It’s very disappointing to see the proliferation of regional political parties…..nay, Bantustans as Fred M’membe’s The Post Newspaper loved to put it, in our beloved country.
This country is made up of 10 provinces; any political party aspiring to assume the reins of power is expected to have representation in every corner of the country. This is the only way we can make every citizen feel part and parcel of the government hence, enhancing national unity!
There must be no room for political parties that prioritize sectarian interests to establish its roots in this country as this is obviously bound to fuel polarisation in an already delicate state. This is probably what forced of our founding President, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda to take the undesirable route of one-party state. One would easily sympathise with KK as there was the mushrooming of regional political parties such as Nalumino Mundia’s United Party (UP) and Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe’s United Progressive Party (UPP) right after independence. They basically commanded support in northern and western regions, respectively.
During the days of UPND in opposition, the party went an extra mile to field candidates everywhere in this country, including regions where the party accumulated recording zeros like Sean Tembo. It’s sad that Fred M’membe’s pet project, the Socialist Party, seems to be struggling in these elections thanks to troubles bessetting his financiers in Cuba and Venezuela. In the last elections for instance, he managed to field candidates countrywide, including those who did not possess any coin to their name! Alas, he failed to secure any parliamentary seat.
Coming to this year’s elections, it’s interesting to see that most opposition political parties that have been ‘making noise’ on social media have zero representation in certain parts of the country, let alone failed to field parliamentary candidates in all the constituencies. How do you expect to run a country like that? You want to take us back to the dark days of PF when certain regions were eclipsed from governance of this nation by sidelining them from government positions?
It’s absolutely sad that notable intellectuals whom we admire and respect such as US based Field Ruwe could be wasting time encouraging the opposition to resort to using tribalism to defeat President Hichilema in the forthcoming elections as opposed to advancing ideas. What sort of thinking is that?
Take Brian Mundubile’s NRPUP for instance, the party has lamentably failed to field candidates in all the 226 constituencies and you expect citizens to have a sense of belonging? For example, Mundubile has failed to float a candidate in a significant constituency such as Solwezi central in a province currently contributing the bulk of the national Treasury due to the presence of massive mineral deposits which the government of President Hichilema has managed to unlock due to sound policies.
How do expect people in that region to react? Can you say such a political party is ripe and ready to govern this country? Aikona man. It’s HH Mpaka 2O31!
Prince Bill M. Kaping’a
National Coordinator
HH Mpaka 2O31!
