Africa-Press – Zambia. It is unbelievable that Mr Hakainde Hichilema is claiming credit for the construction of the Kazungula bridge! Here is what Mr Hichilema recently told a conference of judges in Livingstone: “We could have bought a lot of school desks for the kids. We could have also invested in one or two border posts. As Kazungula border post is now delivering value. I hope the Kazungula Council Chairperson is here and MP is here. We spent around 240 million dollars on that bridge, that’s across the river, 900 metres of the bridge, 900 metres, close to a kilometre. And before we spent that money on that bridge Chief Justice, the revenue we were getting around there was very little. Since we invested in that bridge, we are now earning so much money, including now being able to get the pay back from that money within two to three years, complete payback. This government wants to invest money prudently and not waste it in certain areas of expenditure. We expect and we know we have the support of the judiciary.”
This is pulling the string a tad-bit out of control. It’s overstretching it. Mr Hichilema and his UPND government had nothing to do with the construction of the Kazungula bridge. It was conceived and constructed under the previous governments.
Mr Hichilema is lying and claiming credit that is not due to him. But what is propelling Mr Hichilema to tell such blatant lies and claim credit that is not due to him? Our simple and only explanation is that this may be a very serious case of narcissism.
A healthy – even sometimes inflated – sense of self can be a good thing. In fact, some researchers believe that those who have somewhat grandiose views of themselves are mentally tougher, less stressed, and less at risk of depression.
However, narcissism exists on a spectrum. On one side, it’s craving the occasional compliment, on its darkest side, it can creep into pathological territory.
The hallmark signs of narcissistic personality disorder read like a laundry list of what NOT to look for in a significant other; an inflated sense of self-importance, a lack of empathy for others, and a deep need for constant attention or admiration.
While someone with narcissistic personality disorder’s self-esteem can be off the charts, ironically, it can also be super fragile, dependent on external validation, or self-deception. They’ll believe grandiose fantasies about themselves, i.e. that they’re smarter and more successful than everyone they know, easily put other people down, and generally hijack any situation to make themselves feel better or superior. Feeling “less than perfect” is very uncomfortable for a narcissist, and they’ll protect themselves from it at all costs.
The real problem with a narcissistic personality disorder is that the individual lacks good insight into what’s going on. They think that the problem is all about everyone else, not them.
Amilcar Cabral told us: “Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories.”
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