IT SEEMS there is no end in sight for the bitterness that has been clawing at the heart of United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema.
Some of the words coming out of Mr Hichilema’s mouth are not only obscene but reflect the inner battle within.
Yesterday, one of the Lusaka-based commercial radio stations was running a short recording of Mr Hichilema’s voice commenting on the Patriotic Front (PF)’s ‘Donchi kubeba’ slogan.
The words he used to disparage the slogan leave one wondering whether they are really coming from the president of the country’s biggest opposition party.
“Donchi kubeba donchi kubeba, donchi kupwiti!” he railed. And the radio station kept playing the recording.
From the number of calls that swamped the station from angry callers, it is clear that the words and the tone in which they were spoken connoted bitterness.
Whatever the phrase meant it was not in good taste. We are urging the UPND leader to tone down on his rhetoric.
The Matero rumpus should not be the basis for Mr Hichilema to attack President Sata and the PF incessantly.
It seems the opposition party leader is angry that the PF pulled the carpet under his feet before he could fire the first salvo.
Barely hours after the attack by a horde of youths on ‘Black Friday’ protesters last Friday, acting President Edgar Lungu strongly condemned the violence and directed police to ensure the culprits are brought to book.
The next day Matero member of Parliament Miles Sampa, who is a deputy minister, also condemned the attack and apologised to the victims.
On Sunday he even went to the Bible Gospel Church in Africa (BIGOCA), the venue of the whipping, to personally apologise for the assault.
The police have been inviting members of the public, including the victims of the beatings, to come forward with information that can give them a lead to the suspects so that they can arrest and prosecute them.
But all these demonstrations of responsible leadership seem to be inconsequential to Mr Hichilema. All he is seeing is an opportunity to drag the name of the PF and President Sata in the mire with a view to winning some public support.
Whatever differences there may be they could be debated in sober and respectful language.
If the PF decides to hit back with the same language, Mr Hichilema will be on the first flight to a foreign country to cry before the whole world that he is being persecuted.
That is not the behaviour of a person who hopes to become republican president one day. It’s not the best way of winning the support of Zambians because they are not interested in name-calling politics.
One sage once said there is no harm in falling; what is harmful is remaining on the ground after a fall. A wise man will quickly pick himself up, dust himself and take a closer look at what caused his fall so that he is more careful for the rest of the journey.
This is the truism that seems to have escaped the attention of the UPND president. Since he lost the elections to Mr Sata in the September 20, 2011 general elections, he has been struggling to accept the harsh reality that he lost to a much stronger, more popular and experienced candidate.
Mr Hichilema must get over his bitterness for his own good, and use moderate language.
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