Lamentations of a disappointed Youth Chairperson.
By Prince Ndoyi,
While on my sabbatical, I yesterday saw in one of the WhatsApp groups a TV promo of a political interview on Prime Television’s Oxygen of Democracy with Gilbert Liswaniso the national youth chairman.
Since August 2021, I have not bothered to watch local TV apart from Muvi TV and Diamond TV, worse of ZNBC news. I zoned off. So this particular interview, I thought I try it out, out of curiosity especially that the Host was Musokotwane a friend, and the Guest was equally a friend on any given day despite our different political views.
The last time we met, he persuaded me to join him, a request I gracefully declined for obvious reasons.
Wow, fastforward was not a bad interview after all lastnight, but minute after minute into it I thought my Liswaniso shouldn’t have taken the interview after all. Why? Coz in a subtle manner it was very exposing, one with a political eye can see through Liswaniso and the travesty of his wilderness. Liswaniso has on countless times, attempted to defend the party from the simmering frustrations of the expectant youth within UPND. They want answers now, not tomorrow. That you can give him credit for.
My brother struggled to defend his party from the growing frustrations of his followers the youths. One does not need rocket science to measure thier frustrations, its physically easy to see on thier faces.
Unfortunately for him, the situation on the ground is getting worse and worse. Copperbelt, Lusaka and the traditional UPND strongholds. Atleast right after they won, his message about patience could easily resonate and was easier for them to understand. Its no longer the case because they are now into Mr Hakainde’s second year.
Look at him, the President and his vice are literally foot soldiers during by-elections, why? Because you have demoralised and demotivated youth wing. Never seen before we have a sitting President campaigning in ward by-elections.
Liswaniso struggled to save face, his posture and message were not in tandem. One could see the pressure. The pressure on the ground has reached his neck, they will nolonger listen to him, it will soon overrun him.
I hate to break the sad reality to the genuine UPND youths not the old grumpy folks who masquerade to be youths that UPND unfortunately has no capacity to reward its members.
There is no established REWARD SYSTEM in UPND. The sooner they realise it the better. Starting from the PRESIDENT and his inner circle in the UPND doesn’t believe in the politics of rewarding thier loyal lieutenants. Sadly as it were in politics, only a few benefit, mostly its the late comers that eat the whole cake they never participated in baking.
Truth be told, there lies similarities between the late Mwanawasa and HH in terms of party management. If you may ask around from those who were there in MMD, they will tell you that MMD as a party died the moment Mwanawasa took over as party president. He had no place, time and energy for the party which took him into office.
Today when one talks about cadres or cadrerism, you hear people pretending they don’t know the role of a cadre in the political life of every political party. Liswaniso’s struggle was to openly say the cadres have been sidelined in broad daylight. But like fools cadres it’s the cadres themselves who go round parading themselves hypocritically defending thier being sidelined. They were used, now they have no value until 2026. Apparently they are told to form coperatives of 30 to 40 people with hope of recieving and sharing 34,000 as capital, what a joke.
Apparently, Liswaniso knows all to well the role the cadres played, no wonder he has taken the lone fight in appealing for patience. Deep down he knows that it’s not the so called school leavers or millennials who were bused to escort HH on his mask distribution exercise in the provinces. Most times with no food and proper accommodation. And they say, no cadres! some of your ministers are even very arrogant they forget easily.
Back to the interview, the Host Musokotwane struggled with the choice of some words and answers used by Liswaniso. But Liswaniso knowing the real problem kept blowing hot air. I will not be surprised to hear Liswaniso has been posted on a govt job, because he will soon become a thorn in thier flesh with his reality politics. His honesty will eat him up.
I want to repeat, what keeps any political party longer in power in African politics, is how well established thier REWARD SYSTEM is designed. That is the ethos of politics. Sadly for UPND they don’t have a Secretary General. And the one who gets this job done on behalf of the party is supposed to be the SG. When you see the SG, you have seen the President. Thats how it works with ruling parties anywhere in this part of the world, just look at ANC in South Africa. But Mr Batuke Imenda is the most ineffective SG in the history of ruling parties worse of than Major Kachingwe, not probably because he knows not his work, but because their President HH is the party unto himself. He himself is the party and the party is himself.
