By Sean Tembo – PeP President
1. There is this narrative which UPND President Mr Hakainde Hichilema and his followers have been advancing; that every other opposition political must agree with them and work in concert with them, failure to which such a political party is a surrogate of the ruling Patriotic Front political party. I want to categorically state that we do not agree with such a narrative as it constitutes political blackmail by seeking to create a defacto alliance in favour of the UPND.
Mr Hichilema further postulates that all opposition political parties must unite in order to remove a ruling party and that it is irresponsible and unpatriotic for us in the Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) to seek our own identity by standing on our own. But the question that l wish to pose to Mr Hichilema is; did he, together with his UPND unite with PF in 2011 to kick out the MMD Government of the day? Or did Mr Hichilema and his UPND advance their own agenda in 2011 in the same way that PeP is seeking to advance its own agenda in 2021?
2. As Patriots for Economic Progress, we are not averse to political alliances. In fact, we strongly believe in the need for political alliances as a vehicle for growth of our party as well as for the ultimate benefit of the Zambian people. However, any alliance must be mutually beneficial to all parties. An alliance should not just benefit one political. Each party should make some sacrifices, which constitutes an investment into the alliance, in order to make an alliance work. When we joined the Opposition Alliance with 13 other political parties about 2 years ago, those were our expectations.
At that time, we were willing to make certain critical sacrifices such as forfeiting to stand as a presidential candidate in 2021 so as to rally behind Mr Hichilema’s candidature, and also work hard to push the Opposition Alliance agenda in the public domain as well as help mobilize financial resources for the Opposition Alliance project. I was both the Chairman of the Media Affairs Committee as well as the Chairman of the Finance Committee for the Opposition Alliance and l worked tirelessly in both roles. As Chairman of the Finance Committee and within a period of a week, l was instrumental in organizing the Opposition Alliance end of year Fundraising Dinner at Intercontinental Hotel in December 2018, at which we raised more than K1 million for the Alliance. As Chairman of the Media Affairs Committee, l was instrumental in galavanting from one Media house to another to advance the Opposition Alliance, all at the expense of the PeP agenda. Anyone who understands politics will tell you that Media and Finance are the backbone of any successful political movement.
And l handled both of these critical roles with impeccable diligence and competence. But after investing all this effort and sacrifices, Mr Hichilema was not willing to allocate some constituencies and wards for PeP to solely contest in in 2021, as part of the Opposition Alliance package. He point blankly told us that since UPND is more popular than PeP, the best he can offer is for our candidates to contest on the UPND ticket! To us, this amounted to dissolving our party and joining the UPND, which was contrary to our understanding and expectation from the Opposition Alliance. So l told Mr Hichilema that l will be withdrawing my party from his Alliance, and so we left.
3. However, it is evident that Mr Hichilema expected myself and PeP to continue advancing the UPND agenda even though PeP was no longer in an alliance with his party. Our view is that in the absence of a political alliance, there is no compulsion by any party to advance another party’s interests. The concept that the opposition must, by default, unite to kick out a ruling party is inherently flawed and is not shared by even Mr Hakainde Hichilema himself, because he clearly did not unite with PF in 2011 to kick out the then MMD Government.
To the contrary, Mr Hichilema walked away from the PF-UPND pact. Sata and his PF solely beat MMD and kicked them out of office. But since today it benefits Mr Hichilema, he wants to advance a narrative that PeP has a duty and responsibility to help him kick out PF and that if we do not do that, then we are surrogates of PF. And yet, he is not willing to sacrifice a single constituency or ward in return for our support.
4. My view is that Mr Hichilema is a politically weak guy and he knows it deep down his heart that he does not posses the mental strength and prowess necessary to kick out a shrewd and brutal ruling party like PF. He knows that he needs the support of people like myself. But Mr Hichilema is not just a weak guy, he is also a selfish guy. He is not willing to give away even a single constituency or ward in return for the support of people like myself. He wants it all to himself. He wants us to rally behind him for free and escort him to State House. Even politically naive people like embattled Chishimba Kambwili who think that Mr Hichilema will make him his running mate will soon bite the dust.
