By Sara Yeta II
On 11 November 2020, Hichilema wished Lungu congratulations on a happy birthday, calling him his brother.
Many people extolled Hichilema for rising above political differences to congratulate Lungu on his birthday.
What Hichilema did is not extraordinary, but rather an expression of ‘Ubuntu’, the philosophy of ‘I am’ only because ‘we are’, which is a realisation that we are shaped by our relationships with other people.
Besides, Zambia is a Christian nation; therefore, life has to be lived in the context of Christian values founded on love.
Hence, the scripture from 1 John 3:15 says that ‘everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him’, while 1 John 4:20 says ‘if anyone says, “I love God”, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen’.
On 4 June, 2021, it was Hichilema’s birthday anniversary and media platforms were inundated with congratulatory birthday wishes. People expected Lungu to reciprocate Hichilema’s gesture.
No one is saying that Lungu has a duty to reciprocate, but people’s expectation was based on the spirit of ‘Ubuntu’ couched in Christian values.
To the displeasure of many people, Lungu did not wish Hichilema happy birthday and people did not hide their disenchantment over his indifference.
The question that asks for an answer is why Lungu did not reciprocate Hichilema’s human and Christian gesture? Your guess is as good as mine.
However, deducing from the way Lungu behaves towards Hichilema, it is plausible to conclude that Lungu hates Hichilema with a passion like Adolf Hitler hated the Jews.
His hatred is as a result of his failure to understand that politics is not a discipline of retaliatory harm; neither are political competitors enemies.
As a result, the venom of his hatred has polluted his spirit, poisoned his soul and seeped into his actions towards Hichilema.
What is regrettable is that his hatred for Hichilema has become dangerous. It has completely drained his spirit of ‘Ubuntu’ and Christian values, tarnished his soul and darkened his life towards Hichilema, such that he can do anything to get rid of Hichilema.
His hatred is so intense that he even fails to mention Hichilema’s name in public.
This may be an explanation for why there have been several attempts to assassinate Hichilema; they have arrested him several times, and he has been accused of all sorts of diabolic things, and other people have been co-opted to do the same, all under Lungu’s presidency, which was never the case under the presidencies of Mwanawasa, Rupiya and Sata, respectively.
That is what outward hatred does: it motivates damaging and violent behaviour towards other people, especially competitors.
The killing of Nsama Nsama and Joseph Kaunda, where Hichilema was the target, and the recent shooting of Hichilema’s convey in Chingola are ugly reminders of what hatred can do.
My concern, especially after the Chingola shooting, is that Lungu’s hand of hate has the potential to become the hand behind the scene that will harm Hichilema.
If Hichilema is harmed, God forbid, this country can never see peace again because hatred is like the hot coal that burns the people it is thrown at while also burning the hands throwing the coal.
Lungu should know that we all have two wolves inside ourselves that are fighting each other. The first is the wolf of kindness, peace and love. The second is the wolf of fear, greed and hatred. The one that wins is one we feed; and we cannot feed both simultaneously.
For a long time, Lungu has been holding onto hatred against Hichilema, feeding his wolf daily so that it has become stronger, and is able to harm Hichilema.
Lungu should be reminded in clear terms that hatred is like poison, which, whether turned inward or outward, creates a destructive state of mind that can cause anarchy in this country.
It is high time that Lungu confronts his hatred for Hichilema, understands it and disassembles it because he will not remain president forever; moreover, we want to live in peace in this Christian nation.