Saboi Imboela
CHIPO MWANAWASA IS A GREAT APPOINTMENT- YOUNG, FOCUSSED AND INTELLIGENT WOMAN
The politician in me wanted to keep quiet and let the UPND be rebuked by its members so that they feel how others feel when their unruly cadres insult them all day and they are quiet as leaders. But the activist in me, can’t allow a person be rebuked for something people don’t know, and I keep quiet when I know the truth.
Some UPND members, especially new ones, may not know Chipo and look at her as having gotten that appointment because of her name but that is far from the truth.
I met Chipo in 2014/15 and she is certainly one of the most hard working, humble, focused and intelligent young people I met in the UPND. Chipo is very friendly and gets work done.
Despite having been the first child and literally grew up in the eyes of the Zambians as that cute, chubby little girl that was always with President Mwanawasa, she is very humble and can talk to the toughest thug on the street and the highest intellectual in an office, in a bid to convince them to vote for HH.
Chipo would even go to Chibolya to talk to the thugs there to get them to join UPND and I remember how she was the one that also convinced some notorious cadres, that would beat up UPND members in Chilenje, to join UPND. Parties have thugs and cadres and Chipo never feared to talk to any thug or cadre that was terrorising the UPND in many places including Chibolya, where some people in UPND have never even set foot.
I remember being added to a Strategy group of the UPND (and this is the first time I’m publicly speaking about this) because people in UPND need to understand that their party had both formal structures and informal or even secret ones where a number of people the party thought could contribute greatly to the strategies of the party would be assigned.
We were seven and I was the only female in the Strategy group, and being the gender activist that I am I complained about that. They challenged me to recommend someone and I recommended Chipo Mwanawasa and Dr. Munkombwe from South Africa and we ended up being the only 3 females in that group.
By the way, Dr. Mwananyanda who was appointed as the Projects and Implementation person at Statehouse by President HH was also part of this group and so was Mr. Clayson Hamasaka, the new Media Director at Statehouse. So I was laughing when I saw people criticise Dr. Mwananyanda’s appointment and ask where he was coming from because they have no idea what that man has done for their party. In other words, the advisers and people surrounding HH at statehouse right now have been some of his key advisers in the party all these years and most people didn’t know, because you are not supposed to know. But you have certainly benefited and enjoyed the results of their work and strategies.
In 2015, the UPND, as usual announced that they would not participate in that year’s women’s day celebrations. When that announcement was made, I called Chipo Mwanawasa and told her that we should convince the party to rescind its decision. We met the following day and agreed to go and meet the now Minister of Health hon. Masebo because we thought she was one of those women that would help us convince President HH to rescind the decision.
The UPND had just lost the elections to President Lungu in February and we believed that it was important to have many women march on that day, 8th March, just to show the public that the party was alive and kicking despite the election loss a month before. Our plan was to march over a thousand women.
We were challenged that the party didn’t have money and we got hon. Nkombo to organise some MPs to contribute to the budget and they did that. And we went to see the President at Community house, with the Lusaka province Chairlady and others and convinced him to give us chitenges. Mrs. Mwamba, the current Minister of Community Development also came in to help, especially with women from Munali, as she was an aspiring candidate there. We also made our own contributions and even though we only raised half the money we needed, we still went ahead with the event and made it very big. Thanks to Ruth Dante and many women that made it a huge success.
To cut the long story short, the UPND had the biggest Women’s Day celebrations in 2015 that has never happened before or after that and Chipo Mwanawasa and I were the people behind that. Then many other things, and especially mobilisation programmes to just get anyone and everyone join the UPND unlike where people would choose what sort of people should join the party.
SO to Chipo Mwanawasa, as a young female, who is not just qualified, passionate and hard working, but also quick to learn where you need to, I know that the president made the right decision to appoint you. Some people may not know what you have done for the party, but they have felt some of the strategies you have had to implement. I know you will do a great job and may God bless you and give you more wisdom and strength as you settle in your new role. Do not be destructed and feel belittled and insulted that it’s your name that got you there, because anyone who has worked with you knows that it is your hard work, intelligence and determination that has got you this appointment and not your father’s or mother’s name. Because despite having that, if you were not the kind of woman that you are, HH would have certainly not appointed you. YOU HAVE EARNED THIS and a BIG Congratulations to you young woman of substance. So proud of you.