By Given Mutinta
PRESIDENT HICHILEMA’S CONTRADICTORY MESSAGING ON UNITY AND DIVISION
Since ascending to the presidency in 2021, President Hakainde Hichilema has repeatedly showcased a glaring inconsistency in his public discourse, oscillating between calls for national unity and overtly divisive rhetoric—depending squarely on his audience’s locale.
Consider his divisive statements in Western Province on Saturday, where he alleged that people in that region were targeted for violence and excluded from public service employment.
In regions which are not his political strongholds, President Hichilema adopts a tone of inclusiveness, preaching reconciliation and unity among Zambia’s diverse ethnicities.
Yet, when addressing his loyal bases within these strongholds – Southern, Western, and Northwestern provinces, his language hardens, perpetuating victimhood syndrome, tribal and regional antagonisms.
This duplicity betrays the fundamental expectations placed upon a head of state, exposing a leader more concerned with political calculus than fostering genuine cohesion.
Such a dual approach is not only disingenuous but corrosive; it fuels suspicion and fractures societal bonds rather than mending them.
The impact is profound: citizens who look to the President for leadership and impartiality find instead a figure who wields division as a weapon, encouraging loyalty at the expense of national solidarity.
This strategy undermines the presidency’s dignity and alienates substantial segments of the population, deepening mistrust and encouraging political actors to exploit identity politics instead of pursuing genuine unity.
Thus, President Hichilema’s contradictory messaging strips him of any claim to be a unifying figure.
His failure to transcend parochial loyalties and his willingness to indulge in rhetoric that divides rather than heals speaks to a leadership profoundly flawed and unable—or unwilling—to rise to the demands of his position.
In a nation yearning for cohesion, such duplicity is not merely disappointing; it is a betrayal of the very office he occupies.