By Gregory Kaputula
‘’The game changer is here! Good leaders are born when the season is right. It is now time for new and good leadership. It is time for new ideas. I am here to fix the fixer,’’exclaimed and declared Mr Kelvin Bwalya Fube a.k.a. KBF as he addressed a packed Mulungushi International Conference Centre during the launch of his political party – Zambia Must Proper (ZMP) whose slogan is “when Zambians prosper, Zambia prospers’’.
Prior to the launch of his ZMP party, Mr Fube was a strategic and key member of the UPND Alliance. However, after the launch of ZMP, UPND Alliance spokesperson Dr Daniel Shimunza described Mr Fube as having been an absentee member of the UPND Alliance. Dr Shimunza stated that Mr Fube’s departure from the UPND Alliance was a demonstration that he was never a team player but a self-praised colleague who felt superior over others. Further, Dr Shimunza revealed that Mr Kelvin Bwalya Fube was welcomed in the UPND Alliance even when he did not have a registered political party. He said the alliance was happy that Mr Fube had come out of the alliance. However, the big question the UPND Alliance had was whether Mr Fube was in order to form a political party to fix a sitting President.
Interestingly, in his congratulatory message posted on his twitter handle, President Hakainde Hichilema said; “we wish to congratulate our personal friend of many years Mr. Kelvin Bwalya Fube (KBF), for successfully registering his political party and launching it without any obstacle or restriction. This is the way it should be in a democracy like ours. We welcome Mr. Bwalya to opposition politics where some of us spent years battling with intolerant regimes. Looking forward to a healthy public discourse devoid of malice and divisive engagements. In all this, the biggest winner should be democracy and the people of Zambia.”
Indeed, Zambia ought to prosper and it is true that when Zambians prosper, Zambia will ultimately prosper. Prosperity is what every Zambian should be aiming for. It is what everyone should be focusing on. Here we are talking about prosperity for all Zambians. This is so because Zambia will never be a good place for any of us to live in unless it becomes a good place for every citizen to live in. This is why talk of prosperity should be taken seriously by all and not left to politicians, their agents, and other chancers. It should not be left to politicians alone because politicians have mastered the art of lying in the morning, lying in the afternoon, and lying in the evening and at night. It therefore becomes cardinal that talk of national prosperity be every citizen’s business and inculcated in everyone from a tender age.
The questions paused by Dr Shimunza and his UPND Alliance over Mr Fube’s formation of ZMP to “fix the fixer’’ should not be ignored. Is it in order for Mr Fube to form a political party to fix his former political ally Mr Hakainde Hichilema? Is it in order to form a political party for the sole purpose of fixing political enemies or family enemies? These are the questions we have also been grappling with since the launch of ZMP.
They say leadership that starts and ends on the pulpit has no capacity to transform society. And leadership that has no capacity to transform society cannot bring prosperity. During the launch of his ZMP, Mr Fube appeared and showed signs of a man with leadership skills that starts and ends on the pulpit. We find it difficult to understand and appreciate how Mr Fube’s leadership will bring about the much sought after prosperity in the lives of many Zambians if his initial focus is to fix his former political ally and close friend.
On face value, Mr Fube’s speech at the launch of his ZMP party was going on very well until he brought in the aspect of fixing his former political ally Mr Hichilema. Coincidentally, his former political ally’s campaign message during the 2021 General Election was based on fixing the economy under the tagline; Bally will fix it. And since Mr Fube was a political ally to Mr Hichilema through their UPND Alliance, he cannot claim not to have supported the “Bally will fix it” slogan. Maybe it is even Mr Fube who coined this slogan since he boasts of being a political campaign strategist based on his political works with former presidents – the late president Mr Michael Sata and former president Mr Edgar Lungu. It was shocking to hear Mr Fube, the self-proclaimed game changer coin and rewrite the “Bally will fix it” slogan to his own “fixing the fixer” or simply put, fixing Mr Hakainde Hichilema. It was shocking because one cannot waste so much time and resources to form a political party to just fix his former political ally, friend or enemy. Unless there is more to this than meets the eye.
