The Decline in President Hakainde Hichilema’s Popularity Began Long Ago
In early 2023, a friend contacted me to help mobilise people to support a politician who was planning to defect. He gave me the basic details over the phone and said we would discuss the rest in person, as political matters are rarely discussed openly on calls.
I immediately reached out to two trusted colleagues who I believed could help execute the task effectively. At the time, I was not actively involved in politics but was deeply engaged with communities across the country through my drug abuse advocacy work. Once my team was ready, I called my friend and scheduled a meeting for that same afternoon to meet the defecting politician.
During the meeting, we received the full details. We were being asked to mobilise people from three compounds in Lusaka to support a candidate who was defecting from his party to the ruling UPND.
Upon hearing this, our morale dropped immediately. As people who stay closely connected to the ground, we knew exactly how unpopular President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND had become. We were concerned that associating with them would damage our own reputations, especially given how the party was perceived as oppressive and unresponsive to the welfare of ordinary citizens.
We advised the candidate about the risks of joining UPND and shared the growing discontent among the people as of early 2023. This was around the time when free education had just been announced and debt restructuring had taken place. Yet, on the ground, none of these developments seemed to matter. The hearts of the people had already turned, and President Hichilema’s popularity had sharply declined.
The event eventually went ahead successfully without our involvement. However, our fears proved correct. Attendees were stranded, unable to return home, left hungry, and many promises were not fulfilled. Several high-profile guests who were expected to attend never showed up.
The unpopularity of UPND and President Hakainde Hichilema only grew stronger after that. If the situation was already this bad in 2023, one can only imagine his current popularity levels now especially after issues such as Bill 7, the Cyber Security Act, the ECL burial impasse, secret recruitments, and several other controversies.
Michael M. Mulusa
A Voice