The co-hosting of the summit in Zambia has been praised by Nevers Mumba, head of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD), who claims that the discussion and debate on democracy are long overdue.
Yet, he has cautioned the west against using democracy as a means of imposing ideas that go against the traditions of the nation.
Since then, Dr. Mumba has urged the west to uphold the nation’s cultural, religious, Christian, and social values.
The politician, who is also a former vice president, stated on the margins of the summit that there is a lot of business with the west to support growth and that extraneous agendas shouldn’t get in the way of that business.
“We think the discussion and debate on democracy is long overdue. Africa is ready to take on this debate. What we are against is interference from the western world or anywhere. We do not want democracy to be used as a pipeline to impose certain values. If this continues, there will be a huge divorce from the pipeline,” he said.
Dr Mumba said a strong partnership with the western world will continue but that they should respect the country’s cultural values.
“We have a lot of business of Democracy and we remain committed, but we do not want anything to come in between that,” he said.
