VIEWPOINT| KALABA vs Hichilema: Rhetoric, Record and Risk of Overreach
Harry Kalaba’s appearance on KBN TV was not an interview, but a political indictment. In a sweeping and confrontational performance, the Citizens First leader declared President Hakainde Hichilema the “worst” leader Zambia has ever had, accused his government of extreme corruption, and repeatedly framed himself as the inevitable next president. The language was blunt, emotional, and absolute.
The substance, however, deserves careful separation from the sound.
Kalaba’s central claim is that the UPND government has “performed very badly” across the board and is more divisive and corrupt than all its predecessors. This is a serious charge. But corruption rankings and public data complicate this statement. Since 2021, Zambia has improved its standing on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, moving upward compared to the late PF years.
This does not mean corruption has disappeared, nor does it validate selective prosecutions, but it directly contradicts the claim that corruption has worsened in measurable terms.
On load shedding, Kalaba promised that he would “stop it immediately” if elected, arguing that UPND’s failure stems from bad deals and poor management. What he did not acknowledge is that Zambia’s current energy crisis is rooted in a prolonged regional drought that sharply reduced hydroelectric output, a reality acknowledged by ZESCO, SADC energy bodies, and independent analysts. Promising instant resolution without addressing climate variability, generation mix timelines, or financing risks repeating the very political over-promising Kalaba accuses the President of.
His critique of Constituency Development Fund usage touches a real policy debate. CDF was expanded dramatically under UPND, from K1.6 million to K28.3 million per constituency, with K40 million projected. Kalaba argues that using CDF for ambulances or police vehicles distorts devolution. This criticism is not without merit. However, the counter-fact is that CDF remains legally governed by local councils, and many of these procurements were approved at constituency level, not imposed from State House. The problem here is implementation quality, not the existence of CDF itself.
Kalaba’s promise to “fast-track” employment of teachers, doctors, and nurses also needs grounding. The UPND government has recruited over 50,000 teachers and health workers since 2021, the largest single recruitment drive in Zambia’s recent history. Bureaucracy remains, but the record does not support the claim of inaction.
A fair critique would focus on deployment delays and wage pressures, not denial of recruitment altogether.
Where Kalaba’s interview crossed from critique into political overreach was tone. Repeatedly calling the President a “liar” and declaring senior constitutional office holders “fired in August” may energise a base, but it weakens the credibility of the argument. Voters have historically punished leaders who confuse certainty with inevitability.
Power is not transferred by declaration.
His comparisons with former presidents also relied heavily on selective memory. Kaunda, Chiluba, Mwanawasa, Banda, Sata, and Lungu each governed under vastly different economic and global conditions. Some excelled in specific sectors. All struggled elsewhere. Declaring one administration uniquely disastrous without acknowledging debt restructuring progress, international re-engagement, and macroeconomic stabilisation reduces history to a slogan.
Kalaba’s defence of Edgar Lungu as “mistreated beyond words” further complicates his positioning. Even he concedes that the PF era had “fundamental mistakes” and corruption. This tension reflects a broader opposition problem: criticising the present while rehabilitating the immediate past without resolving its contradictions.
What Kalaba did achieve was clarity of posture. He is running as a hard opposition figure, uninterested in moderation. This strategy can mobilise frustration, but it also raises the bar for proof. In Zambian politics, anger travels fast. Credibility travels slower, but lasts longer.
The 2026 election will not be decided by who speaks harshest. It will be decided by who convinces voters that their promises are anchored in reality, not prophecy.
Kalaba has energy, confidence, and presence. Whether he has the organisational depth, fiscal detail, and electoral reach to match his rhetoric remains the unanswered question.
For now, his KBN TV appearance stands as a reminder of a core rule of politics: criticism is strongest when it survives fact-checking.
(c) The People’s Brief | Ollus R. Ndomu
Kalaba is no different from the other thieving tribal former Presidents that we have been cursed with since 1964. Vocal but useless.
Kalaba is another time waster, he has wasted so much time since he resigned from PF but only to go back later. So unprincipled and lacks integrity and completely no plan or vision.