UPND tribal antics worry Kambwili
Published On November 30, 2015 » 3016 Views» By Davies M.M Chanda » HOME SLIDE SHOW, SHOWCASE
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. Hichilema

. Hichilema

By REBECCA MUSHOTA and MILDRED KATONGO  –
THE United Party for National Development (UPND) has the potential to divide the country because of its consistent tribal remarks, Chief Government spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili has said.
Mr Kambwili said it was unfortunate that UPND and some traditional leaders always made tribal references on various matters.
Mr Kambwili, who is Information and Broadcasting Services minister, was reacting to statements that the Government had retrenched senior civil servants, especially police officers who were perceived to be supporters of the UPND and were also Tongas.
UPND president Hakainde Hichilema said on his Facebook posting this week that the party continued receiving reports of a number of civil servants, especially in the police service, teachers, health workers and others claiming victimisation for their alleged allegiance to the opposition party.
Chief Mukuni was quoted in yesterday’s edition of The Post newspaper claiming that senior police officers who had been retired in national interest on the Copperbelt were dismissed from their work because of they were Tonga.
Mr Kambwili, however, said the Government was not fixing anyone based on which region they hailed from.
The minister said it was unfortunate that UPND and some traditional leaders continued to make tribal references whenever they were aggrieved.
“UPND is a very dangerous organisation because it keeps making tribe an issue. The issue of tribe is paramount in every debate for them,” Mr Kambwili said.
He said given an opportunity to rule the country, UPND could do Zambia a de-service by dividing the nation.
Mr Kambwili said that UPND and any traditional leader should stop making such remarks that had the potential to divide the country.
He said the Government retired some senior police officers recently in a bid to reorganise the service.
Mr Kambwili said it could have happened that 70 per cent of those retired were Tongas and Lozis because naturally, historically, more Tongas and Lozis have been employed in the service in the past years.
This was because the Police Service was more prominent in Southern and Western provinces when it started in Zambia.
Mr Kambwili also said the Government would not fail to reorganise the public sector for fear of being seen to be victimising people. He urged Zambians to dismiss tribal utterances because they had the potential to destroy peace in the country.
Mr Kambwili said Government wanted all Zambians to be happy because there was no tribe which was superior to the other.
The Government had said that people should not be misled by politicians who were going round taking advantage of the country’s economic hardships saying that the ruling party has failed to govern. Mr Kambwili said the Government acknowledged the economic challenges the country was going through and it was doing everything to ensure that the economy was back to normal.
He said the challenges that the country was facing was as a result of the drop in copper prices on the global market.
Mr Kambwili said that Zambia’s economy depended on copper and that diversification was needed to strengthen it.

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