By Ibrahim Kabwe mwamba
THE RISE & Fall OF PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA-
A POSSIBLE ONE TERM PRESIDENT.
-PART 1
Known as President HH by many across the sphere and among Zambians.
Here is how President HH may have attained great power yet loose it within a mandate of 5years.
In my opinion, UPND won the 2021 election not because they had might and grit that was outstanding but because people of Zambia got fade up with The PF’s arrogance,lawlessness and bad governance.
The biggest opposition in 2021 was not the UPND but it was The Economy and The People of Zambia from all parties that united as one to deny their own political parties a vote and give UPND a vote in protest of the PF rule.
Today UPND may enjoy a sense of comfort for not having a formidable or united opposition but then soon or later HH needs to realize that it is more dangerous not to have a strong opposition at this point given the 1,276 days remaining till next election. This because UPND does not know their opponent neither do they have familiarity of what Zambians may decide to go with come 2026 because even at war you need to study your opponent. In this case,HH and UPND have no idea what sort of strategy or style could possibly work to combat an aggressive opponent.
Looking at the levels of greed, hypocrisy and selfishness among top UPND leadership/partners including business associates who are minting and currently not talking despite the hardships people are going through because it is bad manners to talk while chewing , it remains not far fetched a possibility that disgruntled UPND MP’s and disgruntled PF MP’s may find a common/mutual ground and work together to field a candidate that may retire HH and also put a stop to PF confusion that is anchored on greed and intolerance. This threat/possibility is very eminent because one can easily read through the lines how UPND ,PF & Independent MP’s engage each other even outside parliament grounds. This could be the beginning of the end for HH because he has failed to honor deserving individuals that worked with him in opposition.
Yes , the President won profoundly with massive support from the greater majority of society.However, he has reduced his status in the eyes of like minded Zambians that are facing serious economic challenges that clearly he has reluctantly failed to address. Yes , the government has employed more teachers and health workers that did not have employment after training prior to him taking over. But here is something we as Zambians need to focus on and ask questions without prejudice.
A driver once said , it is easy to envy a car that seemingly look as if it only needs tyre replacement not until you you become the driver and realize you need to work on the engine more importantly and deal with tyre mending at a later stage -> This illustration is equal to what HH found,hence the statement from him ,”The treasury is empty “. But sadly, he started well then from no way his stopped working on fixing the engine to fixing the music system meaning his neglected the tyres , engine (economy) now focusing on the music system ( just talking and praising himself)
1. Is it not part of Government’s responsibility to create employment among its very own Citizens? My guess remains as good as yours.
2.Has Government provided reasonable accommodation or healthy amenities/living conditions for the newly recruited Civil Servants? My guess still remain as only good as yours .
In all truth and patriotism, the newly elected President HH has delivered in terms of sanity (no more carders harassing citizens) and he has demonstrated a sound economic message for what he intends to do going forward. However, we have a challenge because based on his promises of zero corruption and smart governance, the man has failed to deliver. He promised the common basic needs and the basic needs are now far fetched to attain by the common man( refer to the price of basic commodities).
I wish to categorically state that indeed the government under HH is trying hard to address these critical challenges that we the people of Zambia are facing but I believe an example or scenario would attempt to give a much fair, balanced and easy to understand model of our current economic theory.
According to Milton Keynesians (Economic model) they believe that, because prices are somewhat rigid, fluctuations in any component of spending—consumption, investment, or government expenditures—cause output to change. If government spending increases, for example, and all other spending components remain constant, then output will increase or reduce.
This theory goes to say, “ to secure strong and inclusive growth which benefits businesses and residents, and to sustain the reputation of MK as a prosperous model, innovative and culturally vibrant economic approach need to be in place which are key to economic growth. In short, what MK is saying is simply what grows an “Economy is Expenditure” meaning the Government has to spend money in the local economy for it to grow. Strange enough, HH government has not done much to the latter such as spending money in the local Economy for example, PAYING OFF LOCAL DEBTS OWED BY GOVERNMENT TO LOCAL CONTRACTORS/SUPPLIERS OF GOODS AND SERVICES.
