The notion that an opposition MP cannot engage with the President in the line of duty is incorrect. My appeal to ALL is to reset our politics and recalibrate our collective agenda to service delivery and poverty eradication.
Issued By: Dr. Chitalu Chilufya.
Lusaka, October 24 – On 22nd October, 2024, I was privileged to be invited to the working presidential visit to Mazabuka. As a result of my being part of this presidential entourage, social media has been awash with maliciously misleading articles coldly calculated at tarring my persona in the collective public conscience of Zambians.
Also Read: Dr. Chitalu Chilufya: The Visionary Behind Zambia’s Health Sector Transformation! He’s celebrated for Zambia’s health sector transformation, establishing a multi-sectoral, community-based system focused on primary health care, and steering the country toward universal health coverage!
Ordinarily, I do not respond to malice, but I’m compelled to issue an official statement to set the record straight and put closure to the matter at hand. For the avoidance of any doubt, those spreading falsehoods must get this right: I HAVE NOT DEFECTED FROM PF TO UPND. This is anchored on my belief that a credible opposition is crucially fundamental to any functional democracy.
I am the bonafide elected Member of Parliament for Mansa Central, under the Patriotic Front party ticket. I intend to serve out my current term in this regard to the best of my ability and consciously cognisant of the my absolute loyalty to people of Mansa for the privilege they gave me to serve them.
Further, I am privileged to be the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Parastatal Bodies. I swore oath of allegiance to the Republican President, and the constitution of Zambia to serve the people of Zambia, in general, and the Mansa Central in particular. I will continue to work with Government to serve the people by providing effective checks and balances, as we collectively pursue sustainable development, peace and unity.
It is in this regard that I accepted an invitation to accompany the Republican President, in the stated portfolios, to commemorate the Jubilee Celebrations for one of the country’s most thriving local Zambian companies, the Nakambala Sugar Estate, at which many activities were launched, inter alia, the expanded outgrower scheme for sugarcane, to enhance local participation in the growth of the Zambian economy.
For all intents and purporses, this is the kind of investment we all must support because it does not only fulfil our collective aspirations of sustainable development, but also creates both corporate and individual wealth we all desire. We can only succeed as the nation if we create common wealth. We can only share wealth and not poverty, not acrimony but progressive human fellowship across all facets of development.
Truth be told, the trip was instructive in many different ways and revealed valuable benchmarking innovations the company is embarking on to expand production, while embracing the needs of the community. The trip further served as an opportunity to network with colleagues in the Executive to lobby for specific constituency programs and share ideas on matters of national development. I must, therefore, appreciate the President for the invitation to be part of his entourage on this important working visit.
Further, I was invited to a community engagement where the President interacted with the local people and was privileged to address the community. I hereby attach my verbatim speech for ALL to see and judge…
“My due respect to His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zambia. As we celebrate our 60th year of independence, it is important that we reaffirm our commitment to our oneness as a unitary state, and that’s the reason I’m pleased to be part of the presidential entourage, to reaffirm that we are one people, and that we are one nation. Tuli bantu omwe (we are one people)! Atujatane, tubeleke antoomwe tulete lusumpunko mu chisi (let’s work together to develop Zambia). Thank you very much Mr. President for this opportunity to unite all of us and to show that we are one people! ”
There is no doubt in my mind this was the right and proper thing for me to do to support the President in supporting the economic developmental agenda. Let us all pursue, not a narrow, but a broad based national agenda that speaks to the best possible interests of our people. In pursuit of this agenda, my conscious is crystal-clear. I will always pursue efforts that deliver a developmental state that works for all. Let us abandon the machine-politics designed to split rather than unite our people. Let us reject all the senseless and dangerous propagandists who are stealthly embedded in the belly of our body-politic.
At 60, we can be more proud. A Diamond Nation founded on the enduring spirit of One Zambia, One Nation, cannot be narrowed to myopic black-and-white prism of them and us. There is rendezvous of opportunity in the middle ground available for all us as a collective.
Party colours of green and red, yellow and orange, white and blue…of any shade, mustn’t divide us but offer us an opportunity to compete.
◾The misconception!
Some of my colleagues in the PF party, may have misconstrued the context of the visit, and created the perception in various social and mainstream media, that l have defected to the ruling UPND. I repeat, I have not defected from the PF. My appeal to ALL is to reset our politics, detoxify the environment, recalibrate our collective agenda to service delivery and poverty eradication. Politics should not be acrimonious. It should be a platform for competition of ideas to serve our people. I do not subscribe to politics of acrimony.
Also Read: My discharge by the Magistrate Court. Malicious prosecution of innocent citizens is tantamount to lawfare – the use of the law to basically bully and harass citizens. Such practices are completely adrift with the tenets of good governance.
Let’s create a critical mass of leaders and engender a robust, resilient and sustainable path to prosperity for our people by translating our natural resources into wealth. Let’s embrace meritocracy; we have sufficient human capital to drive the agenda if only we agree to work as a team; let’s not frown upon intelligence and hard work.
Politics should not be about perpetual acrimonious discourse. It should be a platform for competition of ideas to serve our people. Further, I want to emphasize this. I do not believe in the shared delusion that politics must create a barrier between “them” and “us”. We are one people. We are not enemies but friends; we must not be enemies; Divergent views we may have but those should never create permanent walls between us; these walls must come down. We need to start talking to each other. Dialogue is fundamentally important in this era of our political season. We will provide checks and balances at any given opportunity.
As we celebrate our 60th year of independence, let us not be rhetorical about unity. Let’s be practical and ensure that we embrace activities that promote unity, including talking to each other and not at each other. Compromise, for instance, is not a dirty word but a way of life that fosters unity and progress. By embracing compromise, we recognize that true strength lies in finding common ground and prioritizing the greater good of all over personal agendas.
For my friends in the Patriotic Front party, we need to settle our internal divisions expeditiously before we permanently disorient our grassroots. l reiterate the importance of a credible opposition to objectively check the Executive for excesses and ensure accountability to the people. We must not cease to meet and talk to each other and work together.
Happy 60th Independence Day!!!
Also Read: My discharge by the Magistrate Court – Dr. Chitalu Chilufya. Since chibwabwa is a rich source of calcium, it is a popular choice for lactating mothers. It maintains the calcium levels to normal, helping in lactating properly.
About The Author: Dr. Chilufya, a PF presidential candidate, is a public health physician, Mansa Central Member of Parliament and former Minister of Health who led the radical transformation of the Zambia national health system in pursuit of Universal Health Coverage.
About Our Advocacy: Woodpecker’s Digest provides in-depth analyses and commentary on issues of national importance, alongside articles on personal development and health. We believe journalism can be a force for socio-economic change.
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