Father Frank Bwalya On RB

THE Alliance for a Better Zambia opposition leader Fr. Frank Bwalya is reported to have posted the following message on his facebook account:

"At BY’s funeral I met RB for the first time at close range. I greeted him and when I realized that he was wondering who I was, I mentioned my name. He quickly got to his feet and hugged me. I felt appreciated. I felt forgiven for some of the rough things I said about him during the run up to the 2011 tripartite elections.

"I said to myself, 'This is indeed a statesman' Then he said to me that he was following the good work I was doing. I felt good. I know that many members of MMD appreciate what I have done, disengaging from PF and criticizing them in the same way I did to MMD, maybe even more. RB made my day yesterday. He struck me as a good man not to mention many MMD members that showed me a lot of love. This is the Zambia I love."

I would like Fr Frank Bwalya to be frank with the nation and tell us what criteria he uses to measure statesmanship?

According to Wikipedia, "a statesman is usually a politician, diplomat or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level."

Can RB be said to have a respected political career? Isn't this the same RB who just a month ago said he has instructed his fugitive son Henry never to return to Zambia because the government will torture him? Does that sound like a man worth being referred to as a statesman?

What kind of statesman protects his son from facing justice?

Is this not the same RB who earlier this year through his international lawyer Robert Amsterdam organized a press conference in Rosebank, South Africa, for UPND, MMD and ULP leaders, where the opposition heads called for Zambia to be suspended from the Commonwealth among other demands?

Both RB's personal character and political career is on record for everyone to see and Fr Bwalya can't tell us that he now knows RB's true character in the few minutes the two shared at the funeral of the late opposition leader Ben Yoram Mwila (MHSRIP).

If RB was a statesman he would have shown that during his reign. But RB's presidency was characterized with arrogance, corruption, impunity, political brutality not to mention vulgarity.

If RB was a true statesman it wouldn't have taken a funeral for him to meet Fr Bwalya. For someone who claims to be following the supposed "good works" Fr Bwalya is doing, how come RB has never bothered to get in touch with the Catholic priest and encourage him on his work?

Moreover, if RB was indeed a statesman he would have invited Fr Bwalya to State House the moment the clergyman stormed the political scene with the Red Card Campaign.

RB has only sobered up because he no longer has the power that made him so drunk to the point of blasting and antagonizing diplomats accredited to Zambia.

RB may seem like a statesman in Fr Frank Bwalya's eyes, but frankly speaking  this is because the two are now on the same page.

RB will align himself with anyone fighting the government of the day. Birds of a feather never shy away from flocking together.