By Kapya Kaoma.
Once upon a time, “Chimbwi with No Plan” ruled Zambia until the ballyvirus spread like wildfire–erasing memories of yesteryears. In the sacred annals of Lusaka Times, it is recorded thus, on June 14, 2012, a Prophet before Zambian authorities, courageously stood, with an ancestral apocalyptic tone bellowed, “I hear the ancestors screaming from their graves! At your falsehoods, their bones rattle day and night! Didn’t you promise more money in our pockets, Mr. Chimbwi? Didn’t you promise more jobs? A people driven Constitution you promised, but only yesterday! Chimbwi with no plan. Wait until I am elected. It will be a New Dawn!” At those words, all his followers chanted, “Chimbwi with no plan. A new dawn we await!” With pride, he walked away.
Then came the New Dawn that the very Prophet once announced at the sunset that dwarfed the sunrise. Sages in silence stood as the Prophet wondered in darkness untold, while masses shouted, “Wake up, Zambia! It is the New Dawn. Kwacha!” In chaotic darkness untold, as in those days when Israel had no King, “every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Sadly the sunrise remained buried in clouds of uncertainty. Enraged, the Prophet announced, “Worry not my people, “Chimbwi with no plan” stole the sunrise. The New Dawn will come once the chosen one enters Plot 1.”
Alas, in white gloves and masked face, the Prophet marched into Plot 1, only to realize that like Chimbwi, he had no plan. But his followers believed he had one. So they faithfully waited for answers to their prayers as the Prophet dined and danced. And like Plato’s parable of the cave, anyone who told them otherwise, they insulted or killed. Only members of the Prophet’s cult were allowed to live in perpetual darkness.
And so is our time. The cult of the President is behind the difficulties and corruption that have haunted our nation. Day in and day out, everything is about the president–he is the only one who speaks. Standing up to him is like insulting God in the heavens. It shouldn’t be. In fact, we should all be concerned about President HH’s rule by decree. We are not ancient Egyptians who believed in the divine reign of Kings and Queens, but a democracy–a rule by the people for the people.
Does the New Dawn mean officially turning the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) President Hichilema’s personal kantemba? The President may go around the world singing Anti-Corruption songs! But he has not allowed independent auditors to tell Zambians the sources of his billions. In fact, his businesses are just as mysterious as Donald Trump’s. Another reason he should release his financial records to avoid the conflicts of interests when he is cutting deals on behalf of the nation–which is the likely reason for his decision to control the ACC that ought to operate independently. Kwacha indeed!
President HH is becoming dictatorial and tyrannical in the name of fighting corruption. Maybe he believes is a King. Since he took office, he has made one declaration after another. He declared no cadres in the markets and stations. Zambians celebrated. No implementation plan was in place–so cadres are making their own rules! He said no roadblocks! Zambians celebrated. But some security, road-safety, public safety, and tax issues were not addressed. Even the relationship between registered taxis and unregistered ones was not considered at all. One can add black mountain mining, dissolving Boards, and firing of Military Officers! Who is an adult in the baby HH administration to tell him that not everything previous administrations put in place need replacement? The civil service and the Military must be apolitical institutions. So far, it seems we are back to “chimbwi with no plan.” Is the creation of chaos is the Bally way of fixing it?
As a nation, we have a choice–to dedicate ourselves in pursuit of the public good, or pursue our ideological, and ethnic interests. The public good demands dedication to the truth. Ideological and ethnic interests hate truth tellers. Many are the PF cadres who insulted me and threatened me and my sister for calling out the Lungu administration. Some still call me an UPND cadre. I am sure there are many PF cadres who now say, if only we listened to Kapya Kaoma. Political arrogance is deceptive; no politician is indispensable–as my good UPND friend Kennedy Kazeza may think about HH. What makes him think HH will be reelected in 2026?I
I believe President Hichilema loves Zambia just like I do. I am holding him accountable because it is a right thing to do. This is the democratic standard we should be holding as a nation–it is not a PF or an UPND issue. It is a democratic ideal we should fight for, and when necessary die for. Until we start holding politicians accountable to their promises, we will be taken for a ride. Democracy is not about making politicians rich; it is about making public officials drive people’s agendas. How many MPs have been voted into offices and yet we have nothing to show for it. Each election season, promises are made, and after we vote for them, they amass wealth at our expense and only return to lie again after five years. This culture we must stop–it must start from the top. And why should it be a crime to ask the President to account for what he said he would do?
