By Kellys Kaunda
WHY DID THE BM8 TEAM FAIL TO FIELD CANDIDATES IN A GOOD NUMBER OF CONSTITUENCIES?
The answer is very simple: imingalato played by the ruling party.
A senior cabinet minister and a senior member of the ruling party confessed with emphasis that he was among the people that had caused confusion in the former ruling party.
Add to this the President openly confessing that he was playing imingalato against the former ruling party.
These were not empty words. UPND had really put in motion a destabilizing mission within the ranks of the Patriotic Front.
No need for me to rehash what has so far happened because we are all living witnesses to the damage done to PF.
Knowing that UPND was still going to politically hunt down PF members who might want to find other platforms to stand on, their political mobilization efforts took on the look of a highly guarded secret.
It was at the very last minute that they revealed the special purpose vehicle. What they couldn’t do effectively however was to find candidates to field in every constituency because they had been on the run politically.
UPND had politically scattered them effectively remaining alone to roam the political stage hoping to go into the August 13 elections unchallenged. The ruling party is therefore going into this election with a built-in-advantage.
On the other hand, the BM8 team is going in with several men down like in a game of football. Imagine suffering redcards even before you get onto the pitch! How unfair can that be?
Unfortunately, UPND is not bothered about this. It seems for them winning at any cost is the guiding principle. After all, like they say, there’re no morals in politics. It’s a very dirty and ugly game.
The game of football is a very clean game. With the recent introduction of VAR, it’s become even more clean and transparent.
When a team wins a game, it has truly and deservedly won. Not so in Zambian politics. Flouting the rules of engagement and purposely tipping the scales in favor of one party is accepted as the norm.
In football, strategy and sportsmanship are guiding lights. In Zambian politics, deceit and dishonesty rule the day and the night.
It’s a game that ironically is even played and led by a church elder. I wish the elder could listen to the sermon recently preached by Reverend Japhet Ndhlovu saying you can’t only be a Christian at church but not in your secular business or engagements. You are a Christian or an elder in all things.