The Dying Case of Conscience, Right, and Truth in Zambia – Second Edition: Politics, Blindness, and 2026
By Chitundu
If the first tragedy of our nation is the dying case of conscience, truth, and right, the second is its blindness to consequences. The approaching 2026 general election should be a moment of civic renewal, a time when political actors lay out competing visions for the future. Instead, Zambia’s political field is drifting into a space where strategy replaces morality, and forecasts are based on manipulation rather than integrity.
In Catholic moral teaching, blindness of conscience is one of the gravest spiritual defects. As Pope Pius XII once warned in his Christmas message of 1944, “The greatest sin of our time is the loss of the sense of sin.” Today, that loss is evident in Zambia’s politics, where actors justify deception as normal campaign practice and where citizens mistake propaganda for truth.
The most immediate effect of this blindness is paralysis within the opposition. The Patriotic Front, which should serve as the primary alternative voice, has been weakened not simply by internal betrayal but by judicial complicity in legitimizing illegality.
The Sampa “convention” case remains a glaring example: when courts normalize a violation of the PF constitution, they not only distort justice for one party but also poison the broader democratic field. This sets the stage for 2026 as a contest where the ruling party will face a fractured, demoralized opposition, not because of genuine democratic competition but because conscience was abandoned at the gates of the court.
Forecasting the political climate of 2026 under these conditions reveals a dangerous illusion. Analysts speak of “strong incumbency,” “structural advantages,” and “tribal strongholds,” but these calculations ignore the deeper moral deficit.
A society that cannot discern right from wrong will misread its own trajectory. We risk a replay of Sudan or Zimbabwe, where elections are held not as exercises in moral choice but as rituals of power retention. The blindness of conscience leads us to mistake inevitability for stability, and in doing so, we set ourselves up for collapse.
Even the Church, which should offer prophetic guidance, risks being sidelined. In the past, Zambia’s Catholic bishops issued clear pastoral letters—such as the 2001 “A Call for Integrity” and the 2017 “A Democratic Milestone or a Democratic Setback?”—reminding leaders and citizens alike that democracy cannot thrive without moral grounding.
Yet today, political operatives within the pews attempt to weaponize religion, reducing conscience to denominational identity rather than universal moral truth. This corrodes the credibility of faith in the public square and leaves the nation without a moral compass as it approaches 2026.
The blindness also affects governance itself. The ruling party, intoxicated by judicial victories and the absence of formidable opposition, risks believing that electoral victory in 2026 is guaranteed. This false confidence encourages complacency: economic hardship is dismissed as temporary, tribal fractures are ignored, and dissent is criminalized as if truth were a threat rather than a corrective. But Catholic teaching warns us that a ruler without truth becomes a tyrant, and a people without conscience become captives of their own apathy. Zambia now drifts dangerously close to that condition.
If nothing changes, the 2026 general election will not be a genuine contest of ideas but a managed ritual of power, legitimized by institutions that have already compromised their own integrity.
Forecasts that assume “smooth sailing” for incumbency are misleading, for a nation without moral grounding always faces the risk of sudden rupture. As history teaches from Libya, Syria, and Sudan, when conscience and truth are suppressed for too long, political planning collapses under the weight of its own illusions.
Therefore, the call today is not simply for electoral preparation but for moral awakening. Citizens must rediscover the conscience that asks not “Who will win?” but “What is right?” Political parties must rebuild themselves not on opportunism but on truth.
The judiciary must return to justice rather than technical manipulation. And the Church must reclaim its prophetic role, reminding Zambia that truth is not negotiable. Only then can the 2026 general election become a step toward renewal rather than another descent into blindness.
John 8:32 “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
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“Mu ipulayi a liliwi” Lozi meaning he who kills himself is not mourned.The opposition, especially the PF faction has not done credible politics from the time they lost power to UPND.You may write or speak grandiloquently but the moment you leave out tangible facts and start adding sweeteners of your choice you will just expose your biased thinking. The courts or legal issues are self inflicted and not leadership or government.The opposition did not manage itself well, and up to now they behave like passengers in a sinking ship.Dont blame anybody or government on failure of opposition to reorganize themselves.The political playing field is better levelled than it used to be a few years ago.The time bus can’t wait for time wasters.It gona leave to the next station.