Back to Chimbwi, my people say “Chimbwi afwile intang’anana” – – the hyena died by splitting itself into two parts at the crossroad. Like his time in opposition, President HH’s judgment remains erratic and those who surround him are increasingly incapable of taming his ego. Is this the unfolding of his own 2012 prophecy of Chimbwi with no plan?
Insult me, but for the sake of Mother Zambia, I’m here to stay.
Did not even bother reading this drivel as soon as I saw the name of the writer…….
Same sh.it different day………
Don’t force HH to fulfill his promises, the man still has 4 years and 11 months to fulfill his promises. Stop the psychological war fare. We elected him and we are patient. You failed to put more money in our pockets you loosers
Taste less
That’s an accurate description of HH…chimbwi no plan indeed…master chipante pante…baby President HH the chronic liar
The lesser the comments the lesser the freedom of….it does not mean people are not introspective
The writer clearly has got nothing else to do than get bored with himself. He expects any new government to miraculously half food prices, create ten million highly paid jobs, get all corruption vanished with a magic wand – all in the first month of being in office. You couldn’t find any better contributor than this dreamer, LT?
Objective writeup …only those with ethnic and ideology issues hurt the truth! Chimbwi no plan…one lie after another, now he has the ACC under his arms! So far, hopeless president unless he changes course!
Chimbwi no plan has even hacked Sean Tembo. You won’t silence us!!
Only one pertinent point, how does the ACC work independently when it’s under the President muzzle. Why are these questions not being answered I woke up at 02 to vote for this man tell me my vote is safe please.
Moving ACC and FIC under State House is corruption in itself like what happened when PF moved RDA to State house. Most corrupt activities start from the top. How will these bodies investigate the very people that now manage their affairs? It’s a sordid attempt to muzzle oversight of State officials corruption and at the same time unleash the same on opposition parties. How is this move even correct thinking? These bodies have now lost all credibility
Ba Kaoma, find something else to do. Summer is near. Kabiyeni mukulima.
So we are supposed to read nonsense from a chap who has never said anything good about HH from the time he was in opposition and expect something different now? Can never waste my time reading drivel. This is for tubene Saulosi and his crew to read and comfort themselves.
Ooooh it’s this PF stooge again , still being sponsored by the losing PF to insult the new president…
Go burn in hell
I have got so much to say about it but for the sake of peace and appeasement of obvious quarters I will just be reading and enjoying the comments.
As long as PF is out of office we are omfortable wih chimbwi no plan for the time being
Indeed, those who insult people with different views on this site are like the prisoners in Plato’s parable of the cave. They live out their lives in semidarkness, chained by their necks and legs, unable to turn around, never knowing what they see before them on the wall of the cave are only shadows. Their lives are dominated by the shadow-play on the walls of cave made by screaming Mast Newspaper headlines of Bally Shines at UNGA, meets Kamala Harris at the White House or meets Tony Blair at State House, by ZNBC radio broadcasts of Bally fighting carderism or Corruption, by the endlessly moving shadows of Bally relaunches Covid-19 Vaxx drive, by the echoing voices of Bally opinion makers and praise singers that Bally be given more time before judging his performance. The make-believe…
… world of Bally prisoners is their own reality. They fight anyone who dares go out of the cave, gets back to the cave to and tells them what they seen on the back of the cave are mere shadows.
I like your comment when you say ‘The cult of the President is behind the difficulties and corruption that have haunted our nation.’ Africa will never develop if we continue worshiping Presidents. We tend to make them feel like they own our countries much more than we the ordinary citizens do. It is high time we begun to make them accountable. For me, we had 16 candidates that applied for the position of President of the republic of Zambia. We looked at the Cv’s they all provided and we decided to employ one based on what he promised he could do, HH in this instant. After being employed, we the EMPLOYERS do not expect the EMPLOYEE to shift posts and say he would not be able to manage what we employed him for., WHO DOES THAT! This is what I think the article is talking about. YOU…
“Insult me, but for the sake of Mother Zambia, I’m here to stay.” Kaoma knows he has written amafi, why apologize?
