Maravi

I’ve come to unify the country - Hichilema

I’ve come to unify the country - Hichilema
Written by Amos Malupenga

I have come on the political scene to unify the country, says UPND presidential aspirant Hakainde Hichilema.

Hichilema says those who are saying that he is a tribalist just want to reduce his chances of providing a service to Zambians. Hichilema, who is one of the three presidential candidates - Sakwiba Sikota and Robert Sichinga, says people labelling him as a Tonga tribalist are wrong because he has never been tribal.

“You remember that Andy Mazoka was given that Tonga label for many years. When he died, the very people who labelled him Tonga were passing accolades about him,” says Hichilema. “Andy was not tribal, he was a quality person. People would want to pass the same tag to me in order to reduce my chances in providing a service to Zambians. They know I am not tribal”

Hichilema says it would be a tragedy if the Tonga tag continues as it can deny someone from Southern Province the opportunity to serve the country “because God chose that I be born in Southern Province... irrespective of the quality that I may offer”.

“This is what I want to change. I have come on the political scene to unify the country, to be inclusive and take out the polarisation, the stigma. We should be proud to be who we are. There should be unity in diversity,” says Hichilema.

Question: In the first place I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk with you. I know you have been very busy the last few days, or should I say weeks. My first question is: who is Hakainde Hichilema?

Answer: Amos, the first thing I should do before I answer your question is to thank you for visiting us at our home. We are very pleased to have you here.

To proceed to your question, I am Hakainde Hichilema. I was born on 4th June 1962 in Monze West in a village called Hachipona in chief Hamusonde’s area.

Q: Who are your parents?

A: My parents are Mrs Violet and S. Hichilema who reside in the same village that I was born. They are quite well known in the village; we are a large family. I still visit my village at least three times a year.

Q: What are your parents doing in that village?

A: My mother is still alive but my old man passed away sometime back. The family is still in the homestead I was born.

Q: Could you now give me your brief education background?

A: I started school in 1969 at my local primary school called Mooya in the village I mentioned where I did grade one to grade four. I moved on to another school called Nkandela where my uncle was teaching somewhere near Pemba in 1973 to proceed with my education from grade five to grade seven.

Then I proceeded to go to secondary school at Kalomo Secondary in Southern Province. I completed my form five, as it was called those days, in 1980. Then I proceeded to national service. We were the last lot to do national service. And I am very pleased that I went through that programme. It enhanced my character, especially strength of purpose.

Q: Where did you do your national service?

A: We did it in Ndola at Mushili camp. I only did six months of military training. I didn’t do the production side because those days what used to happen was that those who did very well with their form five results left after six months for university or college. Luckily, I did very well so I proceeded to the University of Zambia (UNZA). That was in 1981.

Q: What did you study at UNZA?

A: Amos, I must tell you that I studied subjects which I am very happy about. I studied economics and business. I graduated with a merit in 1986.

Q: What happened after your graduation?

A: I was very fortunate because I was one of the good students. And in the third year, your results would assist potential employers to identify the good students. So immediately I finished in 1986, I didn’t have to look for a job. I went to work for a firm called Equator Advisory Service which moved on to change the name thereafter. Then I moved on to a firm called Coopers & Lybrand.

Q: In what capacity did you join Equator Advisory Service?

A: As a young graduate, I joined as an assistant consultant. And remember my results had not even come out. The employer identified me because of my third year results. So I was an assistant consultant doing lots of projects, viability studies, feasibility studies.

Even when I moved to Coopers & Lybrand, it was because we worked with a Coopers & Lybrand team that came from London working on a restructuring of Indeco in those days. Because of my linkage with that team on joint assignments, a gentleman who was a senior person from Coopers & Lybrand in London thought that I made sensible contributions and asked me to join Coopers & Lybrand. That’s how I joined Coopers & Lybrand as assistant consultant. This was still in 1986.

