SABOI’S DESCRIPTION OF A ‘LUNATIC’ A MISS – HEATON
LUSAKA – October 12, 2022
United Party for National Development (UPND) Media Director Ruth Heaton has taken a swipe at some opposition party leaders who have developed a habit of insulting and using hate and unpalatable language towards Republican President Hakainde Hichilema.
This follows sentiments made by National Democratic Congress (NDC) president Saboi Imboela who has described the Republican President as a lunatic.
Ms Heaton said that opposition political parties are deliberately abusing freedom of expression because they know that President Hakainde Hichilema has scored in that area and are deliberately using hate speech and insults so that when government acts then they will claim victimization, harassment and lack of freedom of expression.
“I’m sure that they would even visit any Embassy to complain against victimization and lack of freedom of expression so that the international community can lose confidence in President Hichilema. This is a deliberate ploy set by the opposition,” said Ms Heaton.
She wondered why most of the opposition political parties in the country hate President Hakainde Hichilema with passion, insulting him and accusing him of a number of things from the time he was in opposition and the trend has continued even now when he is President.
Reacting to insinuations by NDC president Saboi Imboela who called President Hichilema a lunatic, Ms Heaton said it is wrong for Ms Imboela to call the President who was voted in by millions of people as lunatic.
“What then is she saying about the 2.8 million who voted for President Hichilema whom she has described as a lunatic, yet she is a leader looking at the same 2.8 to support her as a politician? This kind of politics does not suit her because she is educated,” said Ms Heaton.
She said it is unfortunate that an opposition party leader can call President Hichilema a lunatic, when he has managed to stabilize the collapsed economy he inherited and much more restructured the unsustainable debt which had taken away all the resources because it had to be paid.
“How do you describe a person who has managed to employ more than 50, 000 within a year in Office as a lunatic, and a person who has managed to feed all the 156 constituencies with K25.7m and created a peaceful environment in public places within a week in office and also reduced inflation from 25.6% in August 2021 to 9.7% in June 2022,” said Ms Heaton.
Ms Heaton wondered how Saboi could describe the President who received a standing ovation from a full European Parliament and has managed to bring quality investors to the country, provided free education and increased the CDF from K1.6 million to K 28.3 million per constituency per year as provided for in the 2023 National Budget?
She also made reference to PF Kanchibiya Member of Parliament Hon. Sunday Chilufya Chanda who she said has developed different sectors like the agriculture sector in his constituency using the increased CDF allocation while other opposition MPs are deliberately misleading people that there is no CDF for fear of the communities applauding President Hakainde.
Meanwhile, Ms Heaton disclosed that UPND accepts criticism and the party welcomes positive checks and balances unlike insults. “What are you teaching our children, what are you planting in our children?” she lamented.
Ms Heaton expressed concern that the youths would start calling leaders using the same words thinking that it is normal.
She questioned the opposition where they had taken their norms, values, principles and culture. She described the whole idea of insulting as a taboo that is alien to the Zambian culture.
In advising the opposition party leaders, Ms Heaton appealed to the leaders to provide checks and balances that benefit the people as insults cannot be checks and balances because no one benefits from them.
She appealed to party members to remain calm, continue mobilizing and loving one another.
“The President’s focus is the Zambian people,” said Ms Heaton
©️ The Falcon
