KALABA WONDERS WHETHER ATTENDING HASSAN’S INAUGURATION HAS NOW BECOME THE ‘NEW DAWN’ DEFINITION OF DEMOCRACY
CITIZENS First leader Harry Kalaba says his party is concerned with the decision taken by President Hakainde Hichilema to accept an invitation to attend the inauguration of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
In a statement issued today, Kalaba questioned the decision by President Hichilema to attend the inauguration in the aftermath of Hassan’s re-election which marred by violence and arrest of opposition party leaders.
“As Citizens First (CF), we are deeply concerned and compelled to question President Hakainde Hichilema’s decision to accept the invitation to attend the inauguration of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan following an election widely condemned as fraudulent, violent and characterised by the mass arrest of opposition leaders,” Kalaba stated.
Kalaba asked how President Hichilema justified attending President Hassan’s inauguration, when the elections were tainted by the unlawful imprisonment of key opposition leaders.
“How then does President Hichilema justify attending President Hassan’s inauguration when the Tanzanian elections were clearly tainted by the unlawful imprisonment of key opposition leaders, the deliberate exclusion of political contenders and reports of hundreds of protesters killed in the aftermath of the polls?” Kalaba asked. “Is this the “New Dawn” definition of democracy, one where principles are applied only when politically convenient?”
Kalaba said President Hichilema could not continue to preach democracy on international platforms while practising selective morality at home.
“Zambians can recall that in 2023, the President refused to attend the inauguration of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on grounds that he did not agree with the conduct and outcome of Zimbabwe’s August 2023 harmonised elections,” Kalaba stated.
“Yet, those same elections were acknowledged by both SADC and the African Union (AU) as having met the minimum democratic benchmarks.”
Daily Revelation
Kalaba, bola ni panshi. You are too raw to engage on issues of bilateral nature involving countries. Uli mwana umunono iwe. You have a councillor in a ward, now concentrate to have an MP in parliament. You are shooting widely, you have no no target it seems.
A typical example of what the Vice President was talking about. Nchito ku bwata bwata fye and he thinks that is what it mean to lead. Efo ale bwata he has never taken to think about before he opens his mouth. No tangible achievement in his life but just got to where he has through “cronism”
It might be a bitter pill to swallow, but for those condemning president HH for attending the inauguration of Samia Suluhu Hassan as president of Tanzania do not seem to see the bigger picture. The reelected presdient of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, whether crookedly or rightly, will be in charge of the country for the coming few years, and if we sour the relationship with her (Tanzania), our economy may suffer some consequences. People should remember that we use more of the Tanzania ports, and than any other ports in our neighbors, so what happens if she shuts off those ports to Zambia? Will our emotional like or dislike of her elections help Zambia in that scenario?
Very true…
You are straight on point. The worry is most people fail to see the bigger picture, to them it all condemning. This is a very bad state of mind which leads to non progressive attitudes.
Who came to mediate between ECL and HH at the past election that brought Hakainde into power. A former Tanzanian president. Could it be one of the reasons he felt compelled to go and deliver a reconciliation message? I am not making an excuse but adding to the conversation. The bottom line is that copying a strange way of ruling ourselves, yet we did so peacefully and harmoniously- as Africans living side by side for ages puzzles me. We developed civilizations, kingdoms and empires yet we seem NOT to appreciate that