Catalogue of UPND weaknesses that may have emboldened ba Lungu

Immediately after the New Dawn Administration swept into power, with a landslide margin following the crucial 2021 general elections, most former PF leaders would fold the proverbial tails between their legs and scamper in different directions. Fearing possible reprisals from the newly elected government; some went into self-imposed exile, others quickly announced their ‘early’ retirement from politics while others went into complete hibernation as they awaited what would follow next.

Well, since we are in Africa not in the West, they obviously anticipated revenge attacks, mass arrests and raids on their properties in search of stolen properties among others. Little did they realise President Hichilema is actually a genuine believer……a perfect example of a church elder in the Seventh Day Church who had no time for revenge unlike some of those that have gone before him, particularly his predecessor who had openly made it clear he would arrest his nemesis immediately after scooping the polls, throw him in prison and toss away the keys!

However, when Hichilema stepped up on the podium in the National Heroes Stadium to give his inauguration speech that day, he’d prove that he’s a unique brand of politician cut from a totally different piece of fabric unlike most of our politicians.

“We will restore the rule of law, general order in our public places and communities, and return our country back to normalcy. Read my lips, no more cadreism from any political party. There is room, there is space for all of you but there is no space for thuggery, no space for violence. It is a new dawn for the country going forward,” he told the boisterous and exuberant crowd that had filled up the stadium to witness his inauguration.

Truth be told, President Hichilema’s decision to depart from the “cho-chise kind of politics” (an eye for an eye or tooth for tooth) and play smart politics as if we’re in the West has somehow emboldened ba Edgar Lungu and his followers and given them ample space to start making unnecessary noise! There’s absolutely nothing that may have motivated ba Lungu to get back into politics other than a desire to exert revenge. What’s he coming back to achieve that he failed to accomplish during his 7 years in power?

Here’s a complete catalogue of UPND’s weaknesses that is actually giving ba Lungu and his followers courage to mercilessly attack and criticise government to the point of inciting people to rise against this particular government:

Failure to strip ba Lungu of his immunity
Before he became President; ba Lungu was a struggling lawyer scrapping a living in Chawama shanty compound. But lo and behold, today he has made himself a fortune; miraculously ‘metamorphosing’ into a very wealthy individual surpassing even Dr. Kenneth Kaunda who was in power for some 27 donkey years! Not even Chiluba who was dragged to court on account of plundering our national resources can be said to have accumulated so much wealth during his 10 years tenure as compared to this once poor man from Chawama. If we are not mistaken, he’s definitely qualifies to wear a crown as of the most indigenous elites in our country today. Apart from those shebeens in Chawama, what other businesses was ba Lungu running prior to moving into State House? Where has his wealthy suddenly come from?

If at all there’s every reason to believe be Lungu betrayed the trust of the people and stole from them, government must stop procrastinating and strip him off of his immunity, immediately! If you want to talk about precedence, it’s already there. Well, Chiluba arrested Kaunda, Mwanawasa stripped Chiluba of his immunity, Sata did the same to Banda. We are waiting with keen interest for government to conclude its investigations so that investigative wings can swiftly move in and arrest ba Lungu for whatever transgressions he might have committed against our people.

Failure to search properties of former leaders
If those collasal amounts, in both foreign and local currencies, that were found secured in the garage of a former radio personality or indeed the cash which was entrusted into the hands of a relative of a wife to one of the leaders, which she ended up ‘chewing’ of course is anything to go by, there’s every reason to believe former ministers, permanent secretaries and other senior government officials had mountains of cash stashed in their homes or farms. If those close to the president can do this, what about those serving at his behest? Think about all those all those impressive fleets of vehicles that have been found abandoned or hidden at some of their properties of our former leaders by the investigative wings?

UPND knew PF was upto no good; immediately the party was dislodged from power, government should have swiftly moved in to conduct thorough clean ups on the properties of such individuals – startling discoveries would have been made! Sadly, we gave these looters ample time to hide or destroy any incriminating evidence and now they can move around with clear consciences.

