HH rules out tribalism

By NORMA SIAME –
UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has said voting on tribal lines is no longer possible because tribal divides have been broken by intermarriages.
Mr Hichilema said tribes had become diluted because of intermarriages to a level where some people had ties with two or more tribes. The UPND leader was speaking in Kasama on Wednesday night during a programme on Radio Mano community radio station.

“My wife is not Tonga. She is from Central Province. I love my children. They are a mixture of Tonga, Lamba and Sala. The issue of voting on tribal lines is a dead issue,” he said.
Mr Hichilema, who conducted the interview in English and a smattering of Bemba thrown in, promised to turn around the country’s economic outlook.

He was accompanied by his vice-president Canicius Banda who threw in a good measure of Bemba proverbs to charm the electorate in a district which is predominantly the ruling Patriotic Front’s main stronghold.
Mr Hichilema anchored his campaign for the Republican presidency in Northern Province, on offering to put in writing a pledge to ensure that the Paramount Chief Chitimukulu was gazzetted.

He made the pledge after a closed-door meeting with the Chitimukulu-designate, Henry Sosala in Mungwi.
Mr Hichilema touched on a number of issues ranging from the Barotse Agreement of 1964 to tribalism.
“I believe in a unitary state, which is Zambia. There are issues in the Barotse Agreement that can be dealt with minus cessation,” he said.

Times of Zambia