When you decide to prioritize servicing international debt over local debt, you starve an economy hence every Zambian alike is constantly complaining about cash flow..President and his team in this case HH & business partners in charge of our economy have decided to focus on making a good impression to their potential future business associates overseas at the expense of serving the very people who have given him (them) a mandate to rule.
What we are experiencing today is a serious lack of patriotism whereby, a leader is more concerned on how a foreign entity view him as a prospective business man in his future endeavors than what we his own people should view him as President.
The President has failed to distinguish between GOVERNANCE and BUSINESS because if he truly had good intentions by now he’d have relinquished most of his shareholding in private business outfits such as African Life .
Yes,it is a well known fact that HH may not have significant influence (Shares) in African Life but truly speaking everyone knows Mr Muna Hantuba is a close associate and business ally to HH as way back as Mr Anderson Mazoka (MHSRIP) era. The two started running businesses together (Anglo-American days) therefore,it is obvious we know HH at the peak of his political career he had to intrust Mr Muna Hantuba as his trustee to hold on to his shareholding component in African Life which was a smart yet cunning business move because today as we interact further, clearly this may end in tears..Que;is WHY ? …he has managed to affirm the very sense of reservations Zambians had about him as HH and his role during the privatization exercise at a very tender age of 27yrs.
What HH did at 27yrs anyone could have done but one would need to be very exceptional for a youth.However,we do not expect him to continue on this trajectory as head of state because he may not be in a position to explain how his managed to attain the billionaire status for him and his partners (Muna Hantuba & Valentine Chitalu) within a space of 5yrs keeping in view not long ago we have seen The Ministry of Mines advert on a lucrative Environmental fund management tender/contract this being notice of award to African-Life not ZISC for Zambians but African-Life for Business associates/partners (Pls note as of 2015,the fund was seating at $35 million )
WHAT SHOULD HH DO FOR ZAMBIANS?
What HH needs to do;
1. HH needs to let go of his influence in most of these companies that are getting lucrative contracts ASAP and listen to Zambians not his partners in running the affairs of Zambians.(Fertilizer characters being awarded )
2. HH must realize that Zambians can not be fooled the same way he fooled us in the 90’s during privatization. Whereby,he had a silent/soft opportunity that pushed him into multiple millionaire status. He can still be a billionaire after 2031 but not this time.
3. HH needs to look after local interests and engage CHINA as soon as possible unlike what he did immediately we gave him power he took his maiden trip to the USA which was a wrong and selfish move for a head of state given what is at stake for Zambians because we owe CHINA more than 30% of our external debt.
4.HH needs to realize that local problems require local solutions, from time and again the people who advise HH have been engaged to advise the government so they could consider signing local MoU’s instead of flying in and out trying address issues of electricity,hunger and economic distress among the Zambian people.
-For example, Nigeria’s Dangote Group planned and managed to commission a US$50mn 30 MW power plant in Zambia in 2014/15, which is now supplying electricity to its cement factory in Ndola city in Masaiti. Why can’t FQM, Kalumbila, KCM and many other factories do the same to reduce our pressure on Zesco ?
-Why isn’t government working with commercial farmers through MoU’s to grow more food (Commercial crops / staple food ) using FISP for example, why not give a commercial farmer(s) who has capacity to grow 50,000MT of Maize,wheat, soya to increase their yield by an extra 20,000MT for government on an MoU basis to cover food security in partnership with Ministry of Agriculture?
5. This habit of selectively calling his business associates who are mostly of foreign origin to go for meetings marked “secret” should come to an end..It was disappointing that the President could chair such a meeting and this is how we have ended up with a fast track hotel at east park mall being built near a University because clearly that sort of always thinking profits will end up auctioning our very own.
Part 2 loading….
The great elephant 🐘
Ibrahim Kabwe mwamba