Oasis Forum Press Conference to Criticize the President

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Oasis Forum Press Conference to Criticize the President

Sources have revealed that the Oasis Forum will hold a press conference tomorrow, June 3, 2024, where they will focus on criticizing President Hakainde Hichilema, than on his opponents.

Accusations Against the President

The Forum will accuse the President of lacking inclusivity and marginalizing certain regions in the public service. They Forum will officially recognize the term “Zambezi Region,” coined by Fred M’membe and Sishuwa Sishuwa, alleging it as a region the President favors in appointments to government and quasi-government positions. The sources say the Forum will deliberately ignore historical perspective of a public service that was and is still dominated by everyone else other than from the newly coined Zambezi region.

Lack of Evidence

The source further reveals that the Oasis Forum will not present any evidence for the alleged biased appointments but will justify the recent “divisive” statements from the architects of tribalism and alleged unbalanced public service, as a protest against the so called marginalization of the North-East.

President’s Stance

The assertions from Oasis Forum will blatantly ignore that President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration has largely kept the civil service, local authorities, and quasi-government organizations intact with officials from the previous regime. This has continually drawn criticism from his party loyalists, but for the sake of national unity, the President has remained steadfast in this position.

Furthermore, of the 8 nominated MPs, the President has reserved 5 positions for the North – East Region, while elected MPs Chipoka Mulenga, Frank Tayali and Paul Kabuswe and Mtolo Phiri from the same area have been given Cabinet positions by the President. It would therefore be fair to say the North – East Region dominates Cabinet which government’s Supreme decision making body.

Divisive Statements

Sources said the Forum resolved not to publicly identify or shame the authors of what they discussed as ethnicity and tribal war mongering. They agreed to be diplomatic and termed the happenings as “divisive” statements but will not define the term “divisive.”

Ethnic Hate Speech

The source indicates that the Oasis Forum will attempt to equate ethnic hate speech directed at a tribe with hate speech against an individual. All this is in a bid to cast public doubt on the law enforcement clamp down on ethnicity divide which has heightened with the support of former President Edgar Lungu as an opposition political party member.

Policy Inconsistency

The sources said the Forum will also highlight what they perceive as policy inconsistency in President Hichilema’s government and cite the contradictory statements by ZESCO and the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) on tariff and fuel increments.

The source says one of the members objected to this being included saying this administration has encouraged Boards to be independent of politicians by removing Permanent Secretaries from the Boards. A heated discussion followed this guidance where it was pointed out that the ERB Board which passed a vote of no confidence in their Chairperson after such contradictions was an example of good governance and was actually deputised by seasoned lawyer.

Foreign Affairs Vacancy

At the planned press conference, the Forum will raise concerns about the vacant position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, disregarding that this is at the President’s discretion. They will also accuse government of prioritising activities that alleviate citizens hardships as a result of drought and will say such monetary resources should have been used on constitutional reforms process.

Constitutional Reforms

The sources said this will embarrass LAZ, a member of OASIS Forum. The source said LAZ could not speak out on the matter, because at the 2023 LAZ AGM in Livingstone, constitutional lawyer John Sangwa and other lawyers recommended to government to prioritise economic stability and recovery against constitutional reforms. The sources said this resolution which will be ignored was widely reported in the media.

Composition of the Oasis Forum

The sources said the press conference tomorrow will largely be driven by over powering financial interests from certain voiceferous organisations which are suspected to be benefitting from known political groupings.

The Oasis Forum comprises the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ), the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ), the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ), and the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB).

Post 2021 elections, citizens consistently called on civil society and religious bodies to lead in ensuring they are representative of the ethnic and tribal diversity of the Country.

Most associations in the Oasis Forum have failed to justify the ethnic composition of their leadership, resulting in a long standing perception that there are major and minor tribes in Zambia.

The sources say this perception accounts for the hegemonic agenda that President Mwanawasa suffered and now is against President Hichilema, who hails from the South.

14 COMMENTS

  1. The guilty are are always afraid… before the Oasis Forum presents it’s views, they have already started being on the defensive…Why not wait for the Oasis Forum to voice out it’s concerns and then respond based on what the organisation will Present?
    …and as usual the authors have gone Tribal, labelling the composition of the Oasis Forum as Tribal…It is this obsession with tribe which is fanning divisions in Zambia. When an organization voices out it’s concerns on various issues affecting the country, instead of responding to the issues raised, the composition of the organisation takes precedent.
    The Oasis Forum, Zambia Catholic Bishops Council, CCZ, EFZ etc have always been raising issues of public concern in Zambia… Today an Obsessed Tribalist wants to present these Institutions as Tribal groupings! These are religious groupings mwebantu..

    And some one doesn’t know who the real architects of Tribal fault lines in Zambia are ? Causing tribal Fractures everwhere…Just reading the article from unanimous sources , the answer is there staring at the country . Bwafya.

