THEY’VE DIVIDED US
…We need a political movement to restore unity – Mangani
By George Zulu
WE URGENTLY need a political movement with a focus on restoring national unity because President Hakainde Hichilema and the United Party for National Development (UPND) have divided Zambia, Lameck Mangani has said.
Mangani, a former minister of home affairs, said Zambians should urgently mobilise and forge a national political movement that would break the regional and tribal divisions Hichilema and the UPND had plunged the country into.
Zambia was in a serious crisis because of a selfish leadership which prioritised personal agendas at the expense of national unity.
In an interview with The Mast in Lusaka yesterday, Mangani a former Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) Chipata Central member of Parliament, noted that Zambia had slid into deep tribal, regional and political divisions.
“We are in a very critical situation. Extremely critical in the sense that for the first time ever, Zambia has been divided in terms of regions, in terms of tribes and so on. We need a united front to push an agenda for all. At the rate we are going we are of personal interest above everything else. It can’t work and we can’t go on like that,” he said.
Mangani said Zambians should stop President Hakainde Hichilema’s rule next year to preserve national unity, but that could only be achieved under a united front.
He said it would be difficult to remove Hichilema if the current bickering among opposition political party leaders continued.
Mangani said the opposition leaders in Zambia should learn from the country’s forefathers whose agenda of unity forced them to work together despite their diversity and made the country attain independence.
“We need a united front to push for an agenda which will break the divisions created by President Hakainde Hichilema and the United Party for National Development [UPND]. At the rate we are going, where most of our leaders have put personal interest first, we shall fail to remove the UPND and President Hichilema. Those that fought for the independence of Zambia had an agenda and for them to achieve it, they had to leave behind their personal agendas,” Mangani said.
He said personal agendas would kill the spirit of unity among opposition leaders in Zambia, and urged them to seriously reflect on the need for a national agenda.
“They had to work together for one goal, which was independence. Sadly, our leaders have pushed personal interest, which is overriding everything and every good effort to liberate Zambia. I want to appeal to all political leaders to forgo their personal interest and come together in order to restore broken unity,” he said.
“We cannot entrust a useless politician to drive a national agenda of uniting the country when we know for a fact that his agenda is to promote one region. Right now, we know what is taking place in these upcoming by-elections all over, and Zambians need to be united and focused in order to deliver a credible leadership for a better Zambia. Those political parties that want to work alone, they will crash and die alone,” Mangani said.
