By Prince Bill M. Kaping’a Political/Social Analyst
Warm and fraternal greetings!
The results coming out of Luangwa are obviously painful and disappointing. However, this doesn’t come as a surprise to some of us; firstly, this is a PF stronghold and secondly, we seem to have taken a ‘white collar’ approach to this game (politics) which is essentially a contact sport. We aren’t shy to confess we saw it coming. Our sixth sense told us we were going to lose this Mayoral seat, just as we are likely to lose Kabushi or Kwacha constituencies.
Why do we say so?
During the last 7 years of PF in power, our leaders became accustomed to showing off money in public and handing it out to ‘desperate and starving’ citizens like Santa Claus would handout sweets to excitable children. In this case, we are referring to vulnerable people in society who would endure the scorching heat in winding queues to cast their votes in diverse places as Chibolya, Marapodi, Chipulukusu, Ipusukilo, Maiteneke…….like that old woman who rejected a chitenge from the Republican Vice president Mutale Nalumango in Kabushi, recently.
If you consider the two constituencies which are up for grabs – Kabushi and Kwacha respectively, there’s no semblance of development to write home about – acute shortage of water is the order of the day, the roads remain impassable, social amenities are non-existence whereas crime is equally rife. Going by the level of support the immediate MPs command in the constituencies, it seems the duo put “tantameni” to greater effect!
Make no mistake, the brilliant policy of free education hasn’t yet taken effect in such areas. It seems the language they best understand is “tantameni” – accruing direct benefits from the politicians such as 3 pieces of silver to buy Shake Shake or Pamela and indeed covering their funeral expenses such costs of a hearse, coffin, transport and food among others. At the end of the day, this would have guaranteed unshakable loyalty……….no amount of persuasion would sway them away, no matter what. Recent events demonstrate that providing services to our citizens in a structured way isn’t appreciated by many. Do you know the reason why opposition party leaders have now taken to echoing the mind-numbing “UPND government yakaso” mantra?
Last night we had chance to watch, a video clip of controversial Nigerian cleric Seer 1. He wasn’t the excitable and loud person that we know. He was rather sad and downcast. He warned that if PF bounces back in power, they would first begin by imprisoning President Hichilema whether he has a case or not before extending the dragnet to others. Edgar Lungu himself revealed this evil ploy a few weeks before elections. What happened in Luangwa must serve a case study to better understand why the people of Luangwa didn’t vote for UPND.
When you talk about the black mountain for instance, it’s only a privileged few benefitting from the proceeds leaving out the poor. By the way, there a lot of youth trekking from Kwacha daily in search of opportunities at the black mountain. Alas, it’s only a few selfish leaders in a hurry to catch with PF thugs in terms of accumulating wealth enjoying the spoils! Within the blink of an eye, you see them driving impressive SUVs straight from the showroom and acquiring mansions in upmarket suburbs as the youth from vulnerable households watch from the sidelines. Sadly, most citizens are equally fast losing confidence in the idea of forming cooperatives as a panacea to their economic woes as the money is taking long to reach them or some senior party and government officials have formed cartels to exclusively access this money for their own selfish benefit.
One may argue that the loss of Luangwa is a minor setback; it isn’t Mr. President. You may be keen to learn that most Cabinet ministers, MPs and DCs have totally insulated themselves from the very people that gave them power – they no longer pick up phone calls and move around in tinted vehicles at high speed. Not everyone may appreciate that the New Dawn Administration has gone out of the way to deploy thousands of civil servants countrywide as they are used to “tantameni.” This is the basic language they seem to easily understand in the shortest term. It is common knowledge that PF leaders wasted no time dipping their hands into the treasury. They went away with huge chunks of cash which is now stashed in their homes and farms. They are now eager to use this ‘loot’ to reclaim back power buoyed by generous contributions from Mafias and criminals hibernating under the shield of the corporate world.
As late veteran politician Daniel Munkombwe once confessed, most people are into politics to eat, including our very own party officials. In the recently suspended Kwacha constituency parliamentary by-elections, for instance, I recall reports of how some party officials were pocketing money meant for campaigns or the incessant complaints from the foot soldiers about poor diets at command centers and paltry allowances whenever they go out engaging would be electorates. They saw their colleagues in PF eating and they also want to eat. It’s not too late Sir, try to work on some of the issues highlighted above
I disagree with most of what you have advanced as the reasons for the UPND loss. It’s just too early for HH and team to begin to test the waters. UPND doesn’t enjoy nationwide popularity. I encourage you to study the results of the last election. The difference between ECL and HH in Southern, Western & North Western was over a million votes out of about 1.1M voters while in 7 Provinces it was around 60,000. The turnout in Tongaland was a suspicious average 98%, it’s unprecedented! If PF regains its lost votes in the 7 provinces then Bally is out. UPND has a weak a SG in Batuke Imenda, and HH is helping the PF to regain lost votes by displacing Easterners & Northerners and replacing them with Tongas and Lozis in many institutions. It’s better he concentrates on service delivery in the…
Ayatollah, this unspoken truth about HH garnering a million votes in basically one province needs to be critically analyzed by UPND as well as opposition.
