PROF. KALUBA KAPAPULA WARNS OF TRUST DEFICIT UNDER CURRENT REGIME

PROF. KALUBA KAPAPULA WARNS OF TRUST DEFICIT UNDER CURRENT REGIME

By Brian Matambo – Lusaka, Zambia

Appearing on Emmanuel Mwamba Verified, Professor Kaluba Kapapula delivered a stark warning about the trajectory of Zambia’s governance. Speaking from the United States, the academic and pastor described Zambia not as a functioning democracy, but as a “hybrid regime” trapped between dictatorship and democracy. His analysis cut to the heart of Zambia’s political crisis: a nation adrift, where leaders have lost the trust of the people and institutions remain too weak to anchor accountability.

A GOVERNMENT WITHOUT TRUST
Trust, Kapapula argued, is the single most important currency in public life, and it has evaporated. “People don’t seem to trust government, they don’t seem to trust the political atmosphere, even among the opposition,” he said. This deficit, he noted, has defined both the current regime and its predecessor, eroding faith in constitutional amendments, judicial processes, and political leadership itself. Callers from across Zambia and the diaspora echoed the theme, lamenting the absence of freedom of speech, selective justice, and the silencing of dissent.

The professor’s reflections resonated with growing public frustration that President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration, once elected on promises of reform, has entrenched the very practices it vowed to dismantle. “When Zambians stopped their own leaders from amending the Constitution,” Kapapula said, “it was a clear message of mistrust.”

STALLED DEMOCRACY
Kapapula was emphatic that Zambia has never reached the democratic ideal. “We are not a democracy yet,” he told Mwamba. “We tried to break away from dictatorship towards democracy but got stuck in the middle.” For him, Zambia’s status as a hybrid regime explains its persistent governance failures: excessive presidential power, weak institutions, and an absence of accountability between elections.

He called for structural reforms, including a second legislative chamber, a “House of Wisdom”, to provide checks and balances, and constitutional guarantees of independent judicial funding. Without such reforms, he argued, presidents will continue to govern unchecked.

BEYOND PERSONALITIES
Both host and guest stressed that Zambia’s crisis is institutional, not just personal. Kapapula warned against reducing politics to a cycle of personalities. “History is the best judge,” he said, urging Zambians to push for systems that survive individual leaders. Yet the distrust expressed by callers highlighted how directly the failures of the current administration have been felt, from restricted freedoms to unfulfilled promises of economic relief.

A CALL TO COMPLETE THE JOURNEY
The professor’s final appeal was simple but urgent: Zambia must finish what it started. “Zambians are crying for democracy,” he said. “When democracy thrives, everybody is happy.” For him, the way forward lies in confronting colonial legacies, reforming governance institutions, and demanding accountability between elections, not only at the ballot box.

The Friday night broadcast underscored a sobering truth. As the nation heads toward 2026, Zambia is not just grappling with political competition. It is facing a crisis of legitimacy. Unless the trust of the people is restored and the country pushes decisively toward true democracy, the hybrid system risks becoming permanent, a twilight zone where accountability is absent and governance is defined by mistrust.