Statement for immediate release by Senior Chief Mukuni
5th July 2020
PRINCESS SEKUTE DOES NOT QUALIFY TO SPEAK ON BEFALF OF THE CHIEFS OF SOUTHERN PROVINCE ON BILL 10 OR ANY OTHER MATTER.
I wish to categorically rebut the assertions reported by several news media including the National Broadcaster ZNBC two days ago, which stated that ‘Chieftainess’ Sekute spoke on behalf of Southern Province traditional leaders, on matters pertaining to the moribund Bill 10.
First and foremost the individual in question is not a Chieftainess but a Princess who is standing in for her father Chief Sekute, who is recuperating from an illness. Further and therefore, it is against royal protocols to purport to speak on behalf of reigning Chiefs and their subjects when one is not enthroned as a Chief and when the Chief of the affected Chiefdom is alive.
To that effect, what was reported that Princess Sekute speaks on behalf of the Chiefs in Southern Province that their Royal Highnessess support the passing of the controversial Bill 10 into law is not only false but lacks merit and facts.
I was in the meeting in which the Republican President His Excellency Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu addressed Southern Province Royal Highnesses on several matters relating to national affairs, and nowhere in the discussion was it resolved that Bill 10 should be supported or consented by the Chiefs in the Pronvice.
In order to set the record straight and clear the names of the Chiefs that attended the meeting, I challenge the Princess to name the Royal Highnesses who chose her to speak on their behalf in support of Bill 10, whose shelf life as a mischievous tool to cure Zambia’s constitutional ills has since expired.
As far as we are concerned as Chiefs in Southern Province, Bill 10 is stillborn and buried and no amount of behind the scenes corrupt machinations will resurrect it from its tomb.
The people of Zambia were not consulted on the enactment of this Bill whose treacherous agenda is to perpetuate dictatorship and the abuse of public affairs. All citizens must continue to stand firm and alert against the monstrous Bill 10 which has been time barred similar to the UPND Presidential petition whose 14 day period elapsed. Let the blind application of the law be fairly implemented on both PF and UPND without discrimination.What is good for the goat must be good for the dog.
Senior Chief Mukuni
of the Leya people of
Kazungula, Livingstone and Zimba Districts and all the Bene Mukuni.