After joining Coopers, Amos, I must count myself luck in a way because I had quite a speedy progression in the firm. Many people like to say that I mature quickly but I am not sure, Amos, because people are the best judges. So I moved very quickly from that position of assistant consultant in late 1986 and rose through the ranks to various positions until I became a director in 1989 at a very young age, I must say.

From there, I continued to progress in the firm. I travelled a lot in the region and doing assignments in different parts of the country basically on the corporate advisory side which is largely my skill area. I also travelled the world a lot. A few years later in 1994, I took over as chief executive of Coopers & Lybrand. I was the youngest in the firm but I was made chief executive as my colleagues thought I had something to offer.

After that, we ran the firm. But if you remember in the late 1990s, the country went through a lot of difficulties economically. And after those changes in 1991, things started to reasonably pick up. We worked very hard, grew the firm to a point where we had several partners and staff.

I continued leading the firm up to 1998. In that year, Coopers & Lybrand merged with Pricewaterhouse. And we didn’t merge in Zambia so we changed the name to Grant Thornton. So I took over as chief executive of Grant Thornton and I have continued to run the firm up to the day of this interview (Thursday). Amos, I must tell you that I have been running in that role for twelve years.

Q: In what activities is Grant Thornton involved?

A: Basically, Grant Thornton employs over 120 professional staff in Lusaka, Ndola and Kitwe offices. Grant Thornton Zambia is a leading international professional services firm providing corporate finance, accounting, auditing, corporate recovery, privatisation, management consultancy and tax advisory services to reputable clients world over. Grant Thornton is a member of Grant Thornton International which is operating in more than 100 countries.

My role, even in Coopers & Lybrand, I did belong to a number of international firms’ committees which made me travel a lot. So we have done quite a lot of work in the country and beyond and many clients know the firm and they know Hakainde.

Q: When your name first came up as Mr Mazoka’s preferred successor, some people said you were a managing partner in Grant Thornton while others said you were the owner...What is your status in Grant Thornton, on that score?

A: Basically, as I said, I played a role of chief executive in the firm. My role was basically to provide strategic direction as I worked with my colleagues to achieve synergy.

Now your question as to what my role is...The way the firm is structured is that I am one of the shareholders, equity holders in the company. It’s a group of us. Coopers and Grant Thornton is one of the most diversified partnerships. We have partners from Zambia, Europe and Asia.

Q: With this position you have taken to go into active politics, where does that leave you in as far as your position at Grant Thornton is concerned?

A: The way our firm is structured is that you are only there if you are active in the business. So when you decide to do other things like what I have decided, I have taken early retirement from the firm.

Q: I am told that you have served on a number of boards of various institutions and that currently you are the board chairman for Barclays Bank Zambia...

A: Amos, I have been very fortunate...because of my activities in the corporate world and the type of work I do, I come in contact with lots of businesses and people. As a result, during that interaction, some people think I can offer some value on the corporate side so I serve on a number of boards. If we count, they will come to somewhere around twenty. And I chair a number of these including Sun International, Greenbelt Fertilisers Ltd, Media Trust Fund, Export Development Programme, I am a director of Zambia Investment Board, Seedco Zambia, African Financial Services Limited, Zambezi Nickel or Bermuda Limited based in Bermuda, West Lake Investments - a company based in Mauritius, I am a board member of Zambia Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Zambia Business Forum. I also serve on seven other boards, the list is long, we can save time.

Q: With your decision to enter politics, does it follow then that you will cease to be member or chair of these various boards?

A: In many cases, it will depend. I will either retire in some cases, which is not a worry to me, but in some cases I have some personal investments in them so it will depend.

Q: In which companies do you have personal interest?

A: There are a few like...maybe I should not mention them so that I do not get them victimised. You know in our political set up, businesses get victimised. I am a victim of such issues so I will protect them, I won’t mention them. But I am shareholder in some of these companies and we will see what happens after the election. If I get elected, I will probably leave almost all of them. If I don’t get elected, I will return to my corporate life.

