LUXON Kazabu has questioned the conspicuous silence of Southern Province chiefs in the wake of Hichilema being “persecuted” by police.
Kazabu, a former fisheries and livestock deputy minister in Michael Sata’s government, said he was surprised and concerned that most of the chiefs in the province have preferred to remain mute, “in the wake of their own son and own subject being persecuted for political reasons.”
“Except for a few, I’m wondering why the majority [of Southern Province chiefs] are conspicuously quiet. Is it because they have been hypnotized and they have been sent to sleep by some form of a bribe? They should have learnt a lesson from their colleagues in Luapula,” he said.
“Recently, we saw Dr Chitalu Chilufya, who was facing corruption charges, being supported at the courts of law by his own chiefs. We saw them and that is in the public domain. But for the majority of the chiefs in Southern Province, I don’t know why they have chosen to remain quiet in the wake of their own being persecuted left, right and centre.”
Kazabu asked: “how can one citizen be arrested 15, 16 times now in a period of a few years?”
“It’s unprecedented! I have never known of responsible parents who choose to remain quiet, even when their own son is being persecuted. I have never known of such parents,” said Kazabu. “So I’m saying to our traditional rulers [that] just like people in the other areas support each other. Time has come for them to realise that that which injures Hakainde Hichilema should equally injure them. If it doesn’t, then I don’t know what sort of chiefs we have. I felt like I should speak because it’s like everybody else is remaining quiet.”