ZAMBIA is a sovereign State with its own rules and laws governing internal and external matters, including international relations. One of the principles of the country is not to interfere in the internal affairs of another country unless with the ultimate resolution of the United Nations or at the invitation of such a sovereign state – that is abiding by the international law, which governs international relations. In the same vein, Zambia has embraced the tenets of democracy which govern the process of elections by people’s right to choose leaders of their own choice through the ballot box without undue interference from any corner of the globe. Just like America where the American people have, once again, the chance to elect this year, into office, leaders (whether Trump’s Republicans or Clinton’s Democrats) of their choice, we expect no single person, who is not American, to interfere in the electoral process of that huge country, no matter how flawed, like was the case in 2000, the process may be. It is an American business. We guess if the American government or any other government would take lightly pronouncements or insinuations by any diplomat accredited to such countries to urge the people to vote out the party in power in preference for the opposition party. We are sure that that diplomat would be deported home before he/she finishes uttering the words. It is, however, surprising how the diplomats accredited to Zambia enjoy so much freedom as to even behave like politicians themselves. The freedom of movement, speech and association accorded to these foreign diplomats are sometimes abused, to say the least. We are greatly concerned about the activities of some foreign diplomats who are grossly abrogating their duties by interfering in the affairs of a sovereign State that Zambia is. We urge President Edgar Lungu and the Patriotic Front (PF) Government to nip these subversive acts in the bud. By this we mean the ill-intentioned clandestine meetings by some Western diplomats who are nudging Zambian voters towards voting for an opposition leader in a series of clandestine meetings and well-measured statements. These ill-intentioned envoys should be reminded, for the umpteenth time, that the main job of a diplomat is to promote peace and sovereignty of the host State. The term ‘Diplomat’ comes from Diplomacy, a terminology coined after the Second World War to use peace to resolve international conflicts rather than war, as was propagated by the Realism theorists who saw power as a measure of supremacy and control. So a diplomat is a carrier or messenger of peace rather than an instigator of anarchy. Although we are not against the recent meeting of the 15 diplomats on Saturday with the opposition leader, Hakainde Hichilema, at his residence in Lusaka, and the subsequent pronouncements, which included wishing him good luck in the August 11 elections, we are concerned that some diplomats are crossing their diplomatic parameters fomenting chaos. As Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba has noted, the mere hosting of 15 diplomats accredited to Zambia by Mr Hichilema at the weekend is an indication that the country’s democracy is strong and mature. In fact, the diplomats have freedom to visit anyone, including the most abhorred homosexuals (and even terrorists as is the case in Syria), but what is not acceptable is for them to try to influence the perception of local people towards issues or people or groups that meet their own selfish aspirations and plunge the country into chaos. For example, we know of some diplomats who are using this platform to dictate to us who should lead this country, a pronouncement that abrogates diplomatic etiquette. Why, for instance, should a diplomat threaten of IMF squeeze on Zambia if people do not vote into power a person of their “choice” or, in his words, if the ruling party (PF) rigs the elections? This is sending a wrong signal to peace-loving Zambians that the ruling party can only win elections by rigging. God forbid! We are reminding the authorities in Zambia to study the Arab Spring, which refers to the Western orchestrated ‘democratic’ uprisings that arose and spread across the Arab world in 2011. The movement originated in Tunisia in December 2010 and quickly took hold in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. We can see some parallels in the infamous Arab Spring and what Western diplomats are doing clandestinely by choosing the opposition leader(s) and imposing him (them) on Zambians, which we feel is worse than treason. Whatever the Government’s position is, we feel some meetings are highly malicious and dangerous since they cross diplomatic expectations. The diplomats should respect the sovereignty of Zambia and understand that President Lungu was democratically voted by Zambians in free and fair elections. If the Western countries are not confident of President Lungu turning the economy around, is it their right to choose another political leader to replace him? The implication is that should any opposition leader take over, there would be increased foreign direct investment (FDI) resulting in the Kwacha strengthening. We should understand the hand the Western world played in propping the Second Republican president Frederick Chiluba to power and the consequences Zambia is still reaping long after the second Republican president died. Across the border, we should also learn how the West allegedly killed Patrice Lumumba and propped up Mobutu Sese Seko, who seized power in a 1965 coup and formed one of the continent’s archetypal one-party states, tolerating no dissent and encouraging a strong personality cult. In 2012, Zambia’s newly-elected President Michael Sata branded Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai ‘as a Western stooge’. Political aides to Tsvangirai reacted with fury to Mr Sata’s disparaging remarks about the MDC leader, in his interview with the UK’s Telegraph newspaper. In the interview published by the paper, Mr Sata indicated that he would not block Robert Mugabe’s push to abandon the unity government. In the same article, Mr Sata dismissed Tsvangirai as a ‘stooge’, and described calls for security, electoral and constitutional reforms in Zimbabwe as ‘unnecessary.’ The Western world has been busy deciding who should rule a particular African country and who should be removed. The criteria they use are usually economical. If a leader refuses to toe their line, then he is in for a rude shock of being kicked out of power. Recent events in Ivory Coast have all the markings of Western interference. Laurent Gbagbo was removed from power and replaced with Alassane Ouattara. Quattara, a Western stooge, recently won a second term with the help from abroad. Since we have enjoyed peace for many years, we don’t want this to happen in Zambia if the Western diplomats who are nudging Zambian voters towards change in a series of meetings and well-measured statements are not stopped NOW! We say to our colleagues (diplomats), be free to speak, associate and move in our peaceful country but, please, leave the affairs of Zambia, especially elections, to Zambians. Zambians are mature enough to know what is good for them. After all, Zambia has proved to be really democratic as has been demonstrated by the freedom of associations you diplomats enjoy in this country.