Q: Apart from Grant Thornton, what other businesses do you run?

A: I said some of these companies I mentioned, I have investments in them. We run private farming, we are ranchers; we have a couple of ranches in Chisamba, Choma, Kalomo and many people know our ranches. I am a cattle rancher.

Q: What are the names of those ranches?

A: Because we try to live a private a life, that’s why many people are asking such questions. My ranches are just called HH Farms [Hakainde Hichilema Farms], there are no names and you will not find a poster on a number of them. But they are quite reasonably well run and many of our friends know them.

Q: I am told you also have some shares in Coin Security which company is now called Mint Master...

A: Yes, you drive me into it now. I tried to avoid that because of the victimisation I talked about. And this is one of the things I would like us to change as a country.

Q: What sort of victimisation are you talking about?

A: Basically, what happens is that many politicians who have come before us in government tend to be vindictive. They don’t want those businesses where other people who may have friends in other political parties or opposition so to say, they tend not to give businesses to those companies despite the fact that these businesses employ a lot of Zambians and pay tax.

Q: I am also told that you had shares in Mint Master together with the late Anderson Mazoka, among others...

A: Amos, I knew Mr. Mazoka since I was a child although there was a big age difference between us, almost twenty years. Yes, we did some businesses together with Mr. Mazoka and that’s one of them. There are several others but I will ask you to excuse me so that I don’t mention these other companies.

Q: Before we proceed to talk about the politics, tell me about your family. Who is your wife and children?

A: Amos, thank you for asking the family question. I am a family man. I have more or less broken the family rule, I come from a large extended family but I am married to a dear lady, a lady I love so much called Mutinta Hichilema. We married in 1988, two years after I graduated from UNZA. I was in a hurry. Like I said to you, I have sort of done things fairly quickly. A lot of my age group would be doing different things but I will try and move on.

Q: Why were you in a hurry to marry?

A: It’s my nature. I wanted to settle down quickly and settle down on the job. So I thought family was a stabilising factor. As I travelled a lot, I needed a family to come back home to. And I am very fortunate to have found this lady.

We have lived happily ever since and we have three children - a daughter called Miyanda who is twelve years old, we have a son Habwela who is nine years old and we have another son Chikonka who is six years old. The girl and the boy are out in boarding school. Chikonka is the only one with us at home. Miyanda is at Banani Secondary School somewhere near Kabwe and Habwela is at Bwengu in Monze.

Q: Did you meet your wife at the university?

A: Not at all! I met her in Lusaka. Incidentally, she used to work for Barclays Bank. We met during one of these travels in Lusaka and I started tracking her down until she agreed to my proposal.

Q: What’s her profession?

A: She is an office manager.

Q: Is it by design that you have only one wife despite the fact that you are Tonga or there is still time for...?

A: No, Amos, one of the things that my wife and I are pleased about is that we have decided that one husband and one wife is enough for either of us. As I said, we come from a polygamous family life situation. We look after each other but I think it is important to stick to one partner. You cannot love two people the same way. I am strong believer in that. So Mutinta is sufficient for me and I don’t have to have another. I actually advise others to keep to one partner.

Q: Aren’t you breaking the Tonga tradition?

A: Slowly, it will break down and I would like to take a leadership in that. You are aware of the HIV situation. But even without HIV situation, Amos, you can’t look after more than one wife equally. That’s where inequities start in society.

Q: And getting to politics; you have declared an intention to succeed the late Mr Mazoka as UPND president and this decision has raised a lot of debate both in UPND and the country in general. Many people are asking who this Hakainde is, where is he from and what is his political background?

But maybe before you deal with these questions, could you just give me your background with Mr Mazoka. When and how did you know Mr Mazoka?

