OPEN LETTER TO ATTORNEY GENERAL MULILO KABESHA
By Thandiwe Ketiš Ngoma
Mr. Kabesha,
Your recent remarks branding Zambians as “lazy people who want to eat without working” are nothing short of disgraceful, arrogant, and deeply insulting to the very citizens whose taxes pay your salary and sustain your privileged lifestyle.
Who gave you the audacity to demean an entire nation?
Zambians are not lazy. In fact, they are among the most hardworking and resilient people on the continent.
The marketeer who wakes up before dawn with only a few kwacha in hand, struggling to feed her family.
The farmer toiling under the scorching sun, battling erratic rainfall and receiving little to no meaningful government support, yet still striving to feed the nation.
The miner risking his life underground for a meagre wage while billions are siphoned through corruption and bad contracts.
The nurse, teacher, and police officer working tirelessly with inadequate resources, low pay, and no incentives, yet still serving with dedication.
How dare you reduce their sweat, resilience, and sacrifice to “laziness”?
The Real Problem: Failed Leadership
If Zambia is on its knees today, the blame lies not with ordinary citizens, but with failed leadership, particularly the UPND government, which has proven unable to deliver on its promises of economic revival, job creation, and dignity for the people.
The economy is collapsing not because Zambians refuse to work, but because of corruption, poor policy choices, and gross incompetence. The cost of living has soared while the elite live in comfort.
Load-shedding is crippling homes and businesses not because citizens are idle, but because the government has failed to ensure energy security, allowing the crisis to spiral.
Unemployment is at record highs not because Zambians lack ambition, but because industries have been neglected and local entrepreneurs sidelined in favor of foreign interests.
Hunger and poverty are worsening not because people want to “eat while seated,” but because food prices are out of control, fertilizer is unaffordable, and agriculture, the backbone of our economy, has been abandoned.
Zambians Are Not Lazy, They Are Betrayed
Zambians are working. They are struggling. They are sacrificing. But they are being betrayed by a government that insults them instead of empowering them. They are betrayed by leaders like you, Mr. Kabesha, who sit in air-conditioned offices enjoying every privilege while mocking the very people footing the bill.
If this administration had delivered even half of what it promised, citizens would not be enduring such misery. Instead, under the UPND, Zambians face broken promises, empty rhetoric, and misplaced priorities.
A Call for Respect and Accountability
Mr. Kabesha, you owe the Zambian people an immediate and unconditional apology. Your words are a slap in the face to every hardworking citizen holding this nation together in the midst of crisis.
But more than an apology, what Zambians truly need is a government that respects them, values their sacrifice, and delivers on its commitments, not one that insults them while presiding over economic collapse, power shortages, mass unemployment, and hunger.
Leadership is a privilege. It is not a license to trample on the dignity of the people.
The people of Zambia will not be silenced. They will not be mocked. And they will not forget.
#zambianwhistleblower #ZWB
Kabesha tame rhetoric, bad politics if you said it
We very lazy no need of taming his tongue we just need change.
You’re a simple Kabesha bootlicker.
He is right. The majority in Zambia want hand outs. Boma iyanganepo! Including indonga that wrote the article.
It is not mere engaging in some activity that makes you hard working. It is how you apply yourself to the task. Many rise and.report for work. The question is, what is their productivity? How honest are you?
If you contract someone to do something for you, the first thing they ask for before even raising a finger, is an advance. After that will come all the excuses. We have to be honest with ourselves if we are to move forward. Generally, our work ethic as Zambians is dismal.
He is right. I have worked in many different countries in Africa and abroad. The work culture here in Zambia is pathetic. People beg for jobs and start crying for a salary increment even before completing probation. Check the roads and malls on Friday around 15:00hrs they are busy. Workers have run away from work..destination, bars and lodges before they reach home. Yes, us Zambians are lazy people.
The Kethis woman is working her socks out to be heard And noticed. If indeed Kabesha said those words, I agree with him. I’m a Zambian and I know our work ethics and culture very well. We are lazy to the bone. We can die in a stampede for food handouts or indeed anything that gives a free pass.
Kabesha is hundred % right
All what the PF knew was stealing and brain washing the vulnerable citizens more and more through giving them handouts, tantameni style. They could not even understanf and they still don’t the processes that have made nations like china, Japan, Korea to develop quickly to the levels where they are today. The leaders in those nations taught and encouraged citizens not to be lazy but to be hard working and self reliant. The taught all the citizens to be productive and not to wait for some other people to give them alms like beggers. Some PF leaders were even compelled to go and steal just for the sake satisfying the expectant cadres according to the culture of giving out handouts that others had created. All those who were good at stealing pretended to be naturally generous and were given special big names Ike KASAKa ka ndalsma, Bonanza, Bull dozer, Kanye Kanye etc. Our friends, the leaders fast developing countries, rebuke the lazy ones. The bible, even goes further to say those who are lazy let them not even eat. But the Buffoons, in their foolishness are even mobilizing themselves to protest against the positive and encouragement to citizens to have a mindset of hard working. What kind of Buffoons are they?
Kabesha tabesha…very correct what he said. The truth hurts.
I don’t know really on what context but the truth is some Zambians are lazy yes.There are however some who are hard workers but they don’t have “yo yambila” Nyanja meaning capital to start business.Look at young Rwandees, they really work hard and they really mean business.Chinees are a typical example,they travel long distance,they don’t know any body, not even the places they go to but they just move to invest.Some Zambians if you tell them you have a farm far away from Lusaka they will say ” ku tali konse uko” Nyanja meaning all that far.That is the laziness I presume The attorney is talking about.Some people got some loans but are failing to pay back, it seems they misused the funds.But we ask government to give loans to farmers in resettlement areas so that they produce more food.Some retirees may not need loans but their pensions or pension difference can help them do some farming or business.The attorney is correct but the youth empowerment programs must continue like the pronouncement the Presidential made that cash for work shall continue.We support the government efforts.Let us encourage the youth to work harder.There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Typographic errors do occur, so hundred Nkuku character will tease my English.Above it must be ” like the pronouncement the President made”