The Editor:
I am a very proud and patriotic Zambian. In the last election, I voted for Edgar Chagwa Lungu for president with much struggle. This was largely for two reasons.
First, although Hakainde Hichilema and the people around him were the better option by a mile in terms of capacity to manage the economy, I was nervous by his lack of public and robust denunciation of the ‘It is our time to rule’ Tonga sentiment espoused by many in his camp, including such key political figures as Daniel Munkombwe and the Vernon Mwaanga.
Second, was the claim by ECL that he only wanted to complete Sata’s agenda and vision, not start a new one. Sata held a lot of promise for this country for many and had the right humility in his role and towards the citizens. To be sure, ECL’s extremely manipulative and arrogant behaviour en route to his adoption as candidate for PF was very disturbing, especially towards the Acting President Guy Scott. However, the fear of Tonga ethnic and in my view myopic triumphalism proved to be the edge that led me to cast my vote for ECL while trying to convince myself that ECL would grow up and mature once in power.
It has since become very clear that far from maturing, ECL, once he realised he had the instruments of power, began to manifest his true colours and they are not pretty ones at all. He has clearly adopted a path intended to obliterate all that Michael Sata stood for and to side line or eliminate all together Sata’s key lieutenants. He has chosen to establish himself by embracing corrupt elements and several shady characters including those who were facing the law under Sata.
In addition, he clearly has no constructive national vision for this great nation. The most disturbing aspect of all is that he has adopted this agenda with a level of arrogance and lack of concern for the feelings and sentiments of protesting Zambians that suggests he is a lethal despot in the making. He does not see himself as a servant of Zambians (as Sata did) but as their master.
The resources of the state are his to spend as he wishes. The institutions of the state are there to serve his interests and those of PF, not the interests of Zambians. An extra mandate for this president and government will set Zambia so far back that it will require generations of successive prudent and wise leadership just to repair the damage they will inflict upon the nation.
He must be stopped and ejected without fail in the next election for the good of Zambia and future generations. However, to ensure that this happens, the opposition must emulate their colleagues in Kenya when they came together to form a united front aimed at ousting the formidable ‘professor’ of Kenyan politics, President Arap Moi. To guarantee the removal of ECL and PF from power, I propose that the UPND, FDD and Rainbow Party, the three promising parties at the moment, form a coalition with agreed upon quarters. The major task of this coalition government would be to deliver a people-driven constitution and to stabilize the economic fortunes of the nation. After the term of this government, they can break up into their separate parties and compete under a new constitution.
This time round Hakainde Hichilema has won the right, based on his showing in the last election, to be the coalition’s presidential candidate. FDD and Rainbow Party can occupy key roles. This will mirror the coming together of Raila Odinga (western Kenya vote) and Mwai Kibaki (Kikuyu vote), otherwise sworn political enemies, for the purposes of dislodging Moi. They succeeded where many promising parties had failed. Only this coalition will guarantee the removal of ECL and PF from power as the vast majority of Zambians will both vote for it and work tirelessly to ensure that their vote is not stolen. Let not any single party presume that its current growing popularity will lead to a victory in the next general election. If at all anything, under this current first past the post constitution, the growing popularity of UPND, FDD and Rainbow Party are all playing into the hands of a PF victory. They will only need to get a few votes beyond the nearest contender to secure another mandate and that will spell the end of Zambia as we have known it. We cannot allow that to happen. We should not allow that to happen.
Dr M. Nyirenda, Lusaka.
Dear LT Editor. When you were upgrading your site one of the suggested improvements was not to publish rubbish from chaps that have a lot of time to waste. Please do us a favour by not publishing cr@p like DR Nyirenda’s. I really hope he’s not a medical doctor.
@checkov..have an overinflated view of your self.There is nothing wrong with this article.Just because other people have different views from you doesn’t mean they are wrong.LT you should block comments from Id..iots like checkov
Hey numb nuts! Am expressing my view too!
@ Checkov
Expressing your view its acceptable. The problem is with lack of logic and knowledge which other bloggers resent. As to judging others contributions as “cr@p”, please tray to do what you preach. Otherwise it sounds like the cr@p has stuck in your mouth.
Ba Nyirenda, Its amazing that you had all the time on earth to spew your highly opinionated drivel that that is devoid of basis, substance, or a measure of credence in political theory. What wrong has ECL done politically, constitutionally or administratively in the last 6 months to qualify your innuendos when he has selflessly united the country, forgiven those that schemed his humiliation and spread a spirit of inclusiveness? What miracle were you expecting for him to do in under a year reign in a highly unstructured country without a foundation for economic resiliency or take off? Go in peace sir.