A: As I told you earlier, I knew Mr Mazoka’s name from childhood because we used to hear about the great things he used to do in the corporate world in those days. Later on, we came to meet physically in town. Some people introduced the two of us; not that I didn’t know him before but these people wanted us to know each other better because as individuals they thought we would benefit from getting closer.

And I thought it was good for us to get together because I had heard about Mr Mazoka.

Q: Which year was this?

A: This must have been in the late 1980s or early 1990s, long before Mr Mazoka decided to become a politician. Obviously, we shared a lot together - business understanding, the vision for this country in terms of development and we ended up having joint investment in one or two businesses.

And when Mr Mazoka decided to join politics, we agreed that I would remain behind in business - that he would take the front seat and I will take the back seat. And that is how we worked so the issue of being a stranger [in UPND] does not arise, we take most of the strategic measures in UPND.

You know that Mr Mazoka initially was in MMD but they hounded him out. He stood as party treasurer in Bauleni and won the elections but the elections were nullified. Eventually, he moved out of the MMD and many of us encouraged him to move on.

Q: In short, you have been a UPND member from inception?

A: You can say so.

Q: Maybe let me rephrase the question, are you a UPND card carrying member or you are just a sympathiser?

A: I am a UPND card-carrying member.

Q: From inception?

A: I can’t remember the exact date when I bought the card, the card is somewhere. But I bought the card from the early days of UPND and many of the colleagues in UPND are aware of that because we worked with them on the strategy side, the vision for the country, development - economic and social, we worked together on other forms of support to UPND.

And I must tell you, Amos, that I got a bit of victimisation from government for doing that over the years.

Q: Was that the reason you chose to remain in the background?

A: Not at all, because at any one point there are have to be people...If you look at a bus carrying twenty passengers, you can’t all sit in the front seat. Some people will take the front seat, some people will take the back seat while others will be in the middle and the bus will be moving at the same speed and the fact is that all the people in the bus are moving at the same speed. In any job, there are players playing different roles in order to get the job done. So I was just playing a different role.

Q: Wasn’t your stay in the background a sign of cowardice? Is it that you foresaw victimisation from the government and so you chose to be in the background?

A: Amos, when you look at me do I look like a coward? Not at all! It was not a sign of cowardice. As I said, I was already victimised anyway. But I continued my support to UPND because I believed in the development vision of UPND.

The issue with me, Amos, is that I am a friend of many people - people in government, people in opposition. But with regard to the development vision, I shared that with UPND. So cowardice is not an issue. Many of the people who would call me a coward know that we work together and people in power have always known this; I think up to the highest level.

So there is nothing to be afraid about. Nobody has broken the law, we have a democratic country and the Constitution allows for that. People should not be afraid. If I were afraid, I would not be able to do what I am trying to do now.

Q: I have heard some people say that you were not a UPND supporter per se but a Mazoka supporter because you thought that Mazoka would be president of Zambia and thereafter he would pay you back your investment in UPND when he was in power...

A: That cannot be right, Amos, because Mr Mazoka was not the owner of UPND. He was one of the critical members of UPND, a very respected dignified Zambian, one of the best individuals this country will ever produce. And I think the country owes Mr Mazoka that dignity.

But having said that, he worked with a team. Some of the team members know me; some may pretend not to know me. I think it is just a question of a competitive process going on now. I believe in the UPND manifesto. It is the best. Just look at it. The MMD have tried to copy it but they can’t implement as it was envisaged by the UPND.

I am not an opportunist. I have been offered several jobs in different places. You didn’t even ask me earlier, I went to study in the United Kingdom, to do a master of business in finance and business strategy. I am a trained business negotiator, I am a qualified change management practitioner. So I had many offers out there but I wanted to be home.

Q: When did you go to the UK to read for your MBA?

A: In the early 1990s and came back after the elections in 1991. I was at the Birmingham Business School at the University of Birmingham; it’s a very good business school which is very well known.

