BM8 SCORED BECAUSE HE UNDERSTOOD THE CROWD
By Charlotte Salivaji Næss – Governance Activist
Politics is not only about who has the correct facts. It is also about who explains those facts in a way that ordinary people can understand, feel and remember.
This is why the current debate on national reserves is important.
On the reserves campaign message, BM8 scored. Not because the argument was technically perfect, but because it achieved what political communication is meant to achieve. It connected with the public, provoked debate and forced a response.
Hon. Brian Mundubile is an educated man, a lawyer and a seasoned politician. I do not believe for one second that he does not understand the purpose of national reserves. What he understood very well was his crowd, their frustrations and the power of a simple message
That is the lesson those helping President Hakainde Hichilema must take seriously.
In politics, a complicated truth can easily lose to a simple slogan. That does not mean slogans are always right. It means leaders and their teams must learn to communicate truth in a language that people understand.
National reserves are not useless money sitting somewhere for decoration. They are important for the stability of the country. They help protect the economy in difficult times, support confidence and give the country breathing space when external shocks come.
But that explanation alone may not move the ordinary citizen who is worried about mealie meal, rent, transport, school needs and the cost of living.
To such a citizen, the explanation must come closer to home.
National reserves are like the emergency money many responsible women keep safely ku chitenge. You may not touch it every day, but when trouble comes, that money protects the home. It does not mean the family has no problems. It means there is something kept aside to help the family survive difficult days.
That is the language people understand.
The ruling party must not respond to every opposition message with anger or technical lectures. Sometimes the best response is not to sound more educated, but to sound more connected.
People do not reject economic explanations because they hate knowledge. They reject them when those explanations sound far removed from their daily struggles.
A marketeer does not wake up thinking about macroeconomic stability. A bus driver does not start the day by analysing foreign reserves. A young graduate looking for employment is not comforted by technical graphs. A mother struggling with food prices wants to know how national progress will eventually enter her home.
That is where political communication matters.
President Hakainde Hichilema needs people who can help him campaign in plain language. Not only people in suits and ties explaining economics from a distance, but people who can translate policy into household language, market language, youth language and rural language.
The President’s economic message may have facts behind it, but facts must be carried by language that reaches the people.
If inflation is improving, explain what that means for food prices. If reserves are growing, explain why they matter to a household. If debt restructuring has created breathing space, explain how that space will be used to improve lives. If the economy is recovering, show citizens where that recovery is beginning to touch them.
Communication must not only defend government. It must build trust.
This is also a lesson for the opposition. A message that connects with people must still be responsible. Zambia deserves more than slogans. We need political messages that are simple, but also truthful. We need leaders who can challenge government without misleading citizens, and a government that can respond without sounding arrogant or detached.
Democracy is strongest when citizens understand the issues.
On this one, BM8 understood his crowd. Let us clap for him and learn the lesson.
You cannot fight a simple political message with complicated explanations. You fight it by making the truth even simpler.
Zambia deserves issue based politics. But issue based politics must also be people centred. It must speak to the mind, the pocket, the home and the future.
That is the kind of politics we must build.