Now, these two attributes of being politically weak and yet selfish puts Mr Hichilema in a catch 22 situation. For his political career to succeed and for him to enter State House, Mr Hichilema will need the support and assistance of strong political players. However, those strong political players will be unlikely to offer their support pro bono. They will want some form of power sharing of sorts, which Mr Hichilema, by virtue of his inherent selfishness will be unable to grant. Just like he was unwilling to allow any alliance member to contest even a single seat in 2021, and wanted everyone to be under the umbrella of his faltering UPND party.
5. But being politically weak and selfish and not the only handicap for Mr Hichilema. He also has an inflated sense of being smart. He falsely believes that he can outwit his political allies. But his attempts to outwit his political allies are so shallow that they usually border on crookedness. For example, in 2016, Mr Hichilema allegedly entered into an alliance with three other political parties. The leaders of these three political parties were allegedly requested not to file as presidential candidates and in return, Mr Hichilema and his UPND would support the candidature of their MPs in selected constituencies.
For sure, these three political leaders kept their end of the bargain and did not file as presidential candidates. They in fact are said to have gone on the presidential campaign trail with Mr Hichilema. However, when time came for Mr Hichilema to keep his end of the bargain, he decided to allow his party to file candidates in all constituencies including those he had allegedly promised to reserve for his allies. His then allies told me that Mr Hichilema’s excuse was that he had been overruled by his party, the UPND and that there was nothing he could do about it. In my view, such alleged conduct on the part of Mr Hichilema does not amount to outsmarting his political allies, but amounts to being crooked.
6. And today, despite being politically weak and yet selfish and crooked, Mr Hichilema feels that he is entitled to Sean Tembo’s political support. How dare you sir! Just like Sata and his then PF fought and beat MMD, you sir need to fight and beat PF by yourself. We at PeP shall also seek to fight and beat PF by ourselves. It is each man for himself and God for us all. In fact, you sir and your UPND have never supported us in any way, shape or form in our fight against the PF.
We have challenged the PF and it’s Government in four cases in court (all of which we won by the way) and you sir never allocated us any of your lawyers among your large army of lawyers, and neither did you contribute a single Ngwee for our legal fees. We undertook 13 successful protests against the $42 million fire tender scandal and you sir never sent a single one of your UPND members to come and give us solidarity. While we were being attacked by Paul Moonga and his thugs along Cairo Road, you sir were lying on your couch at your home busy tweeting. And today, you feel that you are entitled to our support as you seek to fight the Electoral Commission of Zambia on very flimsy matters? Well, you sir can go to hell.
I like the whole honest and courageous character of Mr. Sean Tembo. He has unveiled the hidden character of a former acquaintance of his. Thank you for that piece ofthe vital information about a man who is surely aspiring to be the President of Zambia. It is now up to the Kambwilis of the world to judge for themselves.
NO ONE FORCES YOU TO JOIN AN ALLIANCE. IF YOU DON’T LIKE DON’T JOIN. WHY SHOULD THIS BE NEWS. CONTEST ELECTIONS IN YOUR OWN CAPACITY. LOOKS LIKE YOU FORMED YOUR PARTY TO BE CARRIED BY OTHERS. YOU ARE FATIGUING PEOPLE WITH NO NEWS.
So this guy also thinks he is a Politician?…..wako ni wako….trying to secretly side with Bandits PF
I wouldn’t hire an audit firm that does not operate within the prescription of Law. If you want to infringe the constitution to make ends meet, you’re no better than a criminal.
I did enjoy reading this. And it is not a surprise that HH wanted to dissolve all political parties within the alliance. We are in a situation where people expect you to worship HH and to hate the PF, plurality appears to not be allowed.
Glad you stood your ground, you are far from making any insightful impact in the political arena, but you may just be the next biggest opposition if UPND wins next year’s election.