Failure to change the currency
Since those in government today had a hint former leaders still had lots of money hidden everywhere, one of the first steps government should have taken to beat them at their dirty game was to change our currency. Alas, those who had gone completely mute immediately after the elections have since found their voices and are now going full throttle challenging the government! Why is it so? They still have lots of money to guarantee their freedom – to hire expensive lawyers or bribe their way out of trouble!

Failure to clean up the civil service
There are still a lot of PF members lurking in the corridors of power, some of them occupying sensitive government positions as permanent secretaries, director generals, directors and district education board secretaries etc. These are the ones that are advancing the interests of the opposition by leaking sensitive information or simply throwing in spanners in the operations of government. There’s no doubt that most of these individuals rose to their positions by virtue of being aligned to the former ruling party. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that such individuals wouldn’t want to see the new dawn administration succeed so that they can go back to their thieving and corrupt ways. Government needs to completely overhaul the entire system and get rid of the bad eggs. There are a lot of career serving individuals who deserve such positions and not necessarily cadres!

Failure to extend a carrot to critical voices
Immediately President Sata took over the mantles of power, he swiftly moved in to subdue critical voices that could have given him headaches during his tenure. This saw a number of influential individuals from civil society and investigative scribes from the once influential The Post Newspapers being shunted into the foreign service or indeed government departments.

We have in mind apolitical individuals such as the likes of Linda Kasonde, John Sangwan and Sishuwa Sishuwa; no doubt, some of our finest brains! It doesn’t matter what roles they played or not in removing ba Lungu from power, they shouldn’t have been allowed to remain on the loose. These may be potential trouble makers that may give government headaches.

Failure to form Task Force on Corruption
According to BBC, newly elected Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai has set up a task force to crackdown on corruption and to recover stolen state assets.

His executive order said assets “wrongfully acquired at the expense of the government and people of Liberia” should be returned. Nomba imwe you want to take a soft approach on these criminals!

It would have probably been more beneficial for government to assemble a Task Force on Corruption or better still a Central Bureau of Investigations comprised of individuals with various expertise from different sectors – legal fraternity, intelligence, Zambia Police, National Prosecutions Authority, Financial Intelligence Centre, Zambia Revenue Authority and the Drug Enforcement Commission. These might have done a thorough job of pursuing suspected criminals, securing their convictions and recovering what belongs to the people.

Failure to ‘sansizo’ (motivate) cadres
Take a visit to most of UPND blogs; where are they not complaining? Let’s not fool ourselves…..most of us get into politics to eat! The same way that those that get appointed as ministers or civil servants are quick to claim allowances on top of their lofty salaries is the same way that party cadres want to be somehow “rewarded” for providing services to their party vis a vis defending the party from incessant attacks, explaining the party manifesto and of course, mobilisation. Heading into an election with a cabal of largely demotivated cadres is as good as dispatching soldiers into the battlefield with blank bullets! Of course government is rolling out various empowerment funds but should not expect everyone to appreciate this concept. Think of the call boys in the stations, our mothers breaking stones by the sides of the roads, our grandmothers braving the sun in the markets, our grandfathers working as security guards…… they’ve no time to fulfill all the requirements to access these funds. They just want to eat and move on. Remember to give them “ka sumfing” once in a while.

Failure to have a vibrant media team
The UPND media team in its current form is lethargic, moribund, media shy, inept and highly inefficient! When the opposition and other government critics are seen rushing to every media house discrediting and spewing propaganda against President Hichilema and his government or offloading loads of untruths on social aimed at tarnishing the image of government, the UPND media team shockingly remains in deep slumber! The only moment you tend to get any reaction from them is when the inferno might have already spread out of control and left a trail of damage in its wake. Contrast this with the time of PF in power when Sunday Chanda was at the helm as Media Director with Antonio Mwanza as his deputy…. Before anyone could even open their mouths to criticize government, the duo would be appearing on radio stations or featuring on live TV interviews fending off attacks. As for the social media, they remained vigilant 24/7! What’s stopping the UPND media team from doing the same?

Prince Bill M Kaping’a
Political/Social Analyst