But the point I was making, Amos, if I may return to your question, is that I am not an opportunist. Ask people who know me in the business community, ask people in rural areas because I told you that I was born in the village so I am a villager.

If I was investing so I can get a pay back, when UPND was denied election victory in 2001 I would have left, I would have stopped supporting them. But I continued, I even did more against the advice of many people that doing that will make my businesses suffer.

Q: If you were to quantify your contribution to UPND, how much money are we talking about? Is the figure in hundreds of millions of kwacha or billions?

A: Someone [Sakwiba Sikota] has told you that I am just one of the many supporters of the UPND.

Q: I am asking about your personal contribution, is it in hundreds of millions or billions?

A: I wouldn’t quantify that. I wouldn’t want to count because I did help as and when there was need to help. Many other people helped. But I wouldn’t get a calculator and start calculating. It’s like someone asking you how many times you go shopping; you don’t count those times because it is a necessity. For me supporting UPND was a necessity because of its vision for the country. So counting pennies here and there is not my character.

When I am committed to something, Amos, watch the pace. I take time to decide but when I decide, I am very committed to the cause, like the cause I have decided to commit myself to.

Q: Have you always been political?

A: Every human being is political by nature.

Q: I am talking about active party politics...

A: Active politics in the sense of running for office, no. But in the sense of getting involved as we have discussed, yes.

Q: Usually, people get interested in politics when they are in the university or college. At what stage or when did you develop the interest for politics?

A: I have always been active in the sense that we were quite active students when we were at campus. We were very pro-progress.

Q: But someone told me that you were much more on the reserved side of things at campus...

A: Largely people see me as quiet especially those who don’t have a close relationship with me because I tend to look at what is going on, observe and help out without wanting to be given credit. That’s my nature. But you find me in a boardroom situation, ask my colleagues, they will tell you a different situation. I am quite active.

Q: How would you describe yourself, are you an introvert or extrovert?

A: You just have to look at the list of my friends. I have a lot of friends all over the country and the world over. I have friends in the business community, among the donors, in government and literally everywhere. And you will be amazed at the number of emails and phone calls I have received from the time I made this decision, encouraging me to go ahead because they know I can make a difference.

Q: As you sat in the UPND’s back seat, did you ever think that one day you would take the leadership of the party or play an active role in the front seat?

A: I didn’t plan to take the position I have agreed to run for at the moment. But if you mean well to work with colleagues, they decide that you can play a role bigger than what you offer yourself for. That’s what I know about leadership. Let the people be the ones that decide that you can play a leadership role. This is what has happened.

I am sure you have been observing at The Post that when the request came for me to take up the challenge, I basically ignored it. The pressure built up and developed a life of its own until I gave in to that pressure.

Q: To the best of your knowledge, where did this request come from?

A: Amos, I think let’s talk about it because it is important. A lot of people say the request came from Southern Province only. That’s incorrect. It’s only that people from Southern Province were mourning and angry and they talked about it first and talked about it openly.

But the request came from all over - the party members and people from all walks of like, the business community and my fellow village people. By the way, I do a lot of community work. Over the last fifteen years, we have done schools, clinics, deep tanks and we assist a lot in the areas where we have farms. I pay school fees for children numbering fifty who are not mine.

Q: Why is it that this pressure was heaped on you who has always been in the background and not Sakwiba Sikota who is the vice-president and now acting as party president? I am asking this because it was much more expected to look at Saki as Mr Mazoka’s natural successor considering the fact that he is vice-president...

A: It’s quite a tricky question but I like answering questions. I don’t like dodging them. I can only imagine that it is what people saw in me. If people thought that I would come in and destroy the party, they wouldn’t have asked for me. If they thought that I would fail them, I think that they wouldn’t have asked for me. They asked for me because they knew that I would contribute towards advancing the party’s vision, economic development and social agenda for Zambia through UPND and UDA. And I would like people to understand that it’s a more fair position to take up a role when people want you to do it.

