HICHILEMA: ZAMBIA’S FIRST PUPPET PRESIDENT
No sooner had the Russia-Africa summit concluded in St Petersburg than Mr Hakainde Hichilema lifted off for a state visit to Israel.
Well, we have absolutely no problem with Mr Hichilema’s visit to Israel but what is of great concern and humiliation to this nation and its citizens is the net of puppetry and selling out this presidency is inextricably intertwined with. Mr Hichilema’s betrayal of our national pride, identity, and longstanding diplomatic traditions and principles for reasons of expedience is one of the biggest political shames in the foreign relations history of this nation.
So, this is a leader who cowardly prefers to grip firmly to his seat at home while fellow African leaders without bias actively participate in a critical global summit that would model the future of our continent’s development and foreign relations. What kind of puppet leadership is this? We ask a question to people within the UPND who think our observations on these matters are driven by malice and mischief; with such elementary diplomatic miscalculations, how does one describe Mr Hichilema’s ignorant and irrational handling of foreign relations matters?
Isn’t this outright puppet leadership? Well, they can argue all they want, but the writing on the wall is clear, Mr Hichilema is a sell-out and a puppet of the West. For the first time in our history, Zambia has a leader who has been captured by transnational corporations and global imperialists. Zambians must know that Mr Hichilema is not only a front, but also an instrument of Western special interests. And one does not even need to go far to ascertain the scope of the capture around this particular presidency because the current occupant is so good at reading neocolonialist scripts and projecting an easygoing and excessively friendly attitude towards the discriminatory interests of the West and transnational corporations.
The issue of the Western Sahara corroborates Mr Hichilema’s puppetry stance. The United States government reached an agreement with Morocco for the country to recognise Israel and for the US in return to support Morocco’s colonisation of Western Sahara. And, as expected, the far-right UPND government of Mr Hichilema has also in turn recognised Morocco’s colonisation of Western Sahara. Where does Zambia’s traditional support for the Palestinian cause against Israeli apartheid stand today?
This is a total departure from the non-aligned stance Zambia has taken since its independence. How can it be that Zambia, a country with a very rich liberation struggle support history, is among the evil forces supporting colonialism in the 21st century?
On top of that, like all puppets of the West, a closer look at Mr Hichilema’s governance style reveals a deep reputation for intellectual laziness, diplomatic spinelessness and a severe addiction for state power by just playing the role of President rather than enthusiastically shaping the nation’s development agenda as well as corroborating and developing consensus with fellow African leaders to establish an independent and dignified direction and vision for the future of our nation and our continent in general.
Our painful truth to the Zambian voters who braved those meandering queues in the August 2021 general election to elect Mr Hichilema is that the man they voted for is not in command of this nation and its involvement in global affairs. Mr Hichilema is functioning on the end of a string held by his puppet masters in Washington, South Africa, and other imperialist capitals. That is why even his diplomatic travels and manoeuvres can only go as far as his puppet masters or foreign handlers are willing to stretch out the string that is yoking him.
And we genuinely feel sorry for Mr Hichilema because clearly, he underestimated the after-effects of the imperialist links and covenants he entered into when seeking office. But then, what is even worse is Mr Hichilema’s lack of awareness of how he is being used and the repercussions of this for our national sovereignty, security and development interests.
We cannot have a leader whose supervisory competence and decision-making are solely tied to the agenda of the string pullers even when that agenda is unmistakably in conflict with our national values and interests.
Here is an example of how far he is willing to carry out the wishes of the imperialists and their institutions. Mr Hichilema was commanded by the IMF to phase out subsidies on maize production. Expensive maize production will mean expensive mealie meal – a staple, which is not just food, but sits at the heart of our culture as Zambians. But he did not think of the people and willingly obeyed the wishes of the IMF, putting the price of mealie meal beyond the reach of the people who depend on it. To take mealie meal out of the reach of a Zambian is no different to being ordered to point a gun at their head.
A leader who is willing to listen to the West to the extent of harming his own people is dangerous for the country. This is an all-time low for this nation and its leadership. Ba Zambia mwali yi gong’a! We need to correct this mistake.
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party