  2. The guilty are are always afraid… before the Oasis Forum presents it’s views, they have already started being on the defensive…Why not wait for the Oasis Forum to voice out it’s concerns and then respond based on what the organisation will Present?
    …and as usual the authors have gone Tribal, labelling the composition of the Oasis Forum as Tribal…It is this obsession with tribe which is fanning divisions in Zambia. When an organization voices out it’s concerns on various issues affecting the country, instead of responding to the issues raised, the composition of the organisation takes precedent.
    The Oasis Forum, Zambia Catholic Bishops Council, CCZ, EFZ etc have always been raising issues of public concern in Zambia… Today an Obsessed Tribalist wants to present these Institutions as Tribal groupings! These are religious groupings mwebantu..

    And some one doesn’t know who the real architects of Tribal fault lines in Zambia are ? Causing tribal Fractures everwhere…Just reading the article from unanimous sources , the answer is there staring at the country . Bwafya.

  3. Oasis forum died after they won the battle against Chiluba’s third term bid. Victory defeated the Oasis forum. When Sata came in with his madness of placing 2 Universities in one region and tribalism, Oasis forum saw nothing wrong. ECL escalated and sidelined everybody who didn’t originate from North East under the delusion that he would win based on tribe and rigging. Probably because of their ethnic composition, Oasis forum was acting numb and dumb.
    It is hypocritical for any organisation whether religious or civic to talk about inclusivity when itself is composed of people from 2 regions.
    It’s delusional and shallow thinking to allege tht UPND within 2 years can undo all the tribal recruitments that were actualized by the PF even if they wanted to. North East is proportionally high in all sectors, cabinet inclusive. It’s lack of facts or malice that is why an organisation can accuse UPND of any exclusivity, while ignoring its own composition.

  4. Oasis forum died after they won the battle against Chiluba’s third term bid. Victory defeated the Oasis forum. When Sata came in with his madness of placing 2 Universities in one region and tribalism, Oasis forum saw nothing wrong. ECL escalated and sidelined everybody who didn’t originate from North East under the delusion that he would win based on tribe and rigging. Probably because of their ethnic composition, Oasis forum was acting numb and dumb.
    It is hypocritical for any organisation whether religious or civic to talk about inclusivity when itself is composed of people from 2 regions.
    It’s delusional and shallow thinking to allege tht UPND within 2 years can undo all the tribal recruitments that were actualized by the PF even if they wanted to. North East is proportionally high in all sectors, cabinet inclusive. It’s lack of facts or malice that is why an organisation can accuse UPND of any exclusivity, while ignoring its own composition.

  5. And who is the author of this silly article?

    If he/she cannot identify himself/herself he/she is not worth one’s attention.

    He should have waited for the forum to hold their press conference before writing such a divisive article. The author should be arrested for hate speech. No wonder he/she hid their identity.

  6. And who is the author of this silly article?

    If he/she cannot identify himself/herself he/she is not worth one’s attention.

    He should have waited for the forum to hold their press conference before writing such a divisive article. The author should be arrested for hate speech. No wonder he/she hid their identity.

  7. Infact it is such dirt minded people who need to be caged, how do you come with such an article even before you hear the content. Shame

  8. Infact it is such dirt minded people who need to be caged, how do you come with such an article even before you hear the content. Shame

  9. The Oasis Forum was formed far away before UPND and PF were formed. The forum has fought and won serious battle than what the author is trying to mislead the public. Honestly speaking who controls the composition of LAZ, CCZ, EFZ and ZCCB and these are organisation that formed the Oasis forum. The Oasis Forum has been critisising presidents/govts way back in UNIP time, KK was critisised, Chiluba was critisised, Levy was critisised etc please let’s move on as one zambian people.
    On the Mwanawasa kindly show us the elections results and composition of MPs in both two terms Late President won. Today you want to portray as if Levy suffered political tribal segregation. I challenge you to show the public the election results in both elections President Mwanawasa won and also the composition of MPs from every province. Please let us not mislead the public we should stick to the truth.
    Show me at what stage if UPND tried to ‘rescue’ Levy from tribal politics.

  10. The Oasis Forum was formed far away before UPND and PF were formed. The forum has fought and won serious battle than what the author is trying to mislead the public. Honestly speaking who controls the composition of LAZ, CCZ, EFZ and ZCCB and these are organisation that formed the Oasis forum. The Oasis Forum has been critisising presidents/govts way back in UNIP time, KK was critisised, Chiluba was critisised, Levy was critisised etc please let’s move on as one zambian people.
    On the Mwanawasa kindly show us the elections results and composition of MPs in both two terms Late President won. Today you want to portray as if Levy suffered political tribal segregation. I challenge you to show the public the election results in both elections President Mwanawasa won and also the composition of MPs from every province. Please let us not mislead the public we should stick to the truth.
    Show me at what stage if UPND tried to ‘rescue’ Levy from tribal politics.

  11. Zambia our beloved country.We have alot to do for the sake of our economic growth and the well being of citizens but we spend time on useless things.Is the country having hope with such talks.The very educated beings are on the fore front with such kind of behaviour.People in villages perceived to be not enlightened may be better off.The people in our villages of our country don’t do what people in towns do.

  12. Zambia our beloved country.We have alot to do for the sake of our economic growth and the well being of citizens but we spend time on useless things.Is the country having hope with such talks.The very educated beings are on the fore front with such kind of behaviour.People in villages perceived to be not enlightened may be better off.The people in our villages of our country don’t do what people in towns do.

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