By 
Paramount Chief Chitimukulu has called for diplomacy and prayer in addressing the country’s political tensions, saying he would not be drawn into political disputes despite criticism on social media over his silence on the arrest of opposition leaders.
Speaking during the unveiling of the Crocodile Plague in Kasama on Wednesday, the traditional leader said he had been subjected to insults by some young people from his kingdom because he had chosen not to publicly comment on political developments following the Aug. 13 general election.
“There are some young people from my Kingdom who go on social media to insult me because I have chosen not to involve myself in political fights, I am an elderly person and I deserve respect,” he said.
The Chitimukulu said he had always believed in resolving national matters through diplomacy and would continue to follow what he described as three principles: silence, prayer and diplomacy.
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“I have three principles; prayer, silence and diplomacy in resolving any impasse. If I take you to the book of Esther, it was prayer that spared the children of Israel who were about to be slaughtered in captivity,” he said.
He urged Zambians to pray for the country to emerge from what he described as a difficult phase.
The traditional leader said those criticising him should not expect him, given his age and position, to publicly disclose his diplomatic engagements with President Hakainde Hichilema.
His comments come amid heightened political tensions following the Aug. 13 election, after which opposition figures including Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu were detained and later charged with treason and sedition. Police formally charged the two with seditious practices on Sept. 11.
The arrests followed a security operation at a property linked to Mundubile in Lusaka, during which former cabinet minister Mutotwe Kafwaya was killed. The authorities and opposition have given differing accounts of the events surrounding the operation.
The Chitimukulu’s remarks mark his first reported public comments on the criticism directed at him over his decision not to publicly condemn the arrests and the death of Kafwaya.
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