By Dr. Henry Kanyanta Sosala
‘’Kalulu tapusuka mipya ibili,’’ is a Chibemba proverb which can literally be translated as: ‘’The hare does not escape the burning plains twice.’’ The actual lesson is that no one should take his lucky for guaranteed or push one’s lucky star too far.
As regards, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema and UPND, In March 2018 I wrote an article in which I alleged that Patrick Mucheleka, a senior member of UPND Management Committee had told Kangwa Mucheleka of Ndola, a member of the Bemba royal family that after the UPND party gets into power in 2021, I would be disposed since I am not a genuine member of the Bemba royal family because my great-great grandmother was not the genuine person who was later brought back after the primitive Ngoni savages kidnapped her.
In 1938, W.V. Brelsford in ‘’The Succession of Bemba Chiefs’’ wrote: ‘’Chimbabantu had been captured when she was very young, about 12-14 years of age, by the Ngoni during the raid. She was sold by the Ngoni to a Fungwe native who married her. Some years later greetings and messages began to come through from her by way of ivory traders. Kafola, the son of Mukukamfumu III was told to make enquiries and he discovered where she was and so she was finally brought back about 1890 with her Fungwe husband. He was given ivory and he went away leaving Chimbabantu and her two children Musenga and his sister Chabili. The two children are now Chief Nkolemfumu VI and Chieftainess Chandamukulu IV. The former will probably become Paramount and the latter’s sons too perhaps. After her return home Chimbabantu (now Chandamukulu III) successfully married three Bemba and had two girls and a son, one child by each husband. These three are Kasonde, Mubanga and Mutale Nshika (currently chief Mpepo IV).’’
And indeed as predicted by Mr. Brelsford, twenty-eight years later, Mr. Ntelwa Musenga became Chitimukulu number 34. He became Chitimukulu even though his father was a primitive Ngoni tribesman because we are matrilineal and therefore our successions depend on our mothers and even in some patrilineal chiefdoms, the son has to be born while his father was on the throne in order to avoid wrong children to ascend to chiefly thrones. And Kasonde who was one of the three children born when Chilobelobe ha returned to Lubemba was my maternal grand-mother.
On 18th March 2020, The Daily Nation came out with the headline: UPND PLOTTING TO DETHRONE CHITIMUKULU and went on: Bemba chiefs have accused UPND of planning to dethrone Henry Kanyanta Sosala as Chitimukulu if they form government in 2021. This follows continued attacks on Paramount Chief Chitimukulu by UPND deputy secretary-general Patrick Mucheleka. In a statement signed by chiefs Mumpolokoso, Mukwikile, Shibwalya Kapila, Mubanga, Chipalo, Luchembe and Chikwanda, the traditional leaders said the continued attacks by a senior member of the UPND confirmed that indeed the party intended to dispose Henry Kanyanta Sosala as Chitimukulu in 2021.
The Chiefs went on, ‘’We wish to make it clear that we are now fed up with the utterances and all demeaning remarks by one of your senior members of the UPND management committee… when you fight the Paramount Chief, you fight the entire Bemba tribe, we shall therefore explain to all our village headmen about the UPND intentions.’’ They also pointed out that after the 2016 presidential and general elections, Bembas were beaten and their houses vandalized and the entire UPND remained mute over the issue and we strongly believe that it was a deliberate policy.
And indeed this is UPND’s deliberate policy to provoke the Bemba because Mucheleka himself confided into someone that the Bemba chiefs would never be answered ’’because the UPND Management Committee gives me hefty allowances to travel to Kasama to attack Chitimukulu.’’ And true to his word, there has never to-date been a comment from UPND.
In this article you will read about the dangerous and dirty politics that are being played by the three partners of the Opposition Alliance namely, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND); Mr. Charles Milupi of the Alliance for National Development (ADD) and Mr. James Lukuku of the Progressive Party (PP).They have a deliberate, malicious, unjustified and sustained effort to assassinate my character and damage my reputation or credibility.
Let me quote what I said in my broadcast on Radio Mano from what Silumesi Malumo reported and see if there is any tone of tribalism anywhere throughout my radio address: ‘’Paramount Chief Chitimukulu has warned Bemba-speaking people to vote en mass and ensure they choose the right person, failure to which they would cry and know Jesus. Mwinelubemba said Bembas had a 21 percent majority which should be used for the right leader otherwise they would regret not doing so. The chief spoke against voter apathy and explained that Southern Province people knew how to vote while Bembas were a useless majority. The Bemba had no problem voting for other tribes, like they voted for Kaunda, Chiluba, Mwanawasa, Rupiah Banda and Sata. He said Bembas were content to vote for others, though not a bad thing, but they should also push for development. He also spoke against Bembas who join or form political parties just to insult their tribe because of money they were being given. He emphasized that Bembas must use their majority to vote for the right people to develop their area. He warned against vote apathy in Muchinga, Northern and Luapula provinces, saying that Southern province people did better than three provinces because they knew what they were doing….. Southerners know what they are doing but Bembas are too nonchalant and just want to be led and don’t mind voting for other tribes …’’
What I was speaking was about vote apathy in Northern, Luapula, Muchinga and Southern Provinces I was referring to statistics in the 2016 presidential elections which were as follows: In NP, the total registered voters was 557,225, the total votes cast was 298,751 and turnout was 53.61%. In LP, the total registered voters was 510,467, the total votes cast was 258,751 and the turnout was 50.6%. In MP, the total registered voters was 349,231, the total votes cast was 196,302 and the turnout was 56.21%. In SP, the total registered voters were 810,077, the total votes cast was 585,343 and the turnout was 72.26%.
