South, West chiefs HH endorsement angers Msoni
By George Zulu
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema is willingly breaking the law by arm-twisting chiefs to give him political endorsements, All People’s Congress (APC) president Nason Msoni has said.
Msoni said he was disturbed to see some chiefs from Southern and North Western provinces openly endorsing the candidature of Hichilema ahead of next year’s elections.
Some traditional leaders in Choma District, Southern Province have endorsed Hichilema for next years’ elections, a move Msoni warned that it would divide people.
The latest to endorse Hichilema are Chief Mapanza and Macha of the Tonga people.
“We think that it is not correct to drag our traditional rulers into endorsing candidates. The question we should be asking Mr Hichilema is what happens when other traditional rulers in other regions decide to endorse other candidates of their choice? Will Mr Hichilema be comfortable with that arrangement?” Msoni said.
He said Hichilema had in the past condemned chiefs endorsing candidates for election and the fact that he was now President did not make it any different.
Msoni said it was depressing and worrying that such endorsements were from chiefs who not long ago condemned similar endorsements done by their peers under the previous leadership.
“What is good for the goose should also be good for the gander.
It is even deeply depressing and worrying that such endorsements are coming from our traditional rulers who ordinarily ought to demonstrate neutrality for purposes of promoting national cohesion and national unity,” he said.
Msoni accused Hichilema of being behind the endorsements, which he described as a clear sign of desperation to hold on to power.
“Hichilema’s desperation to remain in office at all costs is unfortunately driving him to exercise poor judgment. By soliciting for endorsements from traditional rulers, he is creating a hostile environment for other political players in the build-up to the 2026 elections,” he said.
“It will be extremely difficult for other political players to pay homage to our traditional rulers in Southern and North-Western provinces who have openly endorsed Mr Hichilema. But again, it is against our traditional norms and customs to campaign in those areas without first paying a courtesy call on the traditional rulers,” Msoni said.
He condemned the scheme by the United Party for National Development (UPND) pitting opposition leaders against traditional leaders especially in its strongholds.
Msoni pleaded with chiefs to stay away but not openly taking sides, as doing so would make it difficult to foster unity after the election especially that their openly supported candidate lost the election.
“This unraveling development where traditional rulers endorse a candidate rather creates a very awkward and difficult situation for both political leaders and traditional rulers. With the greatest respect, we appeal to our traditional rulers to resist the temptation of being drawn into making premature endorsements as potentially such endorsements might create a difficult working relationship with a future government in the likely event Mr Hichilema loses elections. Mr Hichilema’s propensity and appetite to break the law with impunity is rather striking,” he said.
He urged chiefs to continue to be politically neutral bearing in mind that their various subjects belonged to different political parties.
Msoni highlighted that Hichilema’s insatiable appetite for political power may bring about confusion in traditional authorities.
“There was a valid reason why it was held that traditional rulers should be politically neutral. We think that politicising these institutions would set a dangerous precedent and will certainly cause friction between the traditional rulers and their subjects. We strongly urge their royal highness to restrain themselves from actively participating in politics for the benefit of enhancing cohesion, unity and harmony in their chiefdoms,” said Msoni.
