they thought that I would fail them, I think that they wouldn’t have asked for me. They asked for me because they knew that I would contribute towards advancing the party’s vision, economic development and social agenda for Zambia through UPND and UDA. And I would like people to understand that it’s a more fair position to take up a role when people want you to do it.
Amos Malupenga:
From what many people are saying, I get the impression that you were settled for, for two reasons – your wealth and your tribe, being Tonga. What’s your comment on that?
Hakainde Hichilema:
Amos, you saw my comment in your paper the other day that I do not subscribe to that. This country needs quality leadership, an inclusive leadership, a leadership that would bring the country together and not polarise the country.
Amos Malupenga:
But those Tongas who proposed your name from Southern Province categorically said that Mr. Mazoka should be succeeded by a Tonga. Some even suggested that they needed someone with resources to run the party and you seem to meet these two requirements in the sense that you are a Tonga who is considered to be very wealthy…
Hakainde Hichilema:
I wouldn’t consider myself to be very wealthy. I would consider myself as one who is willing to help…
Amos Malupenga:
So how rich are you?
Hakainde Hichilema:
Do you think a Tonga man, as you call me, will tell you how rich he is? Tongas are basically humble and they will not tell you things like that. In our culture, you never talk about how rich you are, let people say what they see.
Amos Malupenga:
So what do people see of you?
Hakainde Hichilema:
Amos, I pay school fees for many children including those who are not mine. We help out in the community because our culture encourages us to share even in a large family. UPND is a large family. UDA is a large family. Zambia is a large family but nobody would anchor a large family like Zambia on his personal resources. It is the efforts of all members and citizens in supporting a good cause.
But I have to answer your Tonga question because I would really love to answer that.
Amos Malupenga:
Before you do, it is said among some UPND people that Mazoka’s successor should have resources, and not just have resources but also be generous with those resources. From what I have heard so far, you seem to me to be a generous person. Is that one of the reasons that has qualified you to contest the UPND presidency?
Hakainde Hichilema:
…
An excerpt from (Conversations with Memorable Personalities)
In the picture below, the author taking Mr Hichilema on a conducted tour of The Post in 2006.
Source: Conversations with memorable personalities Facebook page S