JACK Kalala says critics claiming that President Hakainde Hichilema has failed to deliver on his campaign promises are not only being malicious but also absurd and ridiculous.
The former special assistant to president Levy Mwanawasa noted that President Hichilema was only sworn in on August 24, 2021, yet the opposition and critics have already flooded the media with claims that he has failed to deliver on his campaign promises.
He wondered how a President who has hardly settled down and is yet to appoint his Cabinet could fail to deliver on his campaign promises.
Kalala said the opposition and other people criticising President Hichilema were just being irrational, thoughtless and risk losing people’s confidence.
“The President has not yet formed his Cabinet because there are certain procedures to be followed and he also needs to acquaint himself with the new members of parliament from among whom he is to select members to appoint as Cabinet ministers,” he argued. “It should be recalled that he promised the nation that his Cabinet would be balanced to reflect national unity and to implement this requires thoughtful consideration and extensive consultation to achieve desired results.”
Kalala noted that after losing the August 12 elections, PF members want to make themselves relevant by trying hard to malign the new President and create a perception that he was a wrong choice.
He however, described this logic as defective, and was exposing the inadequacy of the PF leadership.
“It is a hollow strategy for the PF and it would just endear more President HH to the people. Instead of heaping baseless vitriolic criticisms on President HH, the PF should undertake a serious and critical introspection to establish what made their party to be voted out of power,” he urged. “The outcome would help them to remain relevant to national politics. Otherwise they risk to be sent into oblivion in 2026.”
Kalala further noted that after being rejected for incompetence, corruption and looting, the PF had continued to “run like a headless chicken”.
He said President Hichilema was very solid and determined to make a difference.
“He is determined to prove to the Zambian people that they indeed made a right choice by making him their President. President HH will easily win the 2026 election as president Mwanawasa did in 2006,” Kalala said. “There is no doubt that he would turn around the economy and bring sanity to the governance system of our country. He has the capacity and he is a man of unquestionable integrity.”
He said in last month’s elections, Zambians proved that they were intelligent, rational, discerning and wise as no one could deceive them.
“They listen attentively, judge wisely and act responsibly. All politicians should bear this in mind. Zambians voted wisely with their minds, not with their hearts. When voting for President HH and the UPND, they had confidence and trust in President HH and his party, and knew that they were planting a seed that would take a while to grow,” he said. “At the beginning the seed would even appear to be dead but they are aware that it takes time for it to germinate and come out. They remain confident and trusting that eventually the seed would germinate, grow and ultimately bear fruits to their satisfaction and joy. Zambians are ready to wait patiently. They have no time to listen to and entertain frivolous and baseless criticisms of no consequence.”
Kalala said President Hichilema had demonstrated that he was up to the task because the decisions he had taken so far had inspired confidence in Zambians.
He said Zambians were generally happy that they did not make a mistake in choosing President Hichilema their leader.
“Opposition parties will not have it easy in 2026. Mark my words. Not that President HH will be dictatorial and make things hard for them as they did to him, not at all! His performance is what will endear him to the electorate and shame his critics,” he said.
Kalala urged Zambians to rally behind President Hichilema’s leadership and give him the support that he needs to rebuild the country, return it to normalcy and restore sanity.