So to you Bo Liswaniso, prepare for more BP. Your party will not change because its not in their belief system, and if it does it may be a little late of which the youths/cadres will know that it’s a gimmick to use them again, that unity you were calling upon is fast gone its each one for himself, I have never seen even PF at its lowest never treated its people in the manner your party is doing. Soon your youths will start beating govt officials, like they did to the Mayor in Mazabuka. And by the time you realise, your party will be very unpopular and ready to leave the stage as the shortest lived govt. KUMAWA BAKUTI CHISILU CHINAONA NKONDO, NAPITA!!!
The jealous from pf cadres still lingers on. I pity you ndoyi. Move on upnd is in power now..u beter realise they ar far superior than your pf..
One year a million difficulties and you are proud of being in power we chinangwa!
Akaso te economics.
Only phools will believe what politicians promise. Simple logic….at independence Zambia had a population of only 3million people while industry was big enough to absolve those who had reached employment age. Those were the days we used to laugh at those who were not in regular employment. The population has doubled six fold but the industry has not just grown but dwindled to nothing.
So the only thing to announce the number of people being employed in civil service…..something we never experienced in all previous governnts.
My advice to Liswaniso is that he sits down and try to imagine yes imagine of any solution that can pull our youth off the streets….he should remember that HH and Musokotwane are not magicians, that is if magic actually works. Let him face the reality or unless…
I don’t think Mwanawasa ‘killed’ MMD. It instead outlived its stay and people sought change. FTJ’s third term, like that of EL, relegated their parties to all time low support base and life time shock.
As for CDF, it won’t sustain the youth wing who are the viable but discouraged boots on the ground youths, that why they hope for Mwaliteta for fortunes.
Look at the Kwacha and Kabushi where the president camped for 1 week; the VP also courted CB for several days fruitlessly campaining ; and the president visited again until a day before elections, where the entire party only got 10% and 12% votes to win when they were literally unopposed. Embarrassingly awful for New Dawn. And all current failures are heavily heeped on PF.
he can be able to convince these two gentle to employ at least 12million youths in civil service.
When you tune in to different radio stations these days, you hear piles and piles of complaints and displeasure. Make the money available in the local economy and all the despondence will disappear. Pay the local suppliers and contractors for whom you have subjected to 5 auditing firms run by your friends and relatives. Bally risks being the shortest serving president ever.
Ati the youth has not benefited. Self imposed blindness mr ndoyi. U can’t see the recruitment in public service. Yo pf was more interested in using other pipos children in violence and then pay them. You call that benefiting the youth. Ar u really such a dunderhead to be comparing hh with lungu in terms of empowering the youth. Really…
Illiteracy at its best……….
Any realistic person knows not every youth can be employed immediately………..
The Zambian people kicked PF out. UPND cadres played a very minor role in the 2021 election win. What did they do to deserve any reward? The party should focus on doing a recruitment drive to convert the 2.8m voters into UPND members before 2026
It is amazing how in Zambia we are so much fond of pointing at problems and wishing the solutions will materialise from the ether if we shout loudest at what the problems are. No one offers solutions at all. PF were there for 10 solid years. It is a dreadful indictment of PF that there were more than 30,000 trained teachers, 11,000 trained health workers and thousands more in other fields UNEMPLOYED, while they were drinking champaigne on Nkhwazi one and sleeping on cash in their bedrooms. UPND has suggestested a solution- increased CDF, called for cooperatives and even employed the thousands. It may not be sufficient but it is a solution nontheless. Should we just have maintained the status quo with PF?
Maintain the status quo? That aint what the people are saying. They are looking for anyne who will offer solutions. Yes Political solutions.
What is the writer saying?
The last time we met, he persuaded me to join him, a request I gracefully declined for obvious reasons.
He persuaded you. But you declined. So how did he persuade you????