Kabwata has spoken – Ndozo formula is strangling PF

By Chimwemwe Mwanza

As a metaphor, ‘ruling from the grave’ is when a deceased owner of a fortune imposes significant restrictions on how an heir should manage their inheritance. This enables the lifeless to still have sway albeit from their grave on how their fortune is managed.

Obsessed with preserving their legacies, leaders have become adept in the the art of anointing their preferred heirs – this despite history proving more often that a leadership birthed out of deception barely withstands the tests of legitimacy and endurance.

In the aftermath of last year’s humiliating defeat at the Presidential polls, one would have expected the former ruling Patriotic Front (PF) to genuinely introspect and reflect on its future – in other words kick out the old guard that cost them the election and elect new blood in the party structures – this as a more sensible option to renewal. Nada! Stunned but still drunk with delusions of grandeur, its leadership is holding on but battling to come to terms with the cold reality of opposition politics.

Jog your memory to seven months ago, did you ever think that the once mighty PF would in our lifetime embark on a marathon to celebrate loss of a parliamentary seat – Kabwata for that matter? Even worse, the fallacy informing this celebration is steeped in the argument that this narrow defeat signifies a PF that is in ascendancy. Really? This is at odds with reality. Let’s for a moment disregard the numbers or gap, since when did a loss become a win?
It is this kind of hallucinating that is keeping the PF faithful in denial. Forget the political noises, truth is, there is nothing tangible that the UPND has achieved since assuming power that could have easily swayed this election in its favour. Kabwata was ripe for the picking, yet PF stumbled. Whatever the argument, fact is that the outcome of this election is nothing more than a continuing repudiation of the PF than a vote of confidence in the UPND.

That the UPND’s Andrew Tayengwa barely engaged the electorate on the campaign trail – except when he would occasionally come out of hiding to hitch a walk with the President – but still managed to beat the more affable Clement Tembo is telling of the PF’s waning fortunes. For sure, ubushiku usheme nakambala kalocha. The trouble with the PF is that its leadership is hastening the party’s demise. And this slow march to oblivion will likely accelerate in the build-up to its elective conference scheduled in four month’s time.

Where to from here?

Lungu’s Ndozo formula is strangling PF

Despite a public professed retirement from active politics, former President Edgar Lungu’s shadow still looms large in the party. Deny as he may, he is the master that is still pulling strings in the dark. Just how the party extricates itself from this duplicity and Lungu’s vice like grip could well determine PF’s fate.

Ironically, he officially resigned from active politics last year August but for reasons best known to himself kept his decision secret from the larger PF fraternity until the secretary to the cabinet embarrassingly disclosed that Lungu had in fact communicated to government his decision to quit politics. Yet in a subtle but Machiavellian gambit, the former President appears to have staked out his claim to coronate his heir – but not before the sun sets on his political career.

It is Lungu and a coterie of the PF leadership that convened and presided over his party’s gathering at Chawama’s Ndozo lodge in November last year – during which Given Lubinda was anointed as the party’s Vice President. Oddly, Lungu’s resignation as the PF leader drew little interest to his vacant position – this despite the likes of Chishimba Kambwili and Brian Mundubile’s open declaration of interest in the position.

However, in a more befuddling pronouncement post the Ndozo gathering, Lubinda has since been given another position in addition to the Vice Presidency raising even more eyebrows. A question, what is Lubinda’s actual position in the PF? Is he the Vice or President? Unfortunately, only he can clarify. Curiously, the party has overtly licenced the media to address him as they wish – depending on the occasion.

Is this a responsible way of managing a modern political formation? Off course not but there is reason for this madness; to keep the Presidential seat as warm as possible for Mundubile while canvassing party grassroot structures to keep Kambwili at bay. It’s an open secret that Lungu, the influential Mpika and Chinsali cliques in the party, have finally settled on Mundubile – the PF Mpika Central lawmaker as the heir apparent to the former President’s throne. But is he the true greens’ choice to lead the party? Certainly not.

For now, only Kambwili who is staring a possible expulsion from the party or an exclusion from the elective conference stands in the way of Mundubile’s coronation. However, if expelled or barred from the conference, Kambwili will unlikely give up on his ambitions without a fight. At least, he might take a sizable chunk of PF supporters with him. If this happens, it could just widen the party’s options to self-destruct.

Meanwhile, as the ship sails without a captain, seven parliamentary bye-elections are in the offing. The entire top leadership except for Mundubile have a date with the law. Brandishing its daggers in the way of the PF, the UPND is already smelling blood. Although not in the short-term, the reality is that Zambia’s democracy will eventually take a knock – especially in the absence of a formidable opposition to provide adequate checks and balances to the ruling party.

For the UPND faithful, this will be their hallelujah moment. One can almost hear them sharpening their vocal cords as they prepare to belt that famous solemn: tinali nawo, tinali nawo, tinali nawooo x2.

About the Author: Mwanza enjoys reading Political History and Philosophy. Thanks to a first-time visit to Joe Mbuzi over the festive break, he now eats goat meat. For feedback, email [email protected]