Allow me to first of all put it on record that tribalism is evil and it must be condemned with impunity, Patriotic Front (PF) Lusaka Province Chairperson Kennedy Kamba has said.
He said it should condemned by all especially now that the country has come together to mourn a gallant man, founding father Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda who fought tribalism to the core with all its offshoots to make One Zambia , One Nation.
“Today in our country, there has been a debate over the remarks that comrade Chishimba Kambwili has repeatedly made of late regarding the tribalism that exist in the opposition UPND.
We must also put it on record that in the PF and the nation at large, we are one family regardless of where one comes from. We have brothers and sisters from Southern Province who are serving the party and the nation diligently and at the highest level. We love them dearly and we highly respect them.
“However, when we talk about the leadership of the UPND and it’s tribal tag, we are not in any way saying we hate people from Southern Province or the fact that Hakainde Hichilema, the leader of the UPND is tonga. Not at all,” he said.
Mr Kamba said the beautiful and nice people of Southern Province and a clique of the few tribalists that are are at the helm of UPND as a political party are two different things.
We must be able, he said, to make this clear distinction for us to understand issues in context.
“I will explain how and why UPND as a party is a very tribal grouping and cannot be trusted with government power. When one great son of the soil who founded the UPND Anderson Mazoka died, his Vice-President then was Sakwiba Sikota and he really wanted to take over the leadership of the UPND.
“After all he was and still is a respected, highly qualified, experienced and competent politician and renowned lawyer. What happened? The UPND refused that a none Tonga cannot take over from Mazoka. From nowhere, they brought in Hakainde Hichilema who has never even held a political office, not even at branch level or ward level and they named him party president simply because he was Tonga,”Mr Kamba said.
Mr Kamba said”Zambians will recall that Sakwiba Sikota, Given Lubinda and others were literally chased from the UPND for trying to resist and condemn the tribalism that existed and still exist in the UPND.
It is the UPND that set the bad precedence of tribalism, he said, within their party and themselves.
The PF Lusaka Province Chairperson said today everything in the UPND is all about tribe and regionalism.
Mr Kamba said” We must realistically talk about these things so that when we shame the tribalism that exist in the UPND, they might maybe change their ways and come to a realisation that Zambians hate tribalism and tribal politics.
He said if Zambians make a comparison between the UPND and the PF in terms of managing the party and avoiding regionalism, they will discover that the PF is a very liberal organisation that believes in One Zambia One Nation.
Mr Kamba said late President Michael Sata came from Mpika, his successor President Edgar Lungu is from the East, Guy Scott, former Vice-President was succeeded by Inonge Mutukwa Wina.
He said PF have had changes in the leadership of the party and have never even bothered to talk about tribe and are doing this today to just demonstrate how much it value every Zambian.
But he said this is totally the opposite of the UPND when it comes to such matters.
Mr Kamba said it is, therefore, important for the UPND to take stock of what Zambians are saying and to stop tribalism.
He said they have failed to win any national election in the over 20 years they have been in existence because Zambians hate tribal groupings.
Mr Kamba said the UPND must stop complaining because they have continued with their bad tribal precedence in everything.
“Kambwili is not complaining from without. He became one of them and after realising that he was being sidelined purely on tribe, he dumped them and returned home to the PF and we are proud of him for making a bold decision to ditch them and the alliance talks and rejoined them PF, his home.We want to tell Zambias to ignore the UPND because they are tribal and that is a fact. They are going to suffer a sixth defeat because they have not changed there ways of politics,”he said.
Mr Kamba said tribalism is filthy, is evil and it must be condemned.