Shooting early morning by Sean Tembo. In summary: POLITICALLY WEAK, SELFISH and CROOKED
Politics, it has been pointed out is a “dirty game.”
Today a brother, tomorrow an enemy.
Sean Tembo used to be up there, and we started counting him to be next strong opposition leader. Until after he was beaten and robbed during his protest over firetrucks with a wheelbarrow.
Maybe his head injuries has made him suffer from mental issues. The guy needs help.
kikikikikik, kwena uyu muntu,ati you can go to hell, on flimsy ground, a crook,over thinks of himself
Sean tembo ,
When did hh say he needs the support of sean tembo ?
I have seen many political prosecutions in Zambia , but I have never seen you or heard you support those at the reciving end of pf savegry, just like I have never seen or heard tiyali
I have seen CK , I have seen HH and others in support of the oppressed , but I have never seen you or tiyali , badala…..
Well articulated article; it exposes the true character of the secret master. This man Sean Tembo is a fantastic thinker and understands patriotism. You can’t compare Sean Tembo to Dr Shishuwa the UPND cadre.
All this nonsense Sean Tembo is raising now should have been raised when he left the Alliance. For sure political alliances if well established could lead to dislodging a ruling party which has failed the country politically and economically. However, I have never heard a formal statement from UPND that the only way they can win elections is through an alliance with PeP. Tembo remember never to throw shit into a well you used to drink from. This article just exposes how childish you display your bitterness. To UPND, NDC and other alliance partners, dont waste too much energy on this Sean Tembo. You have more serious challenges in dislodging the ruling party which has no respect for rule of law and democracy and doesnt manage public resources prudently. There are big fights which the…
malubishi yangalu iyi
We’ve always told you that Kadansa is a crook and Sean Tembo isn’t his first political alliance casualty. Nawakwi and FDD haven’t still recovered from the Kadansa brutality. Kadansa isn’t as clever as his zealous supporters project him, I don’t even know how he managed to steal so much money
One thing is for sure Sean Tembo knows a spade at calls it by its name. Politically weak, selfish and crooked is a very accurate definition of HH. If Sean added “Bitter and Tribal” he would have completed the definition. Finally anyone who does not agree with HH and UPND are labeled dull and uneducated.
In other words it has to take the who opposition to come together to unseat us. However even with that they still cannot manage. How did we manage on our own to win in 2011. We tried working with that greedy boy hh but he was so pompous and demanded that only he could lead. We thought to ourselves why are we putting up with such a hyena when we can win by ourselves. So we left that pact. All I will say is work with upnd at your own risk
I will complete HH’s attributes on behalf of Sean Tembo. I am pretty sure he just forgot others.
HH is politically weak, selfish, crooked, bitter and very tribal.
Well done Sean Tembo for stating the truth about this, “Kabwa lala”
Sean tembo, you give him too much respect by calling him sir at every point. He is just a chik.ala. let him use the desperado Kambwili. Kambwili is so finished & alone hence he has no options. Even his one mp has gone. So he has even forgotten the words he used on the copperbelt in 2016. He thinks ka chi.kala has forgotten.
This guy is punching above his weight. His party has not won any single seat in the numerous by-elections created by PF. His support is thus on paper. 2021 is coming and let him prove himself. Why attach HH, just go and campaign and stand in 2021 and voters will decide. Some of these guys what to show relevance by attacking opposition.
Yaba, what a deconstruction of the UPND small god, HH, by Sean Tembo. We now know about his political crookedness which we have always suspected led to the failure of the UDA alliance and that with the PF. When it came to the alliance with the PF, we hear HH told the late Sata that he was a nkote and needed to step aside and let him lead the alliance with the PF. To HH’s astonishment, Mr Sata told him to his face that he was not born a nkote and had more political experience than him. That is how the PF went it alone and won the 2011 presidential and parliamentary elections.
