Your appointments tribal, Sishuwa tells HH
By Mast Reporter
HISTORIAN Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa has asked President Hakainde Hichilema to explain if it is not tribalism for him to appoint people from his region only to key positions in Zambia’s security and defence wings.
Dr Sishuwa said the United Party for National Development (UPND) administration was “very good at making terribly bad decisions”.
This is contained in his article on page 5 of this edition of The Mast.
The article is commenting on attempts by the UPND government to ban the playing of the popular campaign song ‘Pe Lampi’ for Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance presidential candidate Brian Mundubile and his running mate Makebi Zulu.
“Mr Hichilema, you often complain that we only criticise your leadership without offering solutions. Fine, I will offer you a solution on one concern that the song raises: ethnic divisions. Instead of banning the song, you will do well to address the concerns highlighted by the song,” Dr Sishuwa said.
He said almost all the commissioners of police in the 10 provinces were from Hichilema’s region.
“Please, abandon ethnic-regionalism and appoint people who reflect the ethnic diversity of Zambia’s 10 provinces. Once you do this, no one will criticise your leadership for lack of adequate ethnic inclusion or diversity,” Dr Sishuwa said.
He said the spokesperson of the Zambian government, Thabo Kawana, held a press conference on Thursday last week where he directed regulatory authorities “to arrest the song”.
“On Friday, the state-controlled but inappropriately named Independent Broadcasting Authority [IBA] swung into action, banning the song,” Dr Sishuwa said.
He challenged Hichilema to look at the leadership positions of Zambia’s security services to judge for himself whether the song was lying or not.
Dr Sishuwa cited the command structure of the Zambia Police Service, which consists of the Inspector General (IG) and three deputies, all of them from the Zambezi Region (Southern Province, Western Province, North-western Province and part of Central Province).
“As stated, Zambia has 10 provinces. Out of the 10 police provincial commissioners, nine are from three provinces: Southern, Northwestern, and Western. Out of the nine, six are from Southern Province,” he said.
Dr Sishuwa said even the rest of the defence and security services were dominated by officers from the Zambezi Region at the highest level.
See full article on page 5.
