Claims of tribal hatred against Tongas untrue - Mwiinga

By BARNABAS ZULU

IT is not true and there are is no empirical evidence that Zambians from Southern Province were being tribally discriminated, harassed or indeed beaten each time they arrived at Lusaka’s Inter-City bus station as is being claimed by President Hakainde Hichilema, Cliff Mwiinga has said.

Mr Mwiinga, the Bweengwa Independent parliamentary candidate has accused President Hakainde Hichilema of spreading divisive messages, dismissing claims that people from Southern Province were being targeted for tribal physical harassment at the Intercity Bus Terminus.

He said such statements were false and only served to fuel tribal divisions instead of promoting national unity.

Speaking during a media briefing, Mr Mwiinga said he studied at the University of Zambia and spent time at the Intercity Bus Terminus but never witnessed southerners being assaulted because of their tribe.

“I did my tertiary education at the University of Zambia. My station was Intercity Bus Terminus. No one was beating me. But today people are believing that Tongas were being beaten in Lusaka because it is coming from the top office, which is wrong,” Mr Mwiinga said.

He urged President Hichilema to focus on discussing development issues such as free education and infrastructure instead of promoting messages that divide citizens.

“We can talk about free education. We can talk about infrastructure. We can talk about anything, but for as long as we are divided, we do not have a country to call our own again,” he said.

Mr Mwiinga said the 2021 general election was won because Zambians united across tribal and regional lines to demand change.

“In 2021, the whole country came together. No one said I am Lozi, Kaonde, Bemba or Tonga. The country said we need change and we voted together,” he said.

He questioned whether the current administration had delivered the change it had promised and warned voters against repeating what he described as a political mistake.

“We made that mistake and we ought not to make this mistake again. If we do, it will be stupidity as a country because we will show that we do not know what we want,” Mr Mwiinga said.

He appealed to the people of Southern Province to vote together with the rest of the country and reject politics based on tribal or regional identity.

Ends.