A PRESIDENT ADRIFT IN HIS OWN NARRATIVE
25 November 2025
There are moments in a nation’s life when its leader must rise above the fray, speak with clarity, and offer the country a mirror not to reflect his own grievances but to illuminate the path forward for those that he is leading. Alas, President Hakainde Hichilema’s address from State House this morning was not such a moment.
Instead of confronting the present with candour, the President chose to retreat into a familiar cocoon of grievance and revisionism. He spoke of buses operating freely, of a rule of law supposedly restored, yet every commuter in Lusaka knows the truth that bus operators still pay cadres to load and that extortion is not a relic of the past. It is in fact the currency of the present.
What the President failed to mention were the abductions, the beatings, the stonings, and the killings like those in Mufumbwe. He did not speak of the party loyalists who profited from chaos nor of the senior members who gleefully joined the gold rush. He did not address the police’s selective inertia when citizens are attacked for daring to dissent. Instead, he offered a sanitised narrative as if the nation were a stage and he its sole actor.
More troubling still was his invocation of lynching, a term with grim and specific historical weight. Who precisely is being lynched in Zambia today? And by whom? The protests have so far been peaceful. The only violence has come from those in uniform or those emboldened by political proximity.
The President’s attempt to prescribe how citizens should protest suggesting that demonstrations must be conducted in a manner palatable to him betrays a very fundamental misunderstanding of democracy. Protest is not a favour granted by the state. It is a right and which is not for the President to choreograph.
Perhaps the most revealing moment came when he lamented that some people hate him because he was born in a village. This is not the first time he has reached for this line. It is a tired refrain, one that seeks to reduce legitimate criticism to tribal prejudice. But the protests against constitutional amendments are not about his birthplace. They are about power, accountability, and the erosion of trust.
Let us not forget. When Bill 10 was defeated, his party celebrated, youths marched freely and no one accused them of tribalism. No one suggested they were driven by hatred of President Lungu’s ethnicity because they were not. This President knew that then and he knows it now but chooses to play this very divisive tribal card. Since when did an unpopular Bill 7 take on a tribal face?
The President’s selective memory is staggering. He spoke of the Bill of Rights as though he were its champion, forgetting that it was he who helped defeat its amendment. He cited UNIP’s 1991 constitutional changes incorrectly as a precedent. In truth, UNIP amended the constitution to call for early elections and that, not during an election year.
He referenced MMD’s 1996 amendment without acknowledging its controversial exclusionary intent. Then, with a flourish, he goes on to praise Frederick Chiluba aka red aka black for turning the country around. One wonders which version of history he subscribes to.
He dismissed peaceful demonstrations as street fights, a phrase that reveals more about his disdain for dissent than any concern for public order. He claimed civil society was silent, apparently unaware of the Oasis Forum, LAZ, and others who stood firm in darker times. But then again, he was not a politician then and maybe was simply not paying attention.
Most astonishingly, he accused a priest of plotting to rig elections against the UPND. That is not merely reckless. It is an affront to the dignity of the office he holds.
The President often speaks in the plural, ‘we’ instead of ‘I’, as if to diffuse responsibility across a faceless collective. The presidency is not a committee, it is a singular burden with the buck stopping with him.
Being President is not a right. It is a privilege which demands more than the provision of leadership rather than the airing of grievances and the holding of pity parties. It demands humility, honesty, and the courage to confront uncomfortable truths.
Zambia is not against the President’s roots. All past Presidents, with the possible exception of late former President EC Lungu, were born in villages. One’s place of birth has no bearing with one’s performance. The President needs to understand that what the nation is against is his bad performance in office. No amount of rhetorical sleight of hand can change that.
If Mr Hichilema wishes to lead a united nation, he must first stop dividing it with his insinuations. If he wishes to be remembered as a reformer, he must stop rewriting history. And if he wishes to be respected, he must begin by respecting the intelligence of the people he serves.
The country is watching. And history, as always, is taking notes.
CHISHALA KATEKA
President – New Heritage Party
Madam, I give you a lot of respect in most of your views and politics of respect without insulting your opponents. However, HH is right about tribal divisions in this country. I will give you just two examples in your fellow opposition camp:
1. Honorable Mumbi Phiri’s statement that for PF to bounce back to power, there should be a Northerner President and an Eastern era running mate or the other way round. What would be wrong if one of the two was a North-Westerner or Southerner or even a Western? If it was the UPND, you would have reacted sharply calling them them Zambezi Provinces politicians.
2. Honorable Given Lubinda is being mocked and recently by your former Secretary General Honorable Davis Mwila. Who in PF came to his defense when Mr Mwila was saying you may know his mother but not the origin of his father?
