THE EASIEST THING IN DEMOCRACY IS TO REMOVE A PRESIDENT. THE HARDEST THING IS TO KNOW WHO SHOULD REPLACE HIM.
My Fellow Compatriots,
One of the greatest political mistakes a nation can make is to believe that removing a leader is, by itself, a solution.
History teaches us that the fall of one government does not automatically produce national renewal. If citizens are guided only by anger, frustration, bitterness, or temporary hardship, they may succeed in changing leaders while leaving the deeper causes of national dysfunction untouched.
The central question before every democracy is therefore not simply, “Who must go?” but rather, “What constitutional, institutional, and moral foundation must endure long after individuals have come and gone?” No government will ever be perfect.
To be sure, there is no president, however gifted, who can single handedly overcome structural weaknesses that are embedded in the very design of the state. To demand perfection from leaders while neglecting the defects within our governing framework is to misunderstand the true nature of nation building
Zambia’s most enduring challenge is constitutional, not merely political.
At independence, we inherited a constitutional order largely fashioned outside our own national consensus. That framework concentrated extraordinary authority in the presidency, reproducing many features of the centralised Westminster tradition adapted to colonial administration. Over time, power became personalised, institutions weakened, and every election was transformed into a near existential contest for control of the state.
This is why our politics often appears cyclical: hope, disappointment, anger, regime change, and then renewed disappointment.
We remove leaders with remarkable ease, yet repeatedly fail to ask whether the system itself is capable of producing the nation we desire.
A mature democracy must eventually confront a higher calling. Zambia must begin a serious national conversation about constitutional autochthony, i.e, the creation of a truly homegrown constitutional order rooted in our own history, aspirations, values, and collective wisdom.
We need a constitutional settlement that:
1. Distributes power more equitably;
2. Strengthens institutions beyond personalities;
3. Protects future generations from the excesses of any administration; and
4. Transforms citizenship from passive spectatorship into active nation building.
This is not a partisan argument. It is not an attack on any current or former president. It is a patriotic appeal for intellectual honesty and national maturity.
Before we surrender to political emotions or nostalgia for rebranded actors, we must ask ourselves a sober question: Are we changing leaders, or are we changing the Republic?
The future of Zambia will not be secured by replacing one individual with another while preserving the same structural weaknesses that have repeatedly disappointed our people.
Nations rise when citizens learn to think beyond personalities and begin to build enduring institutions.
The time has come for Zambia to elevate its politics from emotional reaction to constitutional reflection.
Our greatest task is not merely to choose the next president. Our greatest task is to design the Republic that future presidents will inherit, and when we do that, Zambia will cease to wander in circles and will finally begin its true ascent.
Saviour Chishimba
President
United Progressive People (UPP)