FROM RIDICULE TO RULE: WHY HISTORY FAVORS HARRY KALABA AND THE RISE OF CITIZENS FIRST

FROM RIDICULE TO RULE: WHY HISTORY FAVORS HARRY KALABA AND THE RISE OF CITIZENS FIRST

By Chilombo Henry

Zambian political history teaches a consistent and often ignored lesson: serious reformist leaders are rarely welcomed with applause at the beginning. They are mocked, smeared, underestimated, and dismissed as unelectable until time proves otherwise.

President Harry Kalaba and the Citizens First (CF) Party now find themselves walking a path that is not new, but well worn by those who eventually shaped Zambia’s governance.

Anderson Kambela Mazoka, the founder of the UPND, was subjected to some of the most unusual and personal attacks in Zambia’s political history.

He was caricatured, misunderstood, and portrayed as unsuitable for leadership during the MMD era.

Yet the party he founded endured years in opposition, matured institutionally, and eventually formed a government under Hakainde Hichilema.

Mazoka may not have lived to see it, but history vindicated both his vision and political judgment.

Michael Chilufya Sata faced even harsher ridicule. He was openly labeled “mad,” impulsive, and reckless by the political establishment and sections of the media

Yet Sata understood something fundamental about politics: popularity is not manufactured by elite approval but built through persistence, clarity of purpose, and connection with ordinary citizens. His Patriotic Front grew steadily, survived internal storms, and ultimately formed government in 2011.

These examples are not coincidences. They reveal a structural truth about Zambian democracy: transformative political projects are resisted before they are accepted.

It is against this historical backdrop that Citizens First must be understood.

The attempt to underplay, trivialize, or prematurely dismiss CF is neither original nor intellectually honest. It is, in fact, predictable.

President Harry Kalaba, like Mazoka and Sata before him, is being measured not by the substance of his leadership but by the impatience of those who expect instant results in a system that has never been rewarded overnight success.

What makes Citizens First particularly notable is its steadiness.

Unlike many opposition formations that are born out of confusion, protest, or personality clashes, CF was founded on clarity of purpose and institutional discipline.

Under President Kalaba’s leadership, the party has avoided the debilitating leadership wrangles, ideological drift, and operational chaos that have crippled other political movements before tasting power.

Harry Kalaba’s political credentials are not theoretical.

He is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs who served under both President Michael Sata and President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, gaining rare bipartisan executive experience.

His leadership style is calm, methodical, and policy-oriented qualities that are often mistaken for weakness in a political culture addicted to noise and theatrics. Yet history shows that it is precisely this kind of leadership that sustains governments once power is attained.

Within just under three years of its formal existence, Citizens First has already registered tangible democratic gains.

The election of Councillor Gertrude Chanda in Mufili Ward, Lupososhi District, is not merely a local victory; it is proof of organizational presence, voter trust, and growing grassroots penetration. Political parties do not win wards by accident. They do so through structure, messaging, and credibility.

Some critics argue that Harry Kalaba’s political style cannot be compared to those of Mazoka or Sata.

That argument misses the point entirely. Politics does not require imitation to succeed; it requires authenticity, consistency, and time.

Mazoka was not Sata, and Sata was not Hichilema yet each led a movement that eventually reshaped Zambia’s political landscape. In the same way, Kalaba does not need to replicate past styles to achieve future success.

What matters is trajectory, not noise. Citizens First is growing deliberately, building institutions rather than cults, and prioritizing governance readiness over populist shortcuts.

In a country that has suffered from opposition movements that collapse under the weight of their own contradictions once elected, CF’s internal coherence is not a weakness it is a national asset.

Zambians should therefore be cautious of dismissing Citizens First using the same language once used against Mazoka and Sata. History has not been kind to such dismissals.

More often than not, it is the quiet, consistent, and disciplined political projects that endure long enough to govern.

If Zambia’s past is any guide, then the ridicule faced by President Harry Kalaba today may well be the clearest sign that Citizens First is doing something right.