The politically weak and yet selfish and crooked nigga summed up conclusively as u5 kleptoh² has never changed.
Stuff’s not new to us.
All these Sean Tembo tantrums are nothing new to us who understand kleptoh²’s modus operandi.
Kikikikikikijukija kleptoh² always wants to be on top.
He managed to be on top of Edith Nawakwi, Nervous Nevers, GVBM, that Guy Guy, CKinsultor, Miles, Lupando, Mulenga Sata but never on top King Cobra Michael; Never on top of the Patriots, the elite people of the Republic of Zambia. We have read h² mind since, since but he has not read our minds yet.
What nonsense is this from Sean Tembo? Why did PeP and Sean Tembo join the opposition alliance when he had all these allegations against HH and UPND?. UPND and HH have never said that without PeP and Sean Tembo, they would not win elections. As indicated in an earlier comment which LT has not posted, opposition alliance should concentrate on addressing more serious challenges brought by PF. Dont use too much energy on Sean Tembo. Deal with bigger issues such as the on-going moves to rig the 2021 elections, the discriminatory application of the POA and the restricted space for press freedom and freedom of assembly.
HH a man of evil mind. Selfishness and proud is what occupies his mind. Let alone trust him for presidency. For me NO to HH.
Liking being on top is not an f-ing big deal, like every man likes being on top, I mean on top of things. It is a testosterone thing, I mean the hormone thing.
Being on top ain’t a f’ing big deal but what you do with your being on top.
Check this out, the nigga was tested on top, what did he do? Well, he checked if everyone else in Government was sleeping. Realising that, the h² negro started helping himself. He is not only politically weak and yet selfish and crooked but also a due thief. This specie is evil kaleza napali agogo. He stinks untrustworthy.
@Monze Hichilema took over a fully functional Party with all structures and 48 seats in Parley. Let Chik.ala found his own Party we see if he’s even going to get a single seat
Kaizer for president – let us start mobilizing for our fearless leader
@17 Monze, HH also found a very strong upnd party with about 50 MPs if I am not mistaken. But, because of what Sean Tembo has described the man and more, HH has in no time managed to shrink his tribal party’s MP seats in parly at a very astronomical rate and the party keeps on decimating. PeP and other little parties like Charles Milupi’s would have had a chance of winning seats if hh had given them chance to field their candidates in tongaland during 2016 elections every alliance party would have had a seat in parly. Hence, strengthening the alliance and to some extent weakening PF. But due to the, ‘ndine chabe na haTonga anzanga’ attitude of hh he lost the elections together with most upnd MPs. I totally agree with S Tembo’s attributions to hh.
Yep! Always choose your ‘bed mates’ carefully.
I am waiting for the fearless leader to comment before I say anything. Kaizer for president.
Kaiser for president! viva Kaizer, Viva!
I see socialist party has its own ideology and post said no alliance. May God bless them 8nto government. Vote for SP and Fred for Presidency.
Instead of proposing or encouraging alliances and/or coalitions the law should be one that supports each party for itself in how it manages its affairs and mobilization of resources to support itself! Should any party align itself with policies of another party, such a party must first apply to have its registration voided then fuse itself with the party of choice! Political leadership in Zambia is full of immature “adults” who think mere registration of a party is instant equality with other party leaders! In fact just like the workings of “privatization” were not understood by the Zambian proponents, so is “multiparty politics.” However politics of the belly seems easily understood!
Judas Iscariots are never in short supply. Expect to find one in every group.
One question I have for Sean Tembo is what was he thinking when he went to HH’s residence to take alliance Selfee with HH if he knew HH was such a bad man? You can ask the same question to Pilgrim. We hat were you guys thinking?
One pattern I have seen is one has to be careful with Easterners and some Northerners like Nawakwi. They have the mentality of Muzungu Anikonde. They will betray you when you least expect! You can’t call yourself an opposition leader when you are a ruling party surrogate planted to spy on fellow opposition. Just enjoy the brown envelopes while they last.
