PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema marked International Women’s Day by commending the nation’s peaceful political environment which he notes is encouraging women participation.
Speaking during the Women’s Day celebrations themed: “investing in women and girls, accelerate progress,” President Hichilema stated in Livingstone yesterday that two years prior, politics was so violent that only few women contended for elective positions.
The President stressed the significance of a peaceful democracy that embraces diverse viewpoints and advocated for sustained civility to bolster women’s engagement in politics.
“You can see the calmness around here. This is the way it should be and it must remain like this forever and never return to the ugly days of the past where fights would have started by now whenever the opposition had come to a function like this,” said President Hichilema.
The Head of State’s words captured the importance of having a constitutional democracy stating that there will always be the opposition.
He encouraged the United Party for National Development (UPND) to accommodate their colleagues in the opposition as they were all one people.
“Last week we had by-elections, five of them, many of you didn’t even know there were by elections across the country. Why didn’t you know?”
“Because there was no tear gas, there were no bullets, there was no blood. That is the environment we want to promote to bring more women in elective positions and…in decision making,” stated President Hichilema.
He called for unity in keeping politics civil.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, March 9, 2024
