The Patriotic Front (PF) faction led by former Zambian President, Edgar Lungu, has accused President Hakainde Hichilema of politicizing traditional ceremonies and turning cultural events into platforms for political rallies aimed at promoting the ruling UPND.

Chairperson for Information and Publicity of the major opposition party, Emmanuel Mwamba, who made the allegations in a statement in Lusaka on Monday,
claimed that political activities had been “visibly integrated into every traditional ceremony that President Hichilema has attended or officiated in recent times.”

Mwamba stated that traditional ceremonies had increasingly become political events, where traditional leaders and opposition lawmakers were gathered to endorse Hichilema and pledge allegiance to his government.

“Pictures from these ceremonies clearly depict a disturbing trend, with UPND regalia visibly scattered throughout the crowd,” Mwamba said in the statement.

He also criticised the head of state for recognising Mafinga MP, Robert Chabinga, as the Leader of the opposition in Parliament and PF Acting President, despite ongoing legal proceedings regarding the matter.

“President Hichilema openly shows contempt by recognising Chabinga, even when the matter remains active in court,” Mwamba said.

He further accused the president of using traditional ceremonies as platforms to engage in hate speech and to parade members of the opposition and PF defectors, nothing that the practice is capable of sowing discord and undermining unity within the opposition.

“This hypocrisy is evident. When he was in the opposition, President Hichilema punished UPND MPs, mayors, and council chairpersons for merely welcoming President Edgar Lungu in their districts,” he added.

Mwamba cited the cases of Kaoma Council Chairperson Bindundu Mutti and Kafue Council Chairperson Thomas Zulu, who were expelled from the UPND for welcoming Lungu during his national duties.

He also referenced the suspension of Prof. Geoffrey Lungwangwa and Hon. Teddy Kasonso for supporting Bill 10, which he argued showed Hichilema’s intolerance of differing views and his violation of parliamentary independence.

He therefore, urged traditional leaders to recognise the alleged threat that Hichilema poses to cultural events and to ensure that such ceremonies were not politicised, despite the pressure from State House.

Pubic institutions, especially hospitals, were the worse hit as Zambia was plunged into total darkness on Sunday, November 24, following a national power outage.

Reports confirmed that major public hospitals, including the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka and Kitwe Teaching Hospital, were left in complete darkness due to the outage, disrupting healthcare services.

The country’s power utility company, ZESCO Limited, had announced that the nation experienced a power system disturbance at 20:15 hours, leading to a nationwide loss of power supply that affected the entire country.

A statement issued by ZESCO Acting Managing Director Justin Longo, confirmed that efforts were underway to restore power and resolve the unplanned outage, assuring the public that the company was working diligently to restore normal service as quickly as possible.

“ZESCO will keep the country updated on this unforeseen development,” Longo said in the statement.

“We regret the unplanned loss of supply and seek the support and patience of our customers during this time.

“ZESCO has committed to providing regular updates on the progress of power restoration and the cause of the disturbance.”

Zambia Monitor reports that the unexpected blackout caused significant inconvenience, particularly for essential services like hospitals, as well as households and businesses across the country.

“While the situation is still unfolding, ZESCO has emphasized its dedication to restoring normal service and ensuring that the power supply is fully restored to all affected areas as soon as possible,” the platform said.

The Ministry of Information and Media Permanent Secretary, Thabo Kawana, who also released a statement on the blackout, informed the nation that no deaths or critical incidents were recorded during this period.

Kawana, in a statement issued on Monday morning said this was despite the blackout affecting hospitals.

“During this period, backup systems functioned as intended. Specifically, the emergency generators at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) activated immediately, ensuring uninterrupted power supply to life support systems and other essential medical equipment.

“Further, government wishes to inform the nation that no deaths or critical incidents were recorded during this period. ZESCO restored power to UTH after 30 minutes, resuming normal operations,” he said.

Kawana further noted that the technical teams were currently investigating the cause of the outage and working to prevent similar incidents in the future, adding that “government assures the public of its commitment to maintaining reliable power supply.”