By: Staff Reporter
Zambians took to social media on Friday to condemn the government for what they termed as ‘systemic blocking’ of the country’s main opposition leader, Hakainde Hichilema from attending the last national funeral for the late founding President Kenneth Kaunda.
Earlier on Friday, the opposition party released a press statement informing the mourning nation that its leader was not going to attend the last state funeral explaining that he (Hichilema) had not been invited by the government.
Hours later, state controlled online media refuted claims raised by the opposition adding that Mr. Hichilema had been invited and that his invitation card had been printed.
Zambians, particularly, urban opposition sympathizers rubbished government’s damage control, with others accusing Republican President Edgar Lungu of using Dr. Kaunda’s death to win political sympathy ahead of the August 12 general elections.
In a road interview with AfricaWorld Reports, a Lusaka trader, Kayula Mwansa said:
“Lungu and his bunch of thieves are using this mourning period to win the August 12 elections. Imagine blocking his political opponent to attend a funeral. I think this country deserves better,” Kayula Mwansa, told AfricaWorld Reports.
A source at Cabinet Office confirmed that the opposition leader had not been invited:
“We were warned against inviting him [Hichilema] and even the circulating invitation is fake and was printed after the outcry of citizens.”
Mr. Hichilema who lasted attended a state function in 2009, has been a victim of government propaganda and tribal mudslinging.
The Kenneth Kaunda state funeral which was held in the capital, Lusaka, was attended by atleast eight heads of state from Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Nambia and Ghana including other high ranking international dignitaries.
Kaunda who until his death was Africa’s last surviving liberation hero, succumbed to pneumonia while receiving treatment at Maina Soko Military Hospital on June 17, 2021.
His burial is slated for July 7, next week.
