STRUGGLING UPND: Will Obvious Mwaliteta Turn Around The Fortunes Of the Ruling Party?
Obvious Mwaliteta is a baby in UPND. His DNA is PF. The PF brought him into mainstream politics upto the time he became Lusaka Province minister.
At the time he was a Kafue MP. He is a close ally of Chieftainess Nkomeshya.
Since the UPND came into office, he has advocated the type of politics the PF practiced. In the early days of UPND, he made a fatal statement that had to be corrected by a presidential directive.
Obvious Summerton Mwaliteta was literally advocating for UPND cadres to take over the management of markets. He still wants that, but does not weild enough power to implement it, which is one of the evils of the PF.
President Hakainde Hichilema has frowned on it and his reaction to cadreism endeared him to the majority Zambian voters.
The grassroots is calling for Mwaliteta to be elevated to the position of UPND Secretary General. They’re calling for the removal of Dr. Batuke Imenda because he is sheepish, virtually sleeping.
Of course, Mwaliteta is a grassroots person. He knows how to take care of cadres; they like him too.
Dr. Imenda is a technocrat and is in the wrong office going by the standards of Zambian politics. Apart from clashing with President Hichilema, Mwaliteta has also clashed with senior member Garry Nkombo, the Minister of Local Government, over cadres and management of markets.
Whether President Hichilema will yield to the demands to elevate Mwaliteta is an answer Zambians are waiting for. That decision could make or break the UPND.
We are watching.