IS HICHILEMA BECOMING ANOTHER KENNETH KAUNDA?- Michael Zephaniah Phiri

*IS HICHILEMA BECOMING ANOTHER KENNETH KAUNDA?*

_By Michael Zephaniah Phiri Political Activist_

History has a way of repeating itself when leaders refuse to learn its lessons. Under Kenneth Kaunda, those who dared to challenge the political establishment were humiliated, silenced, or eliminated from the political space. Today, many Zambians are asking whether President Hakainde Hichilema is walking the same path.

We all recall the shocking incident of sixth Republican President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, who was pulled off a plane under mysterious circumstances. When the opportunity came, he escaped into exile in South Africa—only to die there. For three months and 18 days now, his body remains unburied, a painful national wound. Every citizen knows this story, even if those in power want to bury the truth alongside him.

Just as Kaunda once pretended to “welcome challengers” while barring them, the UPND today pretends there is democracy while crushing dissent and daring citizens with the reckless claim that “there is no opposition in Zambia.” But history is clear: political repression never ends well for the oppressor.

The story of Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe remains etched in Zambia’s conscience. Once Kaunda’s childhood friend and a former Vice President, he was savagely beaten by UNIP cadres at Kamwala Market in January 1972 for daring to part ways with the establishment.

This humiliation came shortly after he had won the Mufulira parliamentary seat under the United Progressive Party, while still in prison and without campaigning.

When Kapwepwe later announced his intention to challenge Kaunda at the 1978 UNIP Congress, Kaunda quickly abandoned his promise to “welcome challengers” and engineered constitutional amendments to bar him, Harry Nkumbula, and Reuben Chiluwe.

Kapwepwe’s last years were filled with suffering. Once the country’s second most powerful man, he was reduced to traveling by UBZ bus from Chinsali to Lusaka for High Court cases and onward to Kalulushi by public transport.

On one such journey, he collapsed at his daughter Dr. Sampa Kapwepwe’s home after suffering a stroke, and later died. Chiluwe, once a successful businessman and Managing Director of INDECO, was reduced to walking Lusaka’s streets in poverty before his death.

Nkumbula, gravely ill, was denied permission to travel abroad for specialist treatment and died under state neglect. Others such as Chama Chakomboka, Puta, and Elias Mwamba Kaenga were similarly broken by Kaunda’s repressive tactics.

This is the pattern of repression: leaders who rise as liberators only to end as oppressors. And yet, no matter how invincible they seem, history humbles them.

In 1991, Kenneth Kaunda, who once declared that UNIP would rule “forever and ever,” was voted out of power in a landslide, as Zambians chose multiparty democracy over one-party dictatorship. His fall should be a warning to every leader who clings to power through repression: the people always have the final word.

Sadly, the same signs of repression are now visible under President Hichilema. UPND cadres have continued to attack Patriotic Front members just as UNIP cadres once brutalized their opponents.

After UPND’s victory in 2021, PF members were hounded, assaulted, and intimidated across the country. Only yesterday, a youth popularly known as Black Apple, a PF supporter, was abducted by UPND cadres and forced to declare allegiance to the ruling party.

This act is a gross violation of his democratic right to belong to a party of his choice. The use of violence, fear, and coercion to silence the opposition is not democracy—it is tyranny in disguise.

Those who close democratic space and weaponize state institutions against opponents may appear powerful for a season, but history is merciless. Every leader who governed through repression—whether Kenneth Kaunda in Zambia or other autocrats in Africa—left behind not a legacy of respect, but one of betrayal.

The Bible itself warns leaders who abandon justice and humility. Like King Saul, who disobeyed God’s command and clung to power until he lost his kingdom, leaders who reject democratic principles eventually lose legitimacy.

Like Pharaoh, who hardened his heart against the cries of the people, rulers who ignore the suffering of their citizens only invite their own downfall. And like Nebuchadnezzar, who exalted himself above all until God humbled him, leaders who govern with arrogance instead of service will one day be cut down to size.

President Hichilema must therefore decide whether he wants to be remembered as a democrat who strengthened institutions, or as yet another “once-viewed President” who squandered his mandate by repeating the mistakes of Zambia’s past.

Zambians deserve better. We deserve a unifier, not a divider. We deserve a leader for the Republic, not a mere party caretaker. And in 2026, the people will speak with one voice.

The defense of democracy cannot be left to chance. Civil society, the Church, the opposition, and ordinary citizens must remain vigilant and speak out boldly against repression. Silence only emboldens tyranny, but collective courage preserves freedom.

Zambia’s destiny has always rested in the hands of her people. From the struggle for independence to the fall of one-party rule in 1991, it was ordinary Zambians who rose to demand justice.

Today is no different. If democracy is to survive, Zambians must unite once more—not for tribe, not for party, but for the Republic itself. For indeed, the cry remains: One Zambia, One Nation.

*Epilogue: 1991 and 2026* 

In 1991, Kenneth Kaunda discovered that the arrogance of power could not stop the will of the people. After decades of repression, Zambians swept him out of office and embraced multiparty democracy. Today, President Hichilema faces a similar moment. If he continues down the path of repression, history may once again repeat itself.

2026 will not be about who speaks the loudest or who controls the streets with cadres. It will be about who respects democracy, who upholds justice, and who unites all 73 tribes under the vision of One Zambia, One Nation. And as history has shown, when Zambians rise to choose freedom over fear, no government can stand in their way.

John 8:32 “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
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