LEADERSHIP IS NOT ABOUT SEEKING ADMIRATION, BUT DELIVERING DEVELOPMENT – KALABA
… urges President Hichilema to return to moderation, truthfulness and national cohesion.
LUSAKA,WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER, 26, 2025 [SMART EAGLES]
CITIZENS First President Harry Kalaba says leadership is not about seeking admiration or demanding praise, but about service.
Commenting on President Hichilema presser held yesterday at State House, Mr. Kalaba said the Head of State’s shift from servant leadership to demanding affection is deeply troubling.
He said one does not seek public office so that people can love them but seek it to deliver development and uphold the national interest.
.”What was revealed at that briefing was deeply concerning. We witnessed a Head of State speaking as though he owns the country and believes every dissenting voice is driven by hatred. As a senior citizen by age, experience, and national stature, the President should be a pillar of unity and a model of responsible conduct. Unfortunately, the remarks he issued fell far short of this expectation and instead risked sowing division and resentment among our people.
“At a time when Zambia urgently needs calm, constructive dialogue and strong leadership, it is regrettable that a platform meant to provide guidance was instead used to inflame emotions and deepen divides. We therefore call him to order and urge a return to moderation, truthfulness and national cohesion,” Mr. Kalaba said.
The CF leader said the emotional outbursts witnessed yesterday, driven by a personal perception of being hated are unbecoming of the office he holds.
“Zambians want unity. They want stability. They want food on their tables. What they do not want is the concentration of power in one individual through a constitution-making process that excludes them. The President’s repeated suggestion that criticism of Bill 7 is rooted in tribal hatred only confirms that these amendments are not for the people, they are designed to elevate his personal authority,” he said.
“President Hichilema continues to selectively manipulate history. He wrongly compares his approach to that of his predecessors. In December 1990, President Kenneth Kaunda conceded to constitutional change because it was demanded by the people, led by the Church. The constitutional review that culminated in the 2016 Constitution began under President Mwanawasa and continued across subsequent administrations, again people-driven. Today, we have a President-centred constitutional process, where any disagreement is dismissed as tribal hatred. Is this leadership? Is this presidential?” Mr. Kalaba said.
You don’t even have the intellectual capacity to comprehend Zambia’s challenges. You know nothing man, nothing and I mean nothing. Be kind to yourself. Even Muhabi Lungu, Mudolo, Makebi, Dolika Banda, Sean Tembo, John Sangwa, Fred Mmembe are all way ahead of you intellectually. Go for a live debate with anyone of them and understand your level bwana. Don’t bring your ignorance in an arena for enlightened people. Choose other advisers than that Casanova boy of yours.
What alternative plans do you have Sir? You have really moved up in language regarding speaking down on your friend, but have not brought out a single idea of what you will do even in your imagined first 90 days in the hot seat.
This type of performance is unproductive and worse than what we have faced in the past. We are not an experiment. We want to know your practical proven solutions. Enough of personal dreams. Had enough of that we want something we can see growing and is able to secure a future to the later generation.
These games being played are no longer interesting. Let us meet at the ballot box for a good marking of your performance. I wish you the best. I just have not heard any tangible alternative coming out from you apart from the experties of telling off you opponent. Here you are thriving. whether this will move the presidential needle we are yet to find out.