On apathy the figures were as follows: 1.Southern Province 27.74%: 2. North-western Province 38.72%: 3. Western Province 42.76%: 4. Lusaka Province 43.31%; 5. Muchinga Province 48.75%: 6. Northern Province 46.39%: 7.Copperbelt Province 46.47%: 8. Central Province 48.66%: 9. Eastern Province 49.26%: 10. Luapula Province 49.40%.
Experts usually say that human beings think in circles and our thought-patterns can easily be identified no matter how cleverly we might try to twist the frame of our language, since our motives hidden in our sub-conscience mind will betray us. And the hatred was clearly revealed in this response:
James Kasanda Lukuku, the Opposition Alliance spokesperson issued a joint statement that had been made by himself with Messrs. Hichilema and Milupi: ‘’It is irresponsibility of the highest order for the Chitimukulu to publish sectarianism, regionalism and tribalism on a radio programme from a radio station called Mano in Kasama. Being a chief is not a passport for segregating our people away from the spirit of One Zambian, One Nation, and neither is it a passport for you not to expect to be challenged.’’
He went on to claim that Paramount Chief Chitimukulu was a PF cadre who was on the party’s payroll. ‘’We have swallowed enough of our PF oriented Chief Chitimukulu. He must realize that in most East African countries there is nothing like chiefs and he is purely existing on the discretion of we the Bemba people. We can rise up one day and say to hell with chiefs and he can have no platform to preach divisional, segregative and tribal politics.’’
The Alliance spokesperson did not spare the Head of State either. ‘’Twakana. Lekeni HH alubule ichalo na mano yakwe no butungulushi bwakwe. (We refuse. Let HH rule us with his acquired knowledge). How honestly can Chitimukulu support a hypothetical Christian, a dictator and drunkard, at a time our country is in ICU? Every moment state House hosts chiefs and the Chitimukulu, what follows are tribal remarks either from Chitimukulu or his surrogates. Why? that is why Sata was opposed to the ordination of this Sosala as a Paramount chief of us the Bembas. Sata knew this Sosala has questionable morals and principles and has questionable values.’’
He went on to claim that Bembas have a wrong and misplaced chief. And that the Chitimukulu is corrupt as he is the same chief who is reportedly selling land to the Chinese and sharing all the proceeds with his own children without regard for his subjects who are lacking salt in their homes.’’
I was very skeptical as well as many others who were advising Mr. Hichilema to distance himself from such a statement because in the first, it is completely out of place and second it depicts a very low caliber of thinking for the authors. In this respect, Mr. Ngande Mwananjiti wrote: ‘’Those who resort to unpalatable language and insults are just not capable of dealing with issues at hand in a reasonable manner. It is not any different from the case of war lords or terrorists who measure success by the number and level of destruction.’’(Daily Nation 1st July 2015).
On the other hand, Mr. Chishimba Kambili of NDC though being a member of the Opposition Alliance has denied to have been a part to the damaging statement. And Steve Nyirenda of NAREP; Andyford of PAC and Sean Tembo of PeP had already left the alliance.
But it is very unfortunate that the three party presidents are accusing chiefs of being cadres when they are supposed to know better. However, the role of a chief continues to be extremely challenging because he occupies an integral position within the authority structure of society: in one set of relations, he is a tribal leader and in another set of relations, he is in the hierarchy of the government administration.
And as to the wild false claim that I have obtained money from Chinese investors which I have shared with my children, but to the contrary we have Ulubemba Investments which is a sustainable developmental strategy that is mandated to oversee the harnessing of the vast resources for the benefit of the populace in Ulubemba. And we have no Chinese investors in Ulubemba except those working on road constructions.
Mr. Hichilema and his colleagues claimed that Bembas have a wrong and misplaced chief. But to the contrary my leadership abilities and my higher level of intellectual output have even been recognized far beyond outside our borders. The board members of Africa Opportunity Co-ordination Organization (AOCO) based in Nairobi sent me the following letter of appointment through Dr. Wang: ‘’ With your royal position and high level of traditional knowledge and experience of the traditional norms and culture in Zambia, Africa AOCO board has appointed you to spearhead the formation of Pan African Development Committee in chiefdoms not only in Zambia, but in Africa as a whole.’’ And as I stated in Part I, President Sata became irritated and decided to destroy my character and integrity internationally, by referring to me as ‘’fake chief,’’ and he de-gazetted me.
The University of New Mexico was established around 1898 and I was in 2019, the sixth to be awarded with a honourary degree just because the university maintains high standards of criteria. And I was awarded a degree in philosophy. And the dictionary defines philosophy as the use of reason in understanding such things as the nature of reality and existence; the use and limits of knowledge and the principles that govern and influence moral judgement.
And to my best knowledge none of the three, i.e., Messrs. Hichilema, Milupi and Lukuku has ever been recognized anywhere outside Zambia for leadership abilities or for outstanding intellectual output. Their problem arises mainly from lack of self-contentment and self-confidence since they see more in me than in themselves which translates into uncontrollable envy. This can actually be clearly drawn from their unreasonable response to the critical issue of voters’ apathy which I had raised on Radio Mano. Eckhart Tolle wrote: ‘’Whatever you fight, you ignite and strengthen and whatever you resist persists.’’ (TO BE CONTINUED)