Q: From what many people are saying, I get the impression that you were settled for, for two reasons - your wealth and the tribe, being Tonga. What’s your comment on that?

A: Amos, you saw my comment in your paper the other day that I do not subscribe to that. This country needs quality leadership, an inclusive leadership, a leadership that would bring the country together and not polarise the country.

Q: But those Tongas who proposed your name from Southern Province categorically said that Mr Mazoka should be succeeded by a Tonga. Some even suggested that they needed someone with resources to run the party and you seem to meet these two requirements in the sense that you are a Tonga who is considered to be very wealthy.

A: I wouldn’t consider myself to be very wealthy. I would consider myself as one who is willing to help...

Q: So how rich are you?

A: Do you think a Tonga man, as you call me, will tell you how rich he is? Tongas are basically humble and they will not tell you things like that. In our culture, you never talk about how rich you are, let people say what they see.

Q: So what do people see of you?

A: Amos, I pay school fees for many children including those who are not mine. We help out in the community because our culture encourages us to share even in a large family. UPND is a large family, UDA is a large family, Zambia is a large family but nobody would anchor a large family like Zambia on his personal resources. It is the efforts of all members and citizens in supporting a good cause.

But I have to answer your Tonga question because I would really love to answer that.

Q: Before you do, it is said among some UPND people that Mazoka’s successor should have resources and not just have resources but also be generous with those resources. From what I have heard so far, you seem to me to be a generous person. Is that one of the reasons that has qualified you to contest the UPND presidency?

A: Generosity is how we were brought up; it’s a cultural aspect. You can’t train yourself to be generous, it’s in your blood because you feel for other human beings. Personal wealth should not drag the decision to lead a country of this magnitude.

I think it is the qualitative aspect that matters. How many wealthy people, if you call me wealthy, have not been called upon to lead UPND? Many people who are wealthier than me have not been asked to take up the UPND leadership. I suspect the pendulum swings more to the quality, the service and the humane feelings that one has.

And talking about merit, you have seen what I have been doing in my small way. You have got my CV. When you look at companies I have associated with, I suspect that question is answered. Talk to people who know me in the business community, donors and many others who will tell you who Hakainde is. Even people in the ruling party will tell you who I am.

Talk to my workers here. I have a couple of workers who I have kept for many years and I have a policy that someone who works for me for a couple of years, I assist them to build a house. Three of these workers you see here I have built houses for them in the localities they live around Lusaka. One is in Bauleni the other is in Kalikiliki while the other one is in Kanyama. That’s me. But I will leave it to the people to judge if I am a quality man.

Q: Could you now address the Tonga issue?

A: Amos, how wrong can one be to label me a Tonga. You remember that Andy Mazoka was given that Tonga label for many years. When he died, the very people who labelled him Tonga were passing accolades about him. Andy was not tribal, he was a quality person. People would want to pass the same tag to me in order to reduce my chances in providing a service to Zambians. They know I am not tribal. Two of my close personal lawyers do not come from Southern Province - one comes from Northern and the other comes from Western. I won’t mention their names in case they are victimised.

Q: But someone told me that even at campus, you were only in the company of Tonga friends - friends like Muna Hantuba, Irvin Zyuulu, Dinde Simacheche, Arnold Shilimi and someone called Austin...

A: How wrong could that be in the sense that I have just told you about my personal lawyers who I knew from the university, they were friends of mine. I am sure, someone who gave you that information just wanted to continue with this tribal tag which is a non-issue.

I can mention my lawyer’s name, short of embarrassing him. Michael Musonda, the former LAZ president is my lawyer and friend who I knew from campus. I can mention many more - Mr Mukande, Charles Kakoma who happens to be a UPND member of parliament is a school-mate. If you talk of close friends Valentine Chitalu is my close friend, Elias Chipimo. People even accuse us of a Bemba-Tonga arrangement. I have friends from all provinces and I don’t want to embarrass them by mentioning their names because the system seems to be vicious.

