THE opposition UPND in Northern Province says there is no ‘bad blood’ between party leader Hakainde Hichilema and Chitimukulu, the paramount chief of the Bembas.
Over the past few days, the Daily Nation has been reporting that the UPND, once in government, planned to dethrone Chitimukulu.
Reacting to that, Northern Province UPND chairman Nathan Ilunga said he was appalled at how some people could be so desperate as to drive a wedge between “our supreme Bemba chief, Kanyanta Manga II and the leader of the UPND, Hakainde Hichilema.”
He said he was privileged to have known Hichilema as a humble person.
“He is a gentleman whom I can vouch for and I doubt whether he is capable of uttering abominable words from his mouth. As the chairman of the province under him, if that was the official position of the party (dethroning Chitimukulu), I would be the first one to oppose that detestable stance,” he argued.
“But HH cannot adopt such a stance – far from it.”
Ilunga assured paramount chief Chitimukulu that as his sons and daughters in the UPND, “we shall continue to accord that which is due to him and enjoy cordial relationship with him.”
“For me, I’m his son and he knows that I cannot succumb to such abomination. Hakainde Hichilema is his subject and son whom I believe has no issues to settle with him, as was the case when he (Hichilema) rose to the occasion during the time he was blocked from ascending to the throne,” Ilunga said.
“He (Hichilema) made sure he marshaled enough support among UPND MPs and the general membership of the party to oppose what the Mwinelubemba was subjected to, until under pressure the powers that be succumbed and he ascended to the throne.”
He added that Hichilema held the paramount chief in high esteem.
“That is what he (Hichilema) has confided in me. Nobody should even contemplate that which is retrogressive,” said Ilunga.