The Socialist Party on the Copperbelt has said UPND spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa should not claim that his party will not face stiff competition in the 2026 elections because he won’t be the only voter.
Mr. Mweetwa, the Southern Province Minister, this week told the Mast Newspaper that UPND does not expect much hustle and hurdles in winning the 2026 elections adding that “honestly can you replace HH with Wynter Kabimba, Fred M’membe?”
Mr. Mweetwa said he was amazed that even politicians that dragged the country into economic malaise wanted to appear as saints who could save it by condemning President Hakainde Hichilema and his government.
But Socialist Party Copperbelt Spokesperson Joseph Kangwa said it is wishful thinking to claim that President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND will be given another mandate by Zambians.
Mr. Kangwa said Mr. Mweetwa’s aim at Dr. M’membe shows that the Socialist is gaining strength and becoming more popular to the Zambian people.
“The Socialist Party on the Copperbelt is alarmed by the demeaning statement attributed to the United Party for National Development (UPND) Spokesperson Mr. Cornelius Mweetwa whose contemptuous comments on our party President Dr. Fred M’membe was published in The Mast newspaper on 21 June, 2022.We are amazed by Mweetwa’s level of thinking to question the Zambian people’s choice on replacing President Hakainde Hichilema with Dr. M’membe. That kind of obscured sentiment on who would be voted president after HH exposes scanty information receptiveness on what is obtaining on the ground,” Mr. Kangwa said.
“The overzealous Southern Province minister’s thinking that President HH will easily win the 2026 general elections as if he will be the only one voting is just building castles in the air. Giving HH another mandate is wishful thinking that myriad Zambians should banish from their minds after being duped by UPND.
It is laughable to hear the excited Mweetwa saying he is very confident that the way President HH has gone ahead in governing this country so far, he does not expect so much hustle and hurdle in 2026. To begin with, what has HH done so far to the poor Zambian people to deserve another mandate? What has he really done differently from the Patriotic Front (PF) administration in terms of governing this country apart from introducing deductible mineral royalties which has little benefit to Zambians who are supposed to benefit from copper and other minerals?” he questioned.
Mr. Kangwa continued:”Apart from augmented fuel pump price which has led to high cost of living among the poor citizens and the increment of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) which has no clear guidelines and or policies to guarantee the government recovery of the loans obtained from CDF and the impartial distribution of the same money to the qualified applicants irrespective of their political affiliations? Among all these, the only thing that HH may have done to the people of Zambia is the partial introduction of free education from reception to grade twelve (12) which however, has many hitches.”
Mr. Kangwa charged that President Hichilema is the most unpopular President and could be easily defeated in elections due to his numerous false promises.
“Mr. Mweetwa’s attack towards Dr. M’membe, however, is just a cheap shot. It also proves that Dr. M’membe and the SP are gaining strength, becoming more popular to the Zambian people, to the point that the UPND new dawn government cannot ignore us anymore. It is easy to insinuate that UPND spokesperson may have a short memory to forget that some people used to say HH will never be president but today he is occupying the same office, so will comrade Fred M’membe. Moreover, HH is the most unpopular President and easiest to defeat due to his numerous false promises,” he said.
“Therefore, the Socialist Party would like to advise Mr. Cornelius Mweetwa to look himself in the mirror before criticizing Dr. M’membe, and comparing him with the likes of Mr. Winter Kabimba whose Economic Front party continues to lose many members to our Party because by far Dr. M’membe is better than him in many aspects. If he cannot persuade President HH to humble himself and go back to the people of Zambia and apologize for his fake promises, the interest of the Zambian people would be better served if he would just shut up. The people have the power,” Mr. Kangwa concluded.