Actually the man may not be Nyirenda, because the computer he used to write this article does not carry that name. He must be impersonating a Nyirenda. This looks pretty bad for LT.
coalition with a tonga man, it can work.
@ Senior Citizen I have my reservations when you say ECL has ‘selflessly united the country’ as in my own view he has been more an agent of divisions despite his half hearted One Zambia One Nation rhetoric and on ‘inclusiveness’ its his clever approach for simplistic thinking minds as I see more of demeaning malice in this inclusiveness! The least ECL could have done is to share with the nation where he is driving to! My opinion
@chinena: Inference from your comment: ‘the writer of the article may not be Nyirenda’ (Eastener), otherwise he would not be attacking Lungu. Tribalism manifests itself in so many ways.
checkovet u r arogant nd an ***** chap who is enjoyn ths trabulation we r goin thru.wake up man.
And you call yourself a doctor, are you a witch doctor or what? now that you have seen that you wako ni wako matuvi president is failing to run the country you are looking for another method to sabotage the best candidate Zambia has ever had?
Failure to be civil in your contributions indicates you inadequacies. Would your point fail to come out if you say it without insulting? Just wondering!
Awe twachula mwe something has to be done.
Dr. Nyirenda. Firstly I give you the kudos for admitting on how myopic you have always been. It takes courage to do that.
I sympathize with you and those like you who have for long been blind and have allowed to tricked and used as doormat by “crafty and sweet talking” politicians. Dr. I am not surprised that you could be so deceived to the point of being blind to the truth. You are a tribalist and hence when the PF took and nicely twisted the messages like Munkombwe’s you swallowed it hook and sink. They spoke what you secretly wished for. The fact that you could even ignore the glaring lawlessness and anarchy exhibited by Lungu and his group during the run up to the January 20 bye elections …
Ba LT the word I used is “T-RI-L-ST”. that you blocked You would make one think I used a profane word.
In fact you choose to ignore more evil just of your predisposed opinions. You are accusing nice guys like VJ. Did you actually hear him? Munkombwe was disowned and was actually PF. Didn’t UPND officially disassociate themselves from Munkombwe’s statement? But you chose to believe the “others”.
In fact you started believing wrong propaganda a long time ago because, truth be told even in 2011 the credible candidate was HH by a mile. You allowed the “TRI—-SM” lies to cloud your judgment to a point of believing in the 90 days deception and such incredulous promises. In January this year you fell for “finishing the vision/term” deception.
I bet come 2016, people like you will fall for yet another deception. Honestly Doc, do you realize the damage you are doing to your…
Honestly Doc, do you realize the damage you are doing to your OWN country
It is time you came out and vigorously campaigned for that MAN your inner-man is telling is the right person instead of trying to scratch looking for excuses, like I feel you are trying to do in this article. The best coalition is YOU THE PEOPLE and not from these “career nashala neka” party with personal agendas. At least you owe your children that. Dr. Nyirenda good luck
I remember that 2002 election regretfully when the then ‘Grand Rainbow coalition’ led by Mwai Kibaki beat Moi’s choice, the then youthful 40 year old Uhuru Kenyatta (incumbent President) by scooping over 67% of the total vote to Uhuru’s 30% dislodging KANU after 39 years in power. This ‘common enemy’ coalition, however had its negatives as it lasted for just a year and disentragated as pre-formation’s memorandum of understanding was not honoured. This led to a new opposition party from within which resulted into tribal clashes in the 2007 election leading to the ICC. Contrastingly, the govts that arose after 2002 have performed twice what KANU did in its 39yr regime. Unite with a purpose not just to remove Lungu and acquire power or else you bring turmoil in Zambia.
I cannot vote for a clearly tribally inclined party like UPND. Fuseki
This is the best way to oust pf, but stop being xenophobic about other tribes ruling. It compromises quality.
Well written and articulated. However, it will be up to the named oppossition parties to decide. The way forward is for Zambians to be pragmatic and realise that things are not well. Anyway knowing my fellow citizens they will keep on complaining and yet they can exercise their democratic rights by voting for change. The good thing is to continue preaching for peace.
It’s time some Zambians started voting using their heads on not their hearts. Just because a man is humble doesn’t make him a good leader. We gotta right that mistake.
