THE DIE IS CAST: NEW FACE FROM KAWAMBWA COMING TO PARLIAMENT
By George Chomba
In the aftermath of the filing of nominations for the Kawambwa Parliamentary by-election on November 21, 2024, it is evident that whatever the outcome, a new face is entering the National Assembly after the December 20 election.
This is in person and in the political party representation.
The reason is the Patriotic Front which held the Kawambwa seat after the 2021 general election is not participating.
Equally, Mr Nickson Chilangwa who garnered 13,258 for the PF is not in the race as he is serving a jail sentence of five years after being convicted on charges of malicious damage to property.
The only association the PF has to the Kawambwa by-election is under the Tonse Alliance, which however is not a political party and will not be on the ballot paper.
Instead, the Tonse alliance member in the name of the New Congress Party will be on the ballot paper for the by-election.
Therefore, assuming the New Congress Party wins the Kawambwa by-election through Mr Danstan Mwansa that will be the name of the Member of Parliament to be listed at the National Assembly and the political party to be engraved.
For the New Congress Party, it will be making history in the life of Zambian politics, since the retain to multi-party politics in 1991, to have contribute a Member of Parliament to the National Assembly.
At the moment, the New Congress Party remains a political social media heavy weight without representation at council, chairperson or mayorship and the National Assembly.
In the same vein, other political parties to make history but at the moment are without representation in the National Assembly are the Movement for Change and Equality, fielding Peter Bwalya, the United Prosperous Peaceful Zambia who have Kennedy Chomba and the Socialist Party with their hopeful in the name of Kennedy Kapambwe.
While the first two are new to Kawambwa Parliamentary elections, the Socialist Party can boast of being an old unfortunate contestant who in 2021 fielded Lindiwe Mawele but only managed 81 votes out of 27,885 voters.
Whatever the case, a win for the Socialist Party in Kawambwa would enable the political party make history as the fourth political party in the life of this National Assembly after UPND, PF AND PUNP.
While the Socialist Party has some councilors dotted around Zambia, they have not had a law maker since formation in 2018.
But all political parties participating in Kawambwa should not underestimate, the ruling UPND with Mr Nason Musonda as candidate.
Although possessing the majority in the National Assembly, having Mr Musonda as a Member of Parliament brings a new narrative to the politics of Luapula Province which rejected all other political parties, including the UPND in 2021 in favour of the Patriotic Front.
For the ruling UPND, having an indigenous Member of Parliament in Luapula may just give President Hakainde Hichilema a food for thought about the choice for minister for the province.
Since 2021, President Hichilema has been poaching members of Parliament from other provinces to be made minister in charge of Luapula.
But of course, that is his discretion as President to appoint whoever he wishes in charge of a province or ministry.
With almost two years remaining before the 2026 general election, the outcome of the Kawambwa by-election means different things to different political stakeholders.
Definitely, the 27,885 voters in Kawambwa have a choice to pick from in the five candidates and political parties on display.
For now, the die is cast with an obvious outcome – a new face coming to the National Assembly from Kawambwa.