Stay away from Kuomboka, Kalaba tells HH
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema should resist the temptation of being confrontational by imposing himself as the guest of honour at the Kuomboka traditional ceremony to which he has neither been invited or being expected as an ordinary attendee, Harry Kalaba has said.
Mr Kalaba, the leader of Citizens First (CF) has urged President Hichilema to stay away from the Kuomboka ceremony because his presence was not only going to cause confusion but was going to highly politicise the event to which the Paramount Chief Chitimukulu has been invited as the guest of honour.
Mr Kalaba, who is a member of the United Kwacha Alliance said President Hichilema was being confrontational and dictatorial by imposing himself on Kuomboka ceremony when the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) had made it clear that the Paramount Chief Chitimukulu had been invited as the official guest of honour.
He recalled that when Chief Mukuni of the Toka Leya people of Livinstone decreed that he had stopped inviting government officials to his Lwiindi ceremony, there was never a time when former President Lungu or any government official had decided to disrespect the decision of the traditional leader.
“President Hichilema is exhibiting total disrespect for the Litunga, the King of the Lozi people who, through his Ngambela has decided to invite His Royal Highness Paramount Chief Chitmukulu as the guest of honour for the Kuomboka ceremony on Saturday.
The President is being confrontational and dictatorial by imposing himself as the guest of honour at the Kuomboka ceremony. The BRE has made it clear that he is not invited and that if the President is so desirous to attend, he should do so without causing confusion by demanding that he should be the one to grace the ceremony,” Mr Kalaba said.
Mr Kalaba said the Kuomboka was a traditional ceremony with ancestral spirits and values and should never be contaminated by the messy politics being played out by the UPND and President Hichilema.