You allowed him to warm the seat as “acting president” but now you find him repulsive. Only honorable Mundubile gave a seemingly genuine statement on his allegedly abduction in Kabwe. Come on, we are not blind. You hate him because he originates from the so called Zambezi Provinces. Call a spade a spade and not a big spoon. Spare us your fake explanations.
I think she is blinded by her political appetite that she can’t see reality. Even things which are clearly in the open she can’t see them. Doesn’t she see how some people react when either a tonga is appointed or anything to do with southern province is mentioned? In fact, not too long ago, some people were up in arms claiming that there is favoritism in voter registration claiming that southern province had registered more voters than any other province, when the truth was that Lusaka and Copperbelt province had the highest new voter registrations. If that is not a sign of hate for a tribe, then what is it? Now let’s flip the coin, if the so called high number of registration was in the northern block, would these same people have raised alarm? Definitely not. Ms. Chishala Kateta, let’s call a spade a spade if we can to truth unite this country. If think it’s not true, just scan social media see how venomous some comments are and if you honest, you will agree with what the president said yesterday.
@straight forward
If Zambia has a Tonga Question, then it should be discussed honestly so that a solution can be found. There are 73 Tribes in Zambia, and am getting the impression that being Tonga attracts hate.
And that the President is Criticized over some of his policy decisions because he is Tonga.
Having a Tonga in State house seems to have brought issues of Ethnicity to the fore. Dr Levy Mwanawasa was President of Zambia. One of the most criticized Presidents Zambia has ever had. He never attributed his criticisms to him being Lenje.
We are really in strange Waters , and dangerous.
If Mr Hakainde Hichilema loses elections next year, amidst the ethnic hatred drums he is beating, how will his supporters take it?
The “Tonga Question” needs to be discussed openly and honestly before it tears apart the Country.
The President’s Press Conference has really struck “a raw nerve” in the Ostriches!
To be called President of a party is something great to be proud of.
Some of you as leaders, as a nation we await to hear what you have on the table for the nation.
All we have heard from you are arguments suggesting you are the best. That being the case, we are currently better with HH than those never tested.
You Kateka are a hallow and loud. You never seem to grasp issues but react without perception of the issues at hand. You are a let down to fellow women. Tribe seems to excite you because you are blank. All tribes are equal including yours Bisa.
( Very Important – I never wanted to comment on this Topic. The reason for my post is that the President brought it up at his Presser yesterday..and Laura Miti raises critical points which I agree with.My post should therefore not be construed to be Tribal hate against a group of people. Thank you.)
The problem of Ethnicity Mr Hakainde Hichilema is grappling with, is just in him, and with him and in the behavior of some Tonga speaking people on how they have approached his Presidency. They seem to have put the Tonga Presidency above the Zambian Presidency..
They can’t criticize the Tonga President, and should support whatever he does or says.
He is infallible, not bound to err , and above board..They also seem to subscribe to a clearly Tribal Philosophy – A Tonga can’t criticize a Tonga. If we were to look at the Bloggers on this platform who are always supporting Hakainde, one would find that most if not all are Tonga.
From the time he was in Opposition as Party Leader this has been the approach of Tribesmaids to Hakainde.. From Traditional Leaders and subjects , the SDA Church, and nearly all Tonga speaking people even from Academia, no one dared to criticize Hakainde.
As President this has continued, and the only criticism he sees is by people from other Tribes. The sad part is that instead of seeing this Criticism as necessary controls in any democracy , he erroneously looks at this as Tribal Hatred.
– The Body of Edgar Lungu can’t come to Zambia for burial because he is Tonga.
– The illegitimate and unconstitutional Bill 7 can’t be passed because he is Tonga.
– The Criticism leveled against him on Load Shedding and other issues is because he is Tonga.
The Tonga speaking people are not helping Hakainde in any way. Unhinged support doesn’t build, it destroys.
Let them put ethnicity aside and objectively analyze some of the Policies Hakainde is pursuing.
The Constitutional Amendment Process Hakainde is pursuing is clearly flawed. And criticism of this is not Tribal Hate Speech..and Laura clearly presents this.
The approach Hakainde and his supporters, of putting ethnicity above the Presidency will back fire. It’s making people from other tribes uncomfortable, and wondering what this Presidency is all about. Should we stop criticizing Hakainde because he is Tonga?
Leaders should be held to account, be they Tonga , Ngoni , Chewa or Tumbuka..This has been the case with all Presidents.
A Tonga President shouldn’t be an exception.