It is politicians and chancers like Mr Fube that give politics a bad name. It is politicians like him who lead people into validating assertions and perceptions that politicians are liars. In fact, it is politicians like Mr Fube who think Zambians are gullible. We can vividly remember watching and listening to Mr Fube preaching about the candidature of his friend Mr Hichilema on several television and radio stations. Mr Fube told voters last year that he and Mr Hichilema have been friends from their days at UNZA and that he knew Mr Hichilema inside and out.
Mr Fube pleaded with Zambian voters to give Mr Hichilema a chance because he was the best man to become the President of Zambia. So at what point did things change? When did Mr Fube realise that his friend from UNZA was not as intelligent as he told Zambians during campaigns? Can we then say that Mr Fube deliberately misled Zambians for his own selfish benefits? If not for his own selfish benefits, why was he selling and promoting a wrong candidate knowing very well that the candidate was incapable of delivering and bringing prosperity to Zambia? Has Mr Fube not betrayed the people of Zambia? How then can Zambians trust such a man to be the game changer and deliver prosperity? Is Mr Fube being sincere or simply politicking as expected? If what Mr Fube is offering is not leadership that starts and ends on the pulpit, then what is he offering Zambians? Of course not prosperity!
We know that in a democracy, many Zambians may not agree with the “Bally will fix it” slogan. However, we find this slogan to be more appealing, relatable and in tune with the mood of the people. This slogan creates some comfort and hope for the masses in comparison to Mr Fube’s “fixing the fixer” slogan. “Fixing the fixer” sounds out of touch with the aspirations of the majority of our people. Zambians have no time for such slogans especially now when the focus should be on fixing the economy.
Mr Fube, Zambians are not interested in politics of fixing one another. Zambians are interested in politics of fixing new ideas, politics of fixing leadership challenges in all sectors of the economy, politics of fixing corruption, politics of fixing poverty, politics of fixing tribalism, politics of fixing inequalities, politics of fixing injustices, politics of fixing infrastructure challenges, politics of fixing the economy, politics of fixing the mining industry, politics of fixing the agriculture sector, politics of fixing unemployment, politics of fixing the education sector, and the health sector. This is what will create prosperity in households and the Zambian society at large.
Politics of fixing one another has never registered prosperity or development anywhere in Zambia. Instead, politicians that have engaged in politics of fixing one another have ended up regretting and blaming one another. Politics of fixing one another are born out of hate and jealousy and not for the good of people that most politicians claim to represent and want to serve. Politics of fixing one another are politics of self-preservation and egoism, and not for the betterment and prosperity of society.
History reminds us of a time when the MMD government introduced a clause in the Constitution which required a presidential candidate to have a minimum of a degree. This requirement was aimed at fixing one Michael Chilufya Sata from standing as a presidential candidate. The same MMD once introduced a law that made theft of motor vehicle non-bailable. This was aimed at fixing the late president Fredrick Chiluba’s family enemy. We all know how MMD politics of fixing political and family opponents turned against them. Very senior MMD members became victims, and as we speak MMD is in political comatose. The MMD clock is politically off.
Clearly, politics of fixing opponents has no peaceful ending. The same fate that had visited the MMD is currently with the Patriotic Front. In 2016, the former president of Zambia Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu signed into law the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act No. 2 of 2016 with his eyes closed. Today, the very Constitution that Mr Lungu signed with pomp and splendor at Heroes stadium has become the number one enemy of his party, the Patriotic Front. This Constitution was aimed at fixing political opponents. Fortunately, what they wished for others through this poorly drafted Constitution is what they are facing and experiencing today. Again, one does not need prophetic powers to see that the end of the Patriotic Front is nearer than we all thought. The party is in disarray. The boat is sinking so fast.
We agree with Mr Fube that when Zambians prosper, Zambia prospers. However, we do not agree with his politics of “fixing the fixer’’ in order to make Zambians prosper. Politics of “fixing the fixer’’ are outdated and have no room in a democratic dispensation like ours.
Since history has a tendency of repeating itself, we hope and pray that the UPND government has learnt something from the MMD and the PF. The UPND government should have no excuse whatsoever for going through what the MMD and the PF have experienced.