REMEMBERING VICTORIA KALIMA (1972–2018)
Some politicians enter Parliament quietly. Others arrive like they have been waiting for the microphone their entire lives.
Kalima was firmly in the second category.
Born on 4 October 1972 in Kitwe, Kalima was a diminutive woman with a political voice considerably larger than her frame.
Perhaps being born in Kitwe had something to do with that fearless attitude, because this was a woman who clearly did not receive the memo that politicians are supposed to be intimidated by the size of the person sitting across the aisle.
Kalima attended Kabale Primary School before proceeding to Lwitikila Girls School in Mpika. She later obtained diplomas in Agricultural Business Management and International Relations.
Her agricultural qualifications eventually found practical expression when she established Plant Agri-Chem Services in 1999.
Before becoming her own boss, Kalima worked as a Business Administrator at the Zambia Cooperative Federation in Lusaka from 1994 to 1998.
Then came 2011, and Kalima decided that business was apparently not enough drama.
She entered politics after being adopted by the MMD in Kasenengwa and announced herself rather loudly.
Kalima defeated the PF’s Saul Zulu by a margin that would make modern election strategists reach for their calculators:
Kalima—18,650 votes.
Zulu—1,141 votes.
That was a difference of 17,509 votes.
In other words, Kasenengwa did not merely vote. Kasenengwa made a statement and underlined it.
But the MMD lost government, and Kalima quickly became one of the more vocal defenders of former President Rupiah Banda’s legacy, who was also her godfather.
Inside Parliament, she was never exactly the type to sit quietly, smile politely and wait for the tea break.
She frequently took the PF government to task, earning herself regular encounters with the Speaker.
Kalima seemed to have developed a particularly interesting relationship with parliamentary authority: the Speaker would call for order, and Kalima would apparently regard it as a suggestion.
Then came the post 2011 election petitions saga. The Petauke central seat had just been nullified by the Courts.
In one of the more memorable protests of that period, Kalima walked barefoot from Lusaka’s Central Business District to mass media area, demanding the resignation of Acting Chief Justice Lombe Chibesakunda.
Kalima chanted: “we want food not by elections.”
Politics had officially moved from suits and parliamentary speeches to bare feet and political theatre.
Kalima’s own electoral victory would later be nullified by the Supreme Court over allegations surrounding her campaign activities, including the distribution of bicycles and chitenge materials.
She was also accused of fear-mongering during the campaign, including claims that a PF victory would result in old people being killed and ARV distribution being stopped.
The courts eventually sent her back to the political drawing board.
And Kalima, being Kalima, simply went back to the electorate.
A 2014 Kasenengwa by-election followed.
She won again.
Kalima — 10,936 votes.
Gideon Zulu — 3,484 votes.
The margin was smaller this time, but the message was still unmistakable:
Nullify the seat. She would return with another ballot paper.
In the 2015 presidential by election, she campaigned for UPND President Hakainde Hichilema.
By the 2016 general election, however, she had crossed over to the very PF she had spent years confronting in Parliament.
Politics, as usual, had demonstrated that yesterday’s opponent can become today’s colleague faster than Parliament can print a new order paper.
The PF adopted her as its candidate in Kasenengwa.
And, once again, she won.
Kalima — 12,494 votes.
Gideon Zulu — 3,235 votes, this time contesting under the MMD banner.
Following the 2016 election, President Edgar Lungu appointed Kalima Minister of Gender.
From a business administrator to entrepreneur, from MMD parliamentarian to opposition firebrand, from UPND campaigner to PF candidate, and eventually to Cabinet minister, Kalima’s political journey was anything but a straight line.
It was more like a Zambian political road after the rains, many turns, a few potholes, several detours, but somehow still reaching Kasenengwa.
Sadly, her political journey was cut short.
Kalima died at Maina Soko Military Hospital in Lusaka on 11 June 2018 after an illness aged 45.
She left behind two children.
Whatever one’s political views, Kalima’s place in Zambia’s political history is difficult to ignore.
She was outspoken, combative, unpredictable in her political movements and seemingly allergic to political silence.
Small in stature. Large in political noise.
That was Victoria Kalima.
May her soul rest in peace.
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