. Hichilema

By NAKUBIANA SHABONGO –
GOVERNMENT takes great exception to a statement by opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema for questioning the morality of the governance system that subjects citizens to modes of transport such as the one in which 25 people perished on Lake Kariba last Friday.
Mr Hichilema in his eulogy to the 25 bereaved families questioned the morality of the governance systems that subjects citizens to such modes of transport so many years after independence.
But Chief Government spokesperson Joseph Katema advised Mr Hichilema to appreciate that there was time for everything including time to politick, time to celebrate and time to mourn.
“At the moment, the nation is engulfed in deep grief and sorrow at the death of the school children and others in the Kariba boat accident.
It is not time for politicking and finger-pointing but to come together as a nation as we mourn our departed children, brothers and sisters,” Dr Katema said.
Government, therefore, finds Mr Hichilema’s statement political and insensitive to the tragedy at hand which is the loss of so many lives in the Kariba boat accident.
“We urge Mr Hichilema to put aside politics at this hour of immense pain and sorrow so that together as a nation, we give our departed citizens a befitting and dignified burial,” he said in a statement.
Government further urges all citizens to desist from politicising the tragedy.
Through the relevant wings, Government will ensure it gets to the bottom of the matter to establish the circumstances that led to the tragedy and investigations to this effect are already underway.
Meanwhile, the 25 victims of the Independence Kariba tragedy are today expected to be buried in Gwembe in Southern Province.
Acting President Edgar Lungu declared today as a day of national mourning in honour of the 25.
An interdenominational requiem mass will be held in honour of the people that drowned at the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross at 14 hours today.
Vice-President Guy Scott is expected to attend the burial and the funeral which will be held at one function following the agreement by family members of the deceased.
The 25 died when a boat they used to travel capsised on Lake Kariba on their way to attend celebrations to mark the country’s Golden Jubilee.