HON. PETER SIMON PHIRI, THE IMMEDIATE FORMER EASTERN PROVINCE MINISTER FAILED BOTH THE PROVINCE AND HIS CONSTITUENCY-Let’s use him as an example of how one can fail to deliver when they’ve many positions that they should not have.
One person can’t be an MP, Provincial Minister and Provincial Chairperson of the party. If we were to look for the definition of being “selfish” that’s exactly what it means-to hold 3 demanding positions at once when you are not the only UPND member in the province.
Saying that he was just appointed by the SG is not an excuse, it is very necessary in such cases to recommend others for appointments when you are already occupied with other assignments- for the sake of the party’s success.
What it means when an MP is the provincial minister and the party’s provincial chairperson is that members need to make an appointment through the minister’s secretary to see their party’s provincial chairperson. Additionally, how many times in a month is the provincial minister available in the office?
We can’t say that Eastern Province lacked leaders who could hold the position of UPND provincial chairperson. A party survives through sharing responsibilities. One person can’t be eating alone as an MP, Minister and Party’s Provincial Chairperson. There’re no such politics. At the same time it is the constituency that suffers the consequences.
What time do you visit your constituency? How can you even perform as a provincial minister? How do you keep the structures intact? The combination of these 3 positions and responsibilities, doesn’t suggest a leader or a person who can effectively deliver. UPND created a boss out of people like PPS than a leader, that’s why he terribly failed in his constituency-because he had even stopped listening to the problems of his constituents. He became unavailable.
For other provinces with a similar leadership structure, you can share your experiences in terms of their delivery-for the sake of cutting this article short.
For Hon. Peter Phiri despite being a provincial Minister, he was not exposed enough to know the authority and influence he carried or he was overwhelmed: to the point that he was unable to work on simple gravel roads. He couldn’t lobby for anything visible for his constituency except less than 30 traffic lights.
Anyway, now that he lost elections: let him concentrate on the position of the provincial chairman and withdraw that petition against Hon. Patrick Mwale who has pledged to work with the government of the day to deliver development in the area. Because even if ECZ were to hold a by-election, Hon. Peter Phiri is one of those candidates who would get votes lesser than what he got on 13th August as people of Malambo declared him a failure even before those elections. Yes, he’s someone who can be loyal to the party and president but with zero touch with the people. He has zero solutions that can be counted to categorize him as a leader or keep him as an MP.
Let the next Eastern Province Minister do better, to focus on his constituency firstly, then he or she would be successful at provincial level. Malambo has so far been producing the worst Provincial Ministers in a row. Actually, the easiest way to impress the president is firstly impressing the people who voted for you into office: once they trust your leadership and appreciate your delivery-it automatically impresses the president.
Going forward: let the provincial chairpersons who were elected MPs resign from their involving positions if appointed to be Provincial Ministers or otherwise. What does that do. If a party member has a problem they will easily reach out to the provincial chairperson then the chairperson will be able to push the provincial minister to have such members assisted.
Yours truly,
Everything, intentional!
Shipungu | September 27, 2026