LUXON Kazabu says tribal hate is heightening in the country because statements are coming from PF leaders.
And Kazabu, a former Nkana PF member of parliament and livestock and fisheries deputy minister, says commerce minister Christopher Yaluma has hurt his wife because she is Tonga.
In a video that has gone viral, Yaluma was campaigning on tribal lines in his constituency against the Tonga speaking people of Southern Province.
In an interview, Kazabu said he was very disappointed with Yaluma because he had always given him respect, thinking that he was a decent person.
“I am wondering why President Edgar Lungu is not doing anything with his cabinet ministers who have chosen to promote tribal hate, in particular against the people of Southern Province. Can we conclude that he is the one who is giving instructions to the ministers who have been so careless with their mouths?” Kazabu asked.
“If he is not the one giving instructions in the background, what are the reasons for him not to take action? I think he has a duty if he seriously wants to see this country united. He must do something about these people who have gone tribal. Tribal hate is heightening because these statements are coming from PF leaders, [and] this must stop; not tomorrow but today.”
Kazabu expressed disappointment with Yaluma whom he considered a learned person.
He said he has since realised that his trust for Yaluma was misplaced.
“So, Chris must search his soul. For him he has been to school with decent level of education and not to speak in those terms surely, it defeats the essence of education. Yaluma is one person I have given so much respect from the time when we got to know each other and worked together; he is one of the ministers I respected so much.… However, I now realise that I misplaced my trust,” he said.
“The people of Southern Province are not any different from the people of other provinces. And Chris should have realised that as a leader, he has the responsibility to heal and unite so that we go back to the united nation that we used to be under Dr Kenneth Kaunda and through the motto of One Zambia, One Nation.”
Kazabu wondered why Yaluma promoted hate against Tongas when his own was is Tonga.
“Chris is married to a Tonga lady. I fear that his father-in-law, the late Mr Hamanenga, who I knew, must be turning in his grave and the Hamanenga family must be hurting. Where does he place his wife and children?” asked Kazabu.
“He has been very cruel to the wife and children. One would have thought that some of our unfortunate people who have had no privilege to attain some higher level of education would be the ones evoking tribal sentiments, and not those that have been to school. I understand education as one that should help some of us to think properly and to look at issues in their correct contexts.”