I have never said that “some Bemba people suspected of being Congolese should be stripped of their Zambian nationality” – MARK SIMUUWE

FABRICATED TRIBAL STATEMENTS ARE RECKLESS AND DANGEROUS I wish to categorically dismiss as false and malicious the statement circulating on social media purporting to quote me as saying that “some Bemba people suspected of being Congolese should be stripped of their Zambian nationality” and that it is “time to clean the country.” I have never […]

FABRICATED TRIBAL STATEMENTS ARE RECKLESS AND DANGEROUS

I wish to categorically dismiss as false and malicious the statement circulating on social media purporting to quote me as saying that “some Bemba people suspected of being Congolese should be stripped of their Zambian nationality” and that it is “time to clean the country.” I have never made such a statement. Those words are not mine, and anyone attributing them to me is deliberately manufacturing a tribal narrative where none exists.

It is particularly unfortunate that some elements appear increasingly prepared to manufacture inflammatory statements simply to score political points. There is a difference between legitimate political disagreement and deliberately placing dangerous words into another person’s mouth. Zambia’s peace and unity are far too important to be sacrificed at the altar of political desperation.

For the avoidance of doubt, the questions surrounding any individual’s citizenship or immigration status are matters of law and evidence, not tribe. No tribe in Zambia should ever be associated with foreignness, collective suspicion or unequal citizenship. The law does not ask whether one is Bemba, Tonga, Lozi, Ngoni, Kaonde, Lunda or any other tribe before it applies. Attempts to twist legitimate questions of immigration and documentation into an attack on an ethnic community are dishonest and deeply irresponsible.

Those creating and circulating such fabrications must understand the consequences of what they are doing. Tribal hatred is not political strategy. Division is not opposition. Deliberately manufacturing statements capable of setting Zambians against one another does nothing to strengthen our democracy. It merely poisons public discourse and threatens the unity generations of Zambians have worked to preserve.

I therefore challenge those circulating this statement to produce the interview, recording, speech or original publication in which I supposedly uttered these words. They will not, because it does not exist. Political actors and media platforms alike have a responsibility to verify inflammatory claims before amplifying them, particularly where ethnicity and nationality are concerned.

Zambia belongs equally to all its citizens. We can disagree vigorously on politics without inventing tribal enemies or manufacturing hatred among our people. Our politics must never become so desperate that lies are allowed to threaten the peace and unity of our country. One Zambia, One Nation must remain more than a slogan. It must remain the line we refuse to cross.

MARK SIMUUWE
MEDIA DIRECTOR
UNITED PARTY FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (UPND)