Comment: It’s time some Zambians started voting using their heads on not their hearts. Just because a man is humble doesn’t make him a good leader. We gotta right that mistake.
Tatulati, ndeibukisha imisango sha bashikulu ba Banda, he was also a ‘toloka dot com’ mu ma ndete, kwaleba fye uku chinje insapato ku airport no ku nine indeke. It is sad that ECL nankwe na leka ‘kolopa dot com’ instead atampa ‘toloka dot com’. I like being non-partisan because that way, I am going to objective perceive and analyse what affects me. Every one of these guys who joined gov’t through the ballot or presidential appointments are ‘my’ servants and I have a right to draw a ‘RED CARD (RC)’ on them. For example
– D. Chama qualifies for a RD – Conduct likely to ethnic violence and maiming people with a dangerous weapon
– A. Chikwanda – RC – Mismanagement of the economy and careless borrowing hence sustaining poverty
– Kambwili – RC – Conduct likely to cause hegemony…
A coalition with a Tonga as president it can’t work think of other things. By the way why uniting for the cause of damaging Zambia.
A Dr Nyirenda ndithu mwa lakwa! Why did Bwezani’s option to back Lungu not scare you in the same way Mwaanga’s backing for HH scared you? Alah, the third reason you voted for Chagwa is clearly tribal bigotry wako ni wakwa kumodzi ku mawa! And about Sata’s humility and holding a lot of promise for this country, you must be mad in your head to think so, Sata was a fully blown ***** whose only purpose was to Bembanize this country and the exclusion of all others. Any different assertion from this is tantamount to stinking intellectual snobbery and for one with a PhD, you ought to be ashamed of yourself!
The bible says Clay and metal cannot stick let alone work together.
1- UPND are hardcore or are they hard corrupt Capitalist crooks?
2- Rain-balls are Socialists.
3 – FDD is a one lady party – the woman economist.
Actually, the PF government can be unseated. People rarely change their votes in elections and people vote in similar patterns. The real danger (and I see this happening in 2016) is that due to the poor performance of the economy, many PF supporters will not come out to vote and that is likely to spell the end of PF’s tenure.
It’s not the only way to change ED (Emerging Dictator) to ED (Emasculated Despot). The sheeple need to step up and make their choice as people. Will ED let them. That is the question…
My faux swag, hat wearing buddy tends to like the ‘raise your pangas in the air’ and watch me play with courts approach around election time. We ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Sleepy Head is dreaming of a big win. Comedy, drama, dirty tricks and hoo ha versus the people. Book your seats now.
Who, among HH, Kabimba and Nawakwi can foresake his/her ambition and support a comrade to go for the presidency for 10 years without disturbing him/ her with personal demands? In my opinion, for which I am entitled, Lungu is tight-lipped because of the demands of the people who played first-hand politics to make him crinch the presidency. The only way to succeed is to elect a visionary, dedicated person, free from political external pressure. A coalition is good but the members’ commitment is short-lived. Zambia is not short of credible leaders who can go it alone and preform excellently. It’s upon the electrolate to sort him/her out. Be on the lookout.
The writer of this article is probably just pretending to be a Dr. Cause I have not seen any intellectual material in his article. You cannot form a coalition with already chosen leadership in that manner. It cannot work. You need to go in as equal partners. do you remember the PF-UPND pact? That’s what happens when you want to establish seniority without a democratic process. The danger is that under the currently constitution once the president is sworn in he has no obligation to work with the so called coalition partners he can do as he wishes so what stops him from bringing his own people with him to strengthen his grip on power? Remember how Sata changed on the issue of a people driven constitution? to be honest I think the writer is just a UPND cadre trying to make people think he…
Comment: Good article mind Dr, that you dont vote due to personal character but based on suitability of a job and economic liberalisation,for sure hate on tribal politics includn many others have costed this country may God open yo eyes & ears so that u can see,hear or judge positively to help redeem this misery you injected on wise pipo who voted well in jan,2015, my prayer is that lets burry tribal vote but look into the future of our country and vote for credible leaders,other wise zambia’s future is doomed,vote wisely 2016
Coalitions will not work for Zambia up to when people learn to live and stand by their principles then start making political choices according to personal informed convictions. Zambians must learn to understand their environment and develop a deep sense of love for common good as relates the country. It is very common that when we get to the critical point demanding a decision we throw everything else to the wind and gratify ourselves with “The devil you know” sentiment to justify our timidness at frontal confrontation with the bull!
