ZAMBIANS ARE NOT VOTING FOR 2021. THEY ARE VOTING FOR 2026.
Mr. Saviour Chishimba and those pushing the narrative that “Zambians must never forget where they came from” are correct on one thing: We should never forget. But memory must be complete. Not selective. Not manipulated for political convenience. Because while citizens are constantly being reminded about 2021, very few in leadership want to honestly confront the reality of 2026.
Yes, we remember. We remember the debt. We remember corruption. We remember cadres. We remember abuse of power. We remember fear, arrogance, and political intolerance. But let us not insult the intelligence of citizens by pretending that remembering the past must mean remaining silent about the present. Democracy does not work like that.
A government is not elected to spend five years reminding people about its predecessor. It is elected to solve problems. And when citizens cry over hunger, unemployment, collapsed businesses, expensive fuel, load shedding, and the unbearable cost of living, leadership cannot forever respond with: “But PF…” At some point, citizens stop listening to explanations and start judging outcomes. That point has arrived.
Let us talk facts. Because numbers do not campaign. Numbers do not lie. In 2021. Fuel was around K17–K21 per litre. Today, many citizens are buying fuel at over K34 per litre whilst the exchange rate is very low. One wonders the gymnastics being played. In 2021: A 25kg bag of mealie meal averaged around K110–K150 depending on brand and location. Today, many families are buying it at K330–K380 and beyond. In 2021: Citizens were promised fertiliser at K250. Farmers know the reality today. In 2021: Citizens were promised an end to load shedding. Today, businesses are shutting down under blackouts, generator costs, damaged equipment, and reduced productivity. And while citizens suffer, they are constantly told: “Inflation is now single digit.” But here is the truth they deliberately avoid explaining properly: LOWER INFLATION DOES NOT MEAN LOWER PRICES. It simply means prices are increasing more slowly after already becoming painfully high. If mealie meal jumps from K150 to K350, the damage has already happened. Even if inflation later falls, the price does not magically return to K150. That is the deception hidden inside political statistics. Citizens are being shown percentages while living through realities. Single-digit inflation means very little when: salaries remain stagnant, electricity remains unreliable, transport costs remain high, businesses continue collapsing, • unemployment keeps growing and food prices remain unbearable.
An economy is not judged from speeches, press briefings, and PowerPoint presentations. It is judged from kitchen tables. A widow trying to feed her children does not eat economic theory. A graduate without a job cannot survive on political narratives. A businessman whose shop collapsed during endless load shedding does not recover because someone says: “Remember PF.” And this is where the current political argument becomes dangerous: Any citizen who complains about the economy is immediately labelled PF. Any concern about governance is treated as sabotage. Any criticism is dismissed as propaganda. That is not democracy. That is intolerance wrapped in moral superiority.
The truth is this: Many people who voted for change in 2021 are the same people now crying the loudest in 2026. Not because they love PF. Not because they hate government. But because survival has become difficult. And let us say something uncomfortable but true: A government cannot continue demanding gratitude for defeating PF while simultaneously failing to defeat hunger, unemployment, blackouts, and the rising cost of living. Zambians did not vote for revenge politics. They voted for economic relief.
Now to the citizens who have been made to believe: “All politicians are the same.” “Voting changes nothing.” “There is no point.” That belief is exactly what weak leadership depends on. Because when good people stop voting, suffering people stop fighting back, and citizens surrender their voice, power remains in the hands of those who have mastered propaganda over performance. Do not fall into that trap.
To the young people of Zambia: This future belongs to YOU more than anyone else. When jobs disappear, it is your future collapsing. When businesses fail, it is your opportunities dying. When debt increases, it is YOUR generation that will repay it. Do not surrender your future because politics disappointed you once. Every generation in history that wanted change had to participate in shaping it. Silence has never removed bad leadership. Voting has.
And to the elderly: You fought for this democracy. Some of you endured one-party rule. Some endured economic collapse. Some sacrificed so future generations could choose leaders peacefully. Do not allow your grandchildren to inherit endless debt, hopelessness, and a country surviving on slogans instead of solutions. Debt negotiations are not miracles. Many of these burdens are simply being postponed into the future while heavy borrowing quietly continues. And the painful truth is this: The children and grandchildren of ordinary citizens will carry the cost long after today’s politicians are gone.
Fellow citizens, People do not return to former leaders because they have forgotten history. People return because the present has become unbearable. That is the hard truth many in power are refusing to confront. Citizens are not prisoners of 2021. They are witnesses of 2026. And when elections come, people will not vote based on who tells the best story about the past. They will vote based on who has made life bearable in the present and who gives believable hope for the future. Do not stay home. Do not surrender.
Do not allow fear campaigns and propaganda to replace your judgment. Vote. Vote with your eyes open. Vote with your stomach in mind. Vote with your children’s future in mind. Vote with the reality of your daily life in mind. And if leadership has failed to improve your life after all the promises, then democracy gives you one peaceful and powerful option: Vote them out.
Ephraim Shakafuswa
Chairperson and Spokesperson – Media, Information & Publicity
PF PAMODZI ALLIANCE
Things unbearable, tell me one country where things are bearable. Moreover you haven’t said where the magicians who will provide cheap mealie meal, cheap fuel , fertilizer, is. Yes they are saying PF, but I do not need to be reminded, going back to PF is going back to Pangas, never again. You are also theorising without revealing the magic that will solve problems.