Illusions of Progress Cannot Mask Zambia’s Harsh Realities- Thandiwe Ketis Ngoma

Illusions of Progress Cannot Mask Zambia’s Harsh Realities

By Thandiwe Ketis Ngoma

The Mail & Guardian of South Africa recently published a compelling analysis titled “Zambia: Understanding Hakainde Hichilema’s Transition from a Reformist to a Despot,” authored by respected academic and Stellenbosch University lecturer Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa. In response, Zambia’s State House Chief Communications Strategist, Whitney Mulobela, issued a counter-narrative titled “Right of Reply: A Reformist Leader Must Reform.”

Mulobela’s reply, cloaked in glossy language and public relations posturing, reads less like an honest rebuttal and more like a meticulously sanitized communication memo. It projects a parallel Zambia, a country where reform is thriving, democracy is flourishing, and all is well. But this utopian script bears little resemblance to the truth experienced by millions of ordinary Zambians.

Let us be unequivocal. Dr. Sishuwa did not fabricate, exaggerate, or incite. He simply held up a mirror to a government uncomfortable with what it reflects. No amount of spin can hide the hunger in our homes, the anxiety in our youth, the silence in our pressrooms, or the erosion of democracy unfolding before our very eyes.

Yes, the abolition of the death penalty and the passage of the Access to Information Act are commendable. But these are symbolic reforms. In the absence of institutional independence, judicial integrity, and equal application of the law, such gestures become little more than political ornaments. Governance is not measured by laws passed but by how they are implemented. On that front, this administration is failing dismally.

Mulobela’s dismissal of Dr. Sishuwa’s assertion that “democracy is essentially non-existent” reeks of elitist denial. For many Zambians, especially youth activists, political opposition figures, and independent journalists, that assertion is not hyperbole. It is lived experience. When law enforcement operates as an appendage of the ruling party, when courts appear to script rulings to match political narratives, and when dissent is met with threats or arrest, democracy does not just wither. It suffocates.

Even more insulting is the government’s use of selective achievements to deflect from broader systemic decay. Permitting an opposition candidate to win a by-election, for instance, does not prove democratic health. It proves nothing when surrounded by a culture of intimidation, media bias, and electoral manipulation. Democracy is not demonstrated through isolated acts of tolerance. It is upheld through the consistent protection of rights, regardless of political affiliation.

Consider the Constitutional Court’s recent ruling on former President Edgar Lungu’s eligibility. While framed as a legal decision, the political fingerprints on the process are glaring. That the ruling echoed the narrative preemptively floated by regime-aligned digital propaganda pages before the Court even sat speaks volumes. Judicial independence, once the bedrock of constitutional democracy, is now widely perceived as compromised and manipulated.

Meanwhile, proposed constitutional amendments, particularly those targeting presidential term limits or the 50 percent plus one rule, are met with justified public suspicion. The government’s accusation that citizens are engaging in scare-mongering is both dishonest and condescending. Zambians are informed. They understand history. And they know that attempts to erode constitutional safeguards often begin with the discrediting of those who sound the alarm.

The fight against corruption, long touted as a central pillar of President Hichilema’s promise, has become increasingly selective and performative. Asset seizures and high-profile arrests make headlines, but the public sees the pattern. Only political opponents and scapegoats fall within the dragnet, while well-connected loyalists continue to operate with impunity. Genuine reform cannot coexist with such blatant double standards.

On the issue of national unity, the government again favors image over substance. Ethnic tensions are not erased by hosting chiefs at state functions or staging moments of political choreography at bus stations. True unity is built through inclusive governance, economic equity, and a deliberate dismantling of tribal favoritism. Dr. Sishuwa did not invent these grievances. He articulated what many have dared not say aloud.

Zambians are also growing weary of the government’s persistent attempts to weaponize development achievements as shields against criticism. Yes, free education and improved maternal health are positive milestones. But they do not negate skyrocketing food prices, crumbling public hospitals, a record-high cost of living, or the yawning gap between promise and reality. A government cannot claim progress while its people are sliding deeper into poverty.

This administration’s obsession with controlling the narrative, whether through anonymous online trolls, partisan media outlets, or stage-managed press briefings, has done little to address the root of national frustration. On the contrary, it has deepened public cynicism. Zambians are not blind to these tactics. They know the difference between governance and public relations. Between accountability and spectacle.

The uncomfortable truth is this. Dr. Sishuwa is not the problem. He is merely the mirror. What the regime finds intolerable is not his opinion but the fact that it resonates. It echoes sentiments whispered in homes, murmured in markets, and posted anonymously by citizens afraid of retribution.

Rather than attack the messenger, the government should confront the message. Rather than defend illusions, it must face the truth. Zambians are not demanding perfection. They are demanding honesty, empathy, and leadership grounded in the values once promised and now forgotten.

No press release, however polished, will silence the growing unrest. No blog post, however well-funded, can erase the lived reality of unemployment, inequality, and fear. The people are awake. The people are watching. And when the time comes, the people will respond not with hashtags or headlines but with their votes.

Because in the end, no amount of illusion can outrun the truth. And no despot, however reformist they once claimed to be, can silence a nation that remembers what democracy is supposed to feel like.