The Alliance has since stood by their Secretary General, Raphael Nakachinda, amid claims that he uttered tribal remarks disparaging the people of Southern Province.
The Alliance has further taken exception to remarks attributed to Government Chief Spokesperson, Cornelius Mweetwa, cautioning Nakachinda over the alleged tribal utterances.
During a campaign trail ahead of Thursday’s Petauke Central Parliamentary By-election, Nakachinda stated that the people of Southern Province are intolerant of other political parties other than the United Party for National Development (UPND). 
Alliance Spokesperson, Sean Tembo, noted in a statement availed to Byta FM News that Nakachinda’s observation is not tribal, rather a statement of fact.
Tembo illustrated that out of Zambia’s 10 provinces, Southern Province is the only one with only one political party occupying all electable positions.
He said all Members of Parliament, Mayors, Council Chairpersons and Councillors serving in Southern are from the ruling UPND headed by President Hakainde Hichilema who hails from the same region.
Tembo stated that Nakachinda’s statement pointing at the intolerance other political parties face in Southern Province should be an opportunity for the ruling party to preach diversity and tolerance in their stronghold.
He added that accusing Nakachinda of hate speech does not meet the benchmark in Section 65 of the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act Number 2 of 2021.
Tembo highlighted that the stated law defines hate speech as expressing ridicule or hatred by a person of one group to a person or persons of another group.
He argued that Nakachinda’s statement issued in Petauke does not qualify as hate speech, noting that the person who made the remark hails from the same region he referred to.
Tembo also said Nakachinda’s statement did not contain ridicule or hatred towards the people of Southern Province as he merely highlighted existing facts.