Q: Some people in UPND feel that you have not come out strongly in condemning people who are pushing this Tonga tribal issue...

A: We can continue with that tag. And if it denies someone from Southern Province the opportunity to serve the country because God chose that I be born in Southern Province, don’t you think that will be a tragedy irrespective of the quality that I may offer? This is what I want to change. I have come on the political scene to unify the country, to be inclusive and take out the polarisation, the stigma. We should be proud to be who we are. There should be unity in diversity.

Q: How do you rate your chances against Sakwiba Sikota?

A: We will see, the voters will say it. I am one who wants to work and work on what has to be done. The voters will have the last laugh.

And for me, I would like to keep the party unity - unity in UPND, unity in UDA. I also want us to unify other opposition groups so that we can generally have a party in power and an alternative government. If I had my way, I would just have two or three political parties because then people will focus on development issues, not to jump from one party to another.

Q: How is your relationship with Mr Sikota?

A: Saki is a friend, I would like to consider him as such. I have nothing personal against him. We worked over the years together, he knows that and I know that. There has not been an issue, really. I think after we are through with this process...

If I had my way, not that I don’t want an election, but I think we would have sat down and talked through it. I have made several efforts to talk to him but I think he has been busy running the campaign.

Q: I hear that you invited him for a meeting so you could interest him to continue with his position of vice-president as you go for the top-most position...

A: No, Amos. What I wanted from him is just to discuss how we could keep the party unity as we compete in the process. Whoever wins, if he takes over a cracked party, what value would it be? It will be of no value to both UDA and the country. We should ensure that we keep party unity to provide a platform for advancing the economic and social agenda of the country.

If you ask me why I am doing this, I will say I want to bring permanent change to our economic scenario, a change that will deliver jobs, business opportunities. I want us to have a government that will promote business, investment so that investment can produce a cycle of investment, job creation, savings and tax income to government. That’s the cycle we are missing. We need to embark on a process that delivers value to our people in health, education, clean water supply and all those social sectors. Mind you, all this must be funded by business. If business is weak, we cannot have a strong social sector. But people don’t understand this.

Q: Assuming that you succeed in becoming UPND president and you consequently take the leadership of UDA, automatically you will have to stand against President Mwanawasa. If we came to that, how do you rate your chances?

A: Very bright. But again, the masters are the Zambian people, the voters. Our chances are bright, Amos, not out of deceit but based on the economic agenda. We should not go into politics to steal from taxpayers. We should go into politics to serve the people of Zambia.

Q: As leader of UPND or UDA, do you think it will be easy for you to dislodge President Mwanawasa from office?

A: Amos, I am youthful, I have the energy. I have many Zambians who, from the time I came on the scene, have begun to see a new breed of politicians. You want to call me a politician? I am actually not a politician. I am one who wants better life for Zambians. It only so happens that in order to accelerate this, you have to have political office.

Q: Assuming you ascend to the helm of UPND, how easily acceptable do you think you will be to the leaders and members in UDA?

A: I think the UDA memorandum of understanding is very clear; parties will agree by consensus. If all of us in UDA are focussed on getting the best man for the job, one who will appeal to and excite voters, I think collectively we will make the right decision. If we are not focussed on personal interest and personal desire to be the president...If you look at me, I don’t have the desire to be president for the sake of it. I want to take the role to do what I believe Zambians want. If we share that common understanding in UDA, it will be quite amicable to settle on the right person.

Q: But some people in UDA have expressed reservation that looking at the time remaining before elections, it will be difficult to sell names like yours to the electorate because you are not known, you have just sprung up from nowhere...

A: Amos, there is no springing up from nowhere. You are in the newspaper business; check what people from the Copperbelt are saying, check what people from different parts of the country are saying about this fellow. Remember something, when Dr Kenneth Kaunda took the presidency he w

Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, PROFILE

posted by MrK @ 5:39 PM