Judas Iscariots are never in short supply. Expect to find one in every group.
One question I have for Sean Tembo is what was he thinking when he went to HH’s residence to take alliance Selfee with HH if he knew HH was such a bad man? You can ask the same question to Pilgrim. We hat were you guys thinking?
One pattern I have seen is one has to be careful with Easterners and some Northerners like Nawakwi. They have the mentality of Muzungu Anikonde. They will betray you when you least expect! You can’t call yourself an opposition leader when you are a ruling party surrogate planted to spy on fellow opposition. Just enjoy the brown envelopes while they last!!
There you have it in black and white. There is no oppositions in the Zambian political scene today. What we have are hyenas fighting for a piece of flesh of this great nation. Virtually all that have participated in this marriage of inconvenience “Alliance” have said the same thing about the 5 time loser, Hakainde Hichilema. Do we as a nation need a candidate of that calibre? , the answer lies in the barrot box. Surely our God will some day raise a selfless, intelligent Tonga or any other tribe for that matter to lead our great Nation to greater prosperity for all. But to sticky to one selfish, naive person simply because he claims his tribe must rule is not only disingenuous but the worst form of tribalism. However, a few Tongas that have been in a stupor thinking that voting against…
… However, a few Tongas that have been in a stupor thinking that voting against HH was an abomination have began to wake up from their slumber. We love all tribes in Zambia, it is only the adent tribalist who thinks that he is better than other tribes and entitled to rule this great nation. at any cost.
What evidence is there to label HH as a tribalist? HH is a Zambian citizen who has the rights to compete for the position of President of Zambia. HH has never said he is better than other tribes. He is above these petty tribal nonsense.
I have read this article a couple of times fruitlessly trying to discern the ultimate motive or rationale for one compatriot to write such a lengthy denunciation of another compatriot. Is the article designed to incite voters and/or one’s political supporters to rise against another compatriot or something else? Regardless of brother Sean Tembo’s motive, there is a need for political leaders to refrain from rhetoric that is likely to ferment intra-party and/or inter-party bickering, hostility and rivalry. Our beloved country is better served if leaders in all spheres of human endeavor make an earnest effort to develop a spirit of peace, patience, kindness, tolerance, forgiveness, compassion, and understanding in their hearts. No one wins by being unnecessarily mean to one another.
@Ngoma Yamaano, how old are you? Were not old enough when Anderson Mazoka died which led to UPND succession disputes. Did you know that Sakwiba Sikota was UPND’s Vice President and not takeover from Mazoka because he is Lozi. Do you know the most popular Sajani statement which HH has failed to disassociate himself.
I agree with the analysis. Political alliances fail when one party wants to dominate the others. Whats wrong with having elections once an allinance is mooted? Once political parties find a formula to this, then the alliances will work. HH has always surprised me, there was UDA, he wanted to lead, then came his Alliance with Sata, again it failed, then came Mutati that Alliance failed too, then Maureen Mwanawasa again it failed; the list goes on and on. He has worked with Nevers before, GBM, Milupi, Guy Scott, Miles Sampa etc etc and in all this he wanted to be the leader. Is it a surprise that they all abandoned him? He was must have a big character flaw. Sata abandoned him and became president. Levy Mwanawasa courted him and abandoned him too. Rupiah Banda did the same and we all know…
Politicians should learn to engage each other on policy matters, not on perceived and opinion-based deficiencies of other politicians.
Vengeance, anger and hatred are noxious and a blemish to the soul. Therefore, craft for yourself a “joyful and cheerful heart,” Proverbs 17:22, regardless of the kind of “God” or “god” you consciously or unconsciously worship. A joyful and cheerful heart is good medicine for your soul. It will comfort your body. It will enhance your mental and physical well-being. It is an antidote to stress and depression. It will psychologically enhance your healing from any kind of illness. And it will be a binding force in your family and in your relationships and interactions at work, at school, in your community, and at any kind of get-togethers.