LIKE in other countries, the Presidency in Zambia is an important institution which must be held in high esteem as it is the highest office in the land.
Because of the critical functions the head of State performs in managing the country’s affairs, the person who occupies the Presidency at any given time deserves utmost respect from all citizens.
Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case in Zambia. Some opposition politicians have resorted to using social media to incessantly disparage and call President Hakainde Hichilema all sorts of names in the name of free speech.
And in the forefront of the attacks and abusive language targeted at President Hichilema are Patriotic Front (PF) leaders,recovered from the humiliating defeat they suffered at the hands of UPND in August 2021.
Attacks on President Hichilema seem to have reached a crescendo following the deepened selfcaused squabbles in PF over the leadership of the former governing party.
This is the premise upon which we agree with Chikondi Foundation president Bishop John Mambo’s counsel to opposition leaders against engaging in indecent checks and balances.
The clergyman, who abhors the sustained abuse of President Hichilema by PF leaders, is calling on Zambians, especially politicians, to rebuild the country.
“It starts with us dealing with the careless language that is being used against those in authority, starting with the President.
“So it’s an appeal I am making to the opposition to do decent checks and balances and come 2026, people will decide whether to vote for MMD, Socialist Party and all that,” Bishop Mambo told us in an interview.
Bishop Mambo is right in that the level of disrespect to the head of State by some opposition leaders has been unprecedented.
They have ganged up and started accusing President Hichilema of all sorts of bad things, and that the democratic space has shrunk in Zambia under his leadership.
To the contrary, Zambians have never enjoyed freedom of expression and movement the way they now do, including media freedoms as evidenced by the nonclosure of any media house in the slightly over two years of the New Dawn administration.
During the PF regime, free movement of people had become non-existent because party cadres were behaving like they were in charge of the country.
The cadres harassed innocent citizens as they wielded machetes in markets and bus stations, including other public spaces.
They were collecting levies from markets and bus stations, the development that led to most local authorities to continually fail to pay their workers’ salaries on time.
But since the coming into government of the New Dawn administration in 2021, councils have been collecting substantial revenue from markets and bus stations, and are now able to pay workers on time and finance their operations.
This is exemplified by Lusaka City Council which recently revealed that it had spent K70 million on settling its workers’ salary arrears because it is now able to collect enough revenue from markets and bus stations.
This is just one of the many positive developments Zambians have witnessed since UPND ascended to power.
We, therefore, urge opposition leaders to tone down in their purported checks and balances and allow President Hichilema and his administration to focus on bringing Zambia’s economic development trajectory back on track.
Opposition must respect Presidency
LIKE in other countries, the Presidency in Zambia is an important institution which must be held in high esteem as it is the highest office in the land.
Because of the critical functions the head of State performs in managing the country’s affairs, the person who occupies the Presidency at any given time deserves utmost respect from all citizens.
Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case in Zambia. Some opposition politicians have resorted to using social media to incessantly disparage and call President Hakainde Hichilema all sorts of names in the name of free speech.
And in the forefront of the attacks and abusive language targeted at President Hichilema are Patriotic Front (PF) leaders,recovered from the humiliating defeat they suffered at the hands of UPND in August 2021.
Attacks on President Hichilema seem to have reached a crescendo following the deepened selfcaused squabbles in PF over the leadership of the former governing party.
This is the premise upon which we agree with Chikondi Foundation president Bishop John Mambo’s counsel to opposition leaders against engaging in indecent checks and balances.
The clergyman, who abhors the sustained abuse of President Hichilema by PF leaders, is calling on Zambians, especially politicians, to rebuild the country.
“It starts with us dealing with the careless language that is being used against those in authority, starting with the President.
“So it’s an appeal I am making to the opposition to do decent checks and balances and come 2026, people will decide whether to vote for MMD, Socialist Party and all that,” Bishop Mambo told us in an interview.
Bishop Mambo is right in that the level of disrespect to the head of State by some opposition leaders has been unprecedented.
They have ganged up and started accusing President Hichilema of all sorts of bad things, and that the democratic space has shrunk in Zambia under his leadership.
To the contrary, Zambians have never enjoyed freedom of expression and movement the way they now do, including media freedoms as evidenced by the nonclosure of any media house in the slightly over two years of the New Dawn administration.
During the PF regime, free movement of people had become non-existent because party cadres were behaving like they were in charge of the country.
The cadres harassed innocent citizens as they wielded machetes in markets and bus stations, including other public spaces.
They were collecting levies from markets and bus stations, the development that led to most local authorities to continually fail to pay their workers’ salaries on time.
But since the coming into government of the New Dawn administration in 2021, councils have been collecting substantial revenue from markets and bus stations, and are now able to pay workers on time and finance their operations.
This is exemplified by Lusaka City Council which recently revealed that it had spent K70 million on settling its workers’ salary arrears because it is now able to collect enough revenue from markets and bus stations.
This is just one of the many positive developments Zambians have witnessed since UPND ascended to power.
We, therefore, urge opposition leaders to tone down in their purported checks and balances and allow President Hichilema and his administration to focus on bringing Zambia’s economic development trajectory back on track.