Dr Nyirenda, where do you leave MMD in your so called coalition? Is it based on who is supported a lot on online media. For your information MMD has the second highest number of MPs after PF. And the guys in MMD are not daft- they can reorganize themselves because time is on their side. OR are you suggesting that MMD should enter into an alliance with PF – that will be a disaster for your so called coalition. Anywhere, opinions are like a5he5 everyone has one.
Mr. Nyirenda’s sentiments must be taken as his own school of thought.
Every one leader of the mentioned parties wants to be the President of this Nation. We shall end up with Presidents for administration, political affairs, religion and the other President for tribe unification.
Ok now listen DOC, the onus is with the voters and not the parties. Whether coalition or not, if the people want change it shall happen. What coalition was PF in when they won? None, but they beat banda pants down such that up to now the brother is still in anger. So if us the voters we want to continue suffering we know whom to vote for, if we want change we know whom to vote for, I am proud, I have never wasted my vote so I do not complain because what I see is what I anticipated. I insured the risks well in advance. Most of the people complaining today are those who went by the wind like DOC. They did not think and never insured themselves. You are exposed bwana.
I take my hat off to all of you who have disagreed, agreed, or qualified the article with clear points of argumentation. For those of you who find it so easy to rather slide into spewing rubbish, including attacks on the legitimacy of the name ‘Nyirenda’ or the PhD, you are the reason this country is getting morally rotten to the core at an alarming rate. Perhaps you deserve all that you are getting by way of political leaders, dubious pastors, etc.
Precise analysis of prevailing unfolding situation (according to my opinion, ofcourse, since we all entitled to one). However am not sure of solution, since I am among those who stand accused of using my heart in the previous election, so I will take time analyzing.
So in that coalition who becomes president, vice president and minister of defense? We all know that the new Vice president (fimo fimo) GBM of the UpDn party does not see eye to eye with the sole owner of Rainbow party Kabimba, so how will the two parties work together. Of late Nawakwi has been on the look out for a job from ECL, preferably in the energy sector were big tenders will soon be up for grabs. In any case I don’t see Nawakwi working together with HH, as HH believes Nawakwi belongs to the kitchen.
Of late there has been so much talk about the original members of the PF being sidelined but little is said about the original members of the UpDn being side lined. When was the last time you saw Gary Nkombo side by side with HH?
The good doctor is just posing as an easterner when he is from another ethnic region of Zambia. From my knowledge of desperate UPND bloggers, my guess is that his correct name is Hanyirenda.
On a serious note the good doctor is posing as Nyirenda an easterner. There is no nyirenda who can write such roobish. From my understanding of the characteristics of UPND cadres and bloggers and their leaders too, the writer’s real name must be Hanyirenda.
On a more serious note, this impersonation is evidence that our brethren from the south don’t learn, it seems the ethnic or tribal behavoiur is ingrained in their DNA. Otherwise how do you explain this thing about seeing and thinking in terms of tribe all the time? Just look at their desire to hoodwink citizens that they are not a tribal party, they have recruited GBM, Mucheleka, Mutati and a sprinkling of bembas and a few ngonis just to cleanse themselves. They seem to forget that actions speak louder than words and that people are…
Sorry to disappoint you and your colleagues (perhaps same person posting under different names?). This Doc is neither a Hanyirenda nor a UPND anything. Do not ask me how I know. You seem to be the one besotted and I would argue consumed by tribe. Have you tried just making a clear argument that others can either support or discredit without adding filthy language or views?
..seeing with their eyes wide open.
this is rubbish.HH will never rule zambia, maybe southern province…
Dr Nyirenda has sincerely expressed his views on Zambian political parties multi marriage *Coalition* I don’t think this is achievable given the fact that us in the Rainbow Party have an Ideology which we want to advance in this country.Shaping of people’s mindsets is very important in politics.I have noted that our colleagues in the UPND have a Capitalist approach and somehow the FDD.We are advocating for Socialism.A shared wealth.Going to State House is easy.but the agenda at state house without a plan will make you sleep away.
@Checkov and Senior Citizen are devils happy with the current sufferings people are going through.
What is wrong in changing the retrogressive and failing government? Some people here are true devils.
You sons of the witch( mwebana bandoshi) let true citizens share ideas on how to move the nation forward.
Ifintu na filungula and you are busy vomiting your faeces here. Bamunyela kukanwa.
Nyirenda is a true citizen who is concerned with the future of Zambia.
Lt keep on reflecting what people think.
Kwena ifibantu ifi fi chekov na senior citizen
nifilunshi pamafi.