The constitution has no emotion. HH is allowing the constitution to do its thing. In the meantime, he is marching towards his 100th day and so far I say so good. I will make a comprehensive statement after that. I will not bother with people who think strong armed tactics are what runs a country. Pathetic pieces of excrement.
#1 Spaka, read his last sentence!
You haven’t seen nothing yet with you UPND administration.
Above article you onto something.
I fail to understand how one in his normal sense would call the New Dawn Administration as ” Chimbwi No Plan”. It is just too early to judge HH, HH has clearly stated that he has to be very methodical in his approach when doing things. We have problems with the previous PF administration because they of the chipantepante way of doing things. We have to be level headed and allow for a bit of time for HH and his team to deliver. Others want to govt jobs where there are no jobs. Others feel bitter because they were left out of cabinet positions yet they are MPs. We campaigned to ensure PF was not given another chance beyond 12/08/21 to normalize how to run public affairs. There is a lot that we can offer to our country other than lining up for govt jobs. Lets take up the challenge by being…
Where was this writer during PF’s government that was focused on allowing elements to loot the country with impunity. No matter what you say or write. HH7 is far much better than Lungu. Keep making noise and also don’t take advantage of freedom of speech. It’s not freedom of abuse. Make no mistake.
HH has a plan and it can only be reviewed after five years if it has worked or not. The constitutional mandate is five years. So haters, jealous people and those still licking their wounds from the 12th August elections loss , please chill and mourn silently
The hallucinations from this KK man are simply amusing.
Roy Clarke you are not mate!
What exactly is the criticism of HH within a month of assuming office.
I didn’t expect a fairytale magic wand to just make PF and Lungu’s 10 years of misrule disappear instantly. In fact I don’t expect HH within 10 years (if reelected) to turn this country into a Singapore. I expect him to lay some positive groundwork, a foundation on which future administrations will build from.
I’m comfortable with HH making mistakes during his ‘probation’ period as he still finds his feet… man probably doesn’t even know where they keep toilet tissues in State House yet. I will be his greatest critic once I see him becoming Lungu MK II. So far I haven’t seen anything remotely that gives me a sense that this man is worse than his predecessor. Take a chill pill…
So the truth has long legs and lies conversely.
Time will tell.
Let’s watch and see.
…Take a chill pill and relax and stop trying to be popular.
It is just too early to judge, let us be patient, If nothing really happens within a year then I will join you in condemning the UPND. I believe there is a lot of mess that requires cleaning and to know how to go around it but above all it requires time.
Kapya is a nutsack… never in my entire life have i seen a man so obsessed with a fellow…
Patience please…it’s not 100 days yet. Let’s be fair, most of us were promised money in our pockets after 100 days of PF so in keeping with tradition, please allow the man to have his 100 days.
Well… such nonsensical drivel unhinged from reality calls for insults as you astutely expected…. the only sensible thing you said in the whole thing.
So in love and self-satisfied with your own pedestrian cleverness like some male dog under some shade who can’t get enough of licking and shining its two sorry nuts. Its little sack of pride.
During the “Lenshina cult” people drunk urine and danced because they were cohesed into believing that it was the right thingto do under those circumstances. This article has touched on what I have witinessed as semblance to our current situation. This chap in state house is doing the complete opposite of his pronouncements or is it his decrees? And yet the followers are oblivious to all seemingly innocent mistatkes. The PF is not in Govt any more and so the flood light is on UPND just like it was on other previous Govts. We cannot manage a nation just by continually condemning the previous Govt. Please get down to work and let the relevant Govt wings do their job. But the cult followers easily get agitated when one talks about their Bally. It is not being impentient with the Govt but…
As long as we continue to worship these small gods we are doomed. The euphoria being exhibited by this new cult is unprecedented. It also explains why Africa often falls prey to these conmen called ” politicians” we keep on swinging like monkeys from one tree branch to the other. And we convince our simple minds into believing that we have actally changed the tree. God help us. Why on earth would the so called civil organisation be so deafening quite? Where they paid or funded by UPND after all?