UPND should work on being a true national party and opposition needs to show that they can get votes in that one province.
Largely, the last election was a protest vote against the PF with majority voters not being UPND members but voting for the party because it had a realistic chance of unsettling PF.
Now the UPND needs to act better than PF (no funny gimmicks at by-election, leaving state institutions and leaders alone;DPP, ECZ, Mary Chirwa scandal, State House political advisor and PS Akafumba, Zambians are watching).
UPND zealots are praise singing, millions of other *undecided* voters are observing.
Problems are in Leichester City and Patson Daka,
HH has to fix Leichester City, because there is no way Patson Daka should come back to play at Power Dynamos like just Shonga back to Nkwazi.
CONT’D, It’s better he concentrates on service delivery in the 7 provinces instead of causing by-elections. All projects have stalled since he assumed office. People haven’t yet grasped the new CDF concept. So it’s a grave political mistake to try and hound Lusambo and Malanji out of Parliament. Luangwa has set the tone, Kabushi and Kwacha might ignite a PF resurgence. I agree with you on the Black Mountain. The UPND have dug their own political grave in Kitwe due to how they have handled the Mountain. It’s difficult to advise the UPND because they’re incorrigible. The UPND win wasn’t widely celebrated on the Copperbelt so they must tread carefully.
kikikikikik HH put his wife on the UNGA trip……PF reloaded….more shopping,,,,Saks fifth avenue…. half of US$1.3 billion will be spent in the New York by Mutinta
The president always has been entitled to a spouse’s ticket at state cost. You want him to go for prostitutes in New York?
I can’t believe I’m reading this kind of analysis. Defeats logic. If what you’ve written is the case, PF would be in power today. The electorate is educated now more than you think. UPND can go with tantameni but people will still not vote for them simply because UPND is doing exactly what PF was doing, and worse have elevated it to a higher level. No tantameni will make people vote for UPND in it’s current form. The change people wanted is worse that before, that’s the reason we’re seeing people voting back PF. People complained about PF, they didn’t listen so they voted them out. People are complaining about UPND, they are not listening so the vote is coming. That’s the truth. Believe it or not it’s entirely up to you.
Mr Kapinga you are one the problems. You have spent time on demonizing Edgar Lungu an already dead person. You have covertly waged a tribal campaign against us. You have been inciting the president to exact vengeance against anyone and anything associated with the former ruling party.
You analysis is devoid of logic and has come too late.
Some Easterners were appointed by Levi Mwanawasa to senior government positions. RB maintained them. Sata came and fired them. Sata dismissed many Easterners on the assumption that they were in post through RB’s perceived tribalism. Sata kept all the Northerners in post. Lungu came and tried to re-employ some Easterners but could do nothing about the Northerners whose support he needed for his precarious position in PF. He fired many from NW, W and S provinces. These provinces never voted for him. HH came and re-employed the many from NW, W and S provinces and fired many from N and E provinces, in spite of the fact that many were innocent and even voted for him. 2026 will be interesting indeed.
Fake analysis
It is not 7 provinces against 3. You seem to forget that most of Central and Lusaka province are Bantu Botatwe land. You also ignore that you have lost the last 3 elections, but held on to power by cheating. You also inflated the vote in your own provinces, and depressed them in the others. Look, there have been 6 elections since 1991. You cheated to keep Kaunda from regaining power in 1996; You cheated to keep Mr Mazoka out of power in 2001 and murdered him shortly thereafter. Mwanawassa won legitimately in 2006. You lied to the Lozi about Barotseland question to get their vote and win in 2011. You lost in 2015 and 2016, and cheated to keep HH out of power. You tried to cheat but were thwarted in 2016. The next elections, HH will be overseeing the ECZ, tell me how you are going to cheat?
…correction: It is not 7 provinces against 3. You seem to forget that most of Central and Lusaka province are Bantu Botatwe land. You also ignore that you lost the last 3 elections, but held on to power by cheating. You also inflated the vote in your own provinces, and depressed it in the others. Look, there have been 6 elections since 1991: You cheated to keep Kaunda from regaining power in 1996; You cheated to keep Mr Mazoka out of power in 2001 and murdered him shortly thereafter. Mwanawassa won legitimately in 2006; You lied to the Lozi about the Barotseland question to get their vote and win in 2011; You lost in 2015 and 2016, and cheated to keep HH out of power; You tried to cheat but were thwarted in 2021. In the next elections, HH will be overseeing the ECZ, tell me how you are…
Central has bisas Lalas, swakas, Lenjes Solis Kundas which most are you talking about?
Nalumango attempted a tantameni in Kabushi just recently and she was blatantly rejected.
This is a case of the haves and have-nots! Politicians are eating and the poor are starving! The poor are hoping for a crumb to fall off the politician’s table! And Mr. President…..tell the Ministers to answer their emails!
This article is a very sober one.