Kalaba preaches unity

By NATION REPORTER

HARRY Kalaba has appealed to President Hakainde Hichilema to endeavor building unity among Zambians and resist any form of temptation to polarize the country by ensuring divisive vices such as political persecution and arrests are avoided.

Mr Kalaba, the president of Citizens First, says President Hichilema has the opportunity to create harmony in the country by denouncing any evils from the political divide that would otherwise divide the country.

Commenting on the release of Mumbi Phiri on a nolle prosequi after 429 days in prison on a murder charge that never was, Mr Kalaba said President Hichilema had given Zambians hope upon ascending to the country’s highest office by declaring that he was going to embark on a path of uniting and healing the country.

Mr Kalaba said Ms Phiri should never have been arrested and that her more than one-year incarceration in the Mongu prison had been construed that there had been a spirit of vengeance and retribution from the UPND government and its leadership.

He said Ms Phiri had suffered the highest form of injustice at the hands of a government that had had been preaching reconciliation, harmony and unity among citizens.

Mr Kalaba explained that what had happened to Ms Phiri should be avoided and that time had come for Zambians across the political divide to begin living as one under the traditional mantra of “One Zambia One Nation.”

He stated that the nolle prosequi the State entered for Ms Phiri was only meant to release her from prison but that the former Patriotic Front (PF) deputy Secretary-General still had her freedom restricted.

He stated that Ms Phiri had her freedoms taken away purely for political reasons and that President Hichilema should manage Zambians in a manner that they should see each other as brothers and sisters irrespective of their political digressions and differences.

Mr Kalaba called on President Hichilema reflect on how Zambia had been governed since he got into State House and that the head of State should strive to preside over the affairs of the country through consensus.

Mr Kalaba stated that the goodwill President Hichilema received from Zambians across the region should be a stimulus for the head of State to ensure no citizen was marginalized on the basis of their political, ethnic or religious affiliation.