Not so easy to manage a country ,is it?
Insulting people raising genuine concerns will not get us anywhere. We only have one country Zambia, to guard and to protect. Whether it’s ECL or HH, if they do wrong things, we should condemn.
Don’t trust politicians, but hold them to account. Bally is not infallible. He is a mere mortal with weaknesses.
God bless and protect our nation.
“Chimbwi afwile ntangalala”
This dogsh*t from kapya is unfair,,, give the man time how could he be gabbage?? I do not think you have any grounds to base your argument on in short you are just making a noise you enjoy writing sh* t to the press what can i say?? ..its a new dawn government the floor is free for all whatever platform they wont be closed down even given lubinda can quack all he wants…
Kapya, we don’t care where those offices are, they can be under Mumbwa or Mporokoso Council offices, as long as they can do what is expected of them and the people of Zambia are satisfied. The Man in plot 1 is answerable to 18 million Zambians including yourself and therefore in a hurry to produce results which you badly want. Give him a bit of time.
Why are some bloggers here are saying wait waiting, the president himself when making promises he said immediately he was sown in 1400hrs at 1600hrs the kwacha gains value k10 to 1 $ .
No what you talking about are making us believe that HH what drank or dreaming.
I will end here for now.
Kaoma is a good observer and writer.
Glad PF is no more!
Eee uletukwa kuli ba upndead.
Unhinged Upnd kapya is now trynna tell us that he never supported h²s coercing of the West white niggaz against Zambia and embodied him in lying to Zambians that he was a better option. We said what you are saying now about h². We saw the meatless and fleshless bones of his lies when you were busy abashing ECL together with him. Now you are crying at h² visionless driveline and blind leading. Wecome to the club because everything you’ve said is actually true and we continue saying it.
Chimbwi no plans was lazy lungu.. he so far has performed far much better than ecl. He has demonstrated unity in his selection unlike what we saw under lungu who demonstrated very bad leadership of selecting people only from northern and eastern regions , he has given the authority back to law institutions plus many more reforms…. now you can tell who the bigger chimbwi no plan was??
Well done, though quite sentimental?
One month and some days in office, ba kolwe start making noise against my President,, even if it takes 3years for change I will wait ba mwankole imwe.
Mind you he’s still sweeping the mess left behind by ……..so keep the pain of losing elections with your grand children away ..
HH can not manage to sweep the mess in government because it stems from UNIP times. The reason why PF rule has a clear mark of infrastructure development is that they had a focus. You may talk about corruption in ECL’s government but Corruption of the Kapokos was even happening during the rule of a president praised for corruption fight. Its poor sense of reasoning to apportion all corruption, cumulative national debt both domestic and external on PF. HH has 5 years and a possibility of 10. He must pick an area he will leave a mark. Is it economic interests, is it copper processing industries or agri processing to increase value chain etc. Its self deception to believe HH will solve all problems in Zambia. ACC, DEC, FIC under HH? hmm imwe.
HH WILL FIX IT BALLY WILL FIX- TAKWATA TOOLS BOX NO SPANNERS, NO JACK, NOW SREEW DRIVERS ……….TOOLS BOX BALIBA HE CANT FIX ANYTHING…..HE IS NOT THE RIGHT FIXER!!
This dimwit must try to put sense. No one can plant today and expect a good harvest tomorrow.
A mango tree planted this year will bear fruits in 4-6yrs on
God bless you Your Excellency!
This tribal chimbwi has found a platform for his tripe. Are you worried HH will take the proceeds of your embezzlement during the previous regime? Lusaka Times, I rarely read your publication, this should be the last time. This chimbwi has become the face of your publication. I expect objective journalism, not tribal garbage!
Laughable
It’s amazing that people who support HH don’t want others to criticize him but they were busy criticizing the PF you can’t have it both ways. Just man-up and face reality that not every Zambian voted for HH and not everyone is UPND. Criticism if taken objectively helps one to improve their livelihood.