The statement of “those planning a coup d’etat” coming from the Head of State who receives top intelligence briefing is worrying.
By Donald Mumba | ZBT Editor.
Lusaka, 5th Sept [ZBT] – First, it was opposition MMD faction leader, Dr. Nevers Mumba, who is currently in alliance with the ruling UPND, who first sounded the warning that Zambia risks having a coup d’etat.
Next, it’s the Head of State, President Hakainde Hichilema (HH) on his Facebook posting that has warned “those planning a coup d’etat” of being watched. This statement coming from the Head of State who receives top intelligence briefing is worrying.
When we first heard it from Dr. Mumba, we thought it was an illusion due to the immense international pressure he was facing after heading a SADC election monitoring mission to Zimbabwe (ZIM) and the controversial stunts he pulled that has won him more powerful enemies than friends south of the Zambezi river.
Our considered view is that Dr. Nevers Mumba who is still in active opposition politics in Zambia and had some reported financial issues to resolve prior to the last elections was a wrong pick. Such roles should ideally be a preserve of statesmen, those who have seen it all and possibly held the role of President to better appreciate the complexities that come with elections for the high office of President.
Suffice to say that Dr. Nevers Mumba, and the monitoring team he led in ZIM elections, seems to have earned not only himself some powerful enemies, but also added powerful enemies for his appointing authority, HH and his new dawn administration in Zambia.
Also Read: Zambia’s recent adversarial stance towards Zimbabwe must be tamed.
Just the act of inviting former President Edgar Lungu and some top leaders of the main opposition Patriotic Front (PF), giving them a prominent role at the inauguration has sent a strong and clear signal to Zambian authorities and the new dawn government which only the uninitiated can miss.
If you check the records, the ZIM re-elected President Emmerson Mnangagwa attended HH’s inuaguration in Lusaka, and it was not his place to decide who the people of Zambia elected as president, we would not be straying far to suppose that he expected the same from his Zambian counterpart.
It is also not Zambia’s President HH, the new dawn government, SADC or EU to decide for the people of Zimbabwe who their leader should be. It’s respect for sovereignty which is why even the powerful countries wine and dine with gulf states leaders, monarchies, etc, some of whom are outrightly non democratic. It, therefore, follows that the people of ZIM, when the time is ripe, like they have shown before, that they can rise and change leaders no matter how strong an individual holding that office is.
Also Read: Commonwealth’s statement further exposes Dr. Mumba and Mr. Hichilema.
Remember that ZIM had Robert Mugabe, who was not only an independence stalwart and victor of a hard fought battle with colonialists, but a revered Pan-Africanist. He was eventually removed from office when the time was right. Africa has its own peculiar complexities and explains why the continent was not permanently taken over by colonialists.
It therefore beats logic to appreciate what foreign policy or international relations principles the new dawn government is applying on ZIM. Creating an enemy in the current ZIMBABWE regime does not come out to be a wise decision, if there are some good reasons, we wonder why they have not leaked to the media by now.
And what is perhaps confirming that this may have been a big miscalculation on the part of President HH is the attendance of Southern Africa economic powerhouses – South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) leader, Felix Tsisekedi.
These two are Zambia’s biggest trading partners in southern Africa. If they had not attended, it would have been more economically justifiable for HH to take the current stance for both Zambia and SADC.
But even with that, HH has still not extended a congratulatory message to ZIM & Mnangagwa as part of international relations courtesy, even after reports that the US President, Joe Biden, and other leaders of much more complex global politically astute nations have. Why did Zambia not even surely send the Veep Mutale Nalumango to do some PR, like what other SADC nations did?
And what we find more disturbing is that after this same SADC monitoring mission, Dr. Nevers Mumba starts insinuating the possibility of a coup d’etat in Zambia, then followed by a post on President HHs page confirming the same risk.
We genuinely hope that this is just talk based on fear of the raising desent against government fueled by high mealie-meal (staple food) prices with the cost of living crisis being further exacerbated by a further 15% fuel price hike, which is yet to be priced into the already escalated prices of goods and services.
Our advice to our leaders is that when a mistake is made, it’s better to think through it and make amends. It’s not Zambia’s place to effect or directly back regime changes post colonial era in other African countries, because today, frankly speaking, that’s a preserve of super rich and supper complex countries.
We have said it before and we will say it here again; let’s avoid being a Ukraine, where you get pumped up by one powerful [Western] supporter, stand up to their opposing powerful [Eastern] enemy, but end up in a war fought on your soil, turning your people into refugees, while the power’s own citizens live in peace.
Zambia should know its place especially at times like this where geopolitical tension is almost reaching boiling point, our founding President KK who was much more internationally exposed and ruled for almost three decades left us to be a non-aligned country.
Also Read: In less than two years, HH has destroyed all the respect Dr. Kaunda earned Zambia!
As it’s not clear who will win the West vs the East geopolitical battle, it’s reckless to drag the country into this complex battle were we have not developed complex decision making mechanisms and clearly don’t have full credible information to rely on. We risk being used as pawns in this complex global chess game.
(Prepared by Donald Mumba and edited by Mpandashalo Mwewa.)
About the author: Donald Mumba is the Managing Editor of the Zambian Business Times.
Disclaimer: Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by the author are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of Woodpecker’s Digest but we feel compelled to remain a channel for reputable journalists.
You can follow Woodpecker’s Digest on X [formerly Twitter] and Facebook. Remember to add to the comments below to share your thoughts.
©2023 Woodpecker’s Digest
Putting news into perspective
