THE SHIELD OF UPND: GARRY, CORNELIUS AND HAKAINDE

THE SHIELD OF UPND: GARRY, CORNELIUS AND HAKAINDE

For over two decades, the political story of the UPND has been told through three names who came to embody loyalty in opposition: Hakainde Hichilema, Garry Nkombo and Cornelius Mweetwa.
Their friendship was forged not in government, but in the long years when UPND was losing elections and facing state pressure.

1. The Core Alliance.
Hakainde Hichilema took over as UPND President after the death of Anderson Mazoka in 2006. He needed trusted lieutenants who knew the grassroots.

Garry Nkombo became one of his closest. Nkombo first contested Mazabuka Central in 1998 on MMD, lost to UPND, and later joined UPND in 2006 with Hichilema’s support. From 2006 to 2026(Before August)he held Mazabuka Central for UPND. Party veterans describe him as the man who kept the party alive in Southern Province when Hichilema was detained or on the campaign trail. He served as UPND Chairperson for Elections for nearly a decade and as Minister of Local Government and Rural Development from September 2021.

Cornelius Mweetwa joined that inner circle as a younger mobilizer. MP for Choma Central, he became UPND’s media face and later Minister of Information and Chief Government Spokesperson. Inside the party, Mweetwa was seen as the defender and communicator of HH’s vision.

Together, they were arrested together, campaigned together, and were often photographed together in Livingstone, Mazabuka and Choma during the PF years.

2. What Bound Them?
Three things defined their friendship:

Shared persecution: All three have spoken about arrests and harassment under the PF government. Nkombo has often said in 2026 rallies: “That love is enduring… that’s why I was being arrested and roughed up in Livingstone because I like him [HH].”

Southern Province base: Hichilema (Monze), Nkombo (Mazabuka) and Mweetwa (Choma) built a powerful Southern bloc that gave UPND its most reliable votes from 2006 to 2021.

Loyalty narrative: Unlike many who defected, Nkombo and Mweetwa never left UPND during its 23 years in opposition.

3. The Test in Power

After UPND won in August 2021, the friendship moved from opposition to governance. Hichilema appointed Nkombo to Cabinet and Mweetwa to Information.

The first public crack appeared on March 28, 2025, when President Hichilema fired Nkombo as Minister, and later removed him as Chairperson for Elections.

Now the picture is different. Nkombo is neither here nor there – fired from Cabinet, running as an Independent in Mazabuka Central for August 13, 2026, yet saying “The President is my friend” and that Hichilema will win. Mweetwa has been left out of recent key appointments and has kept a lower profile as spokesperson.

This has left many asking: Is this the end of brotherhood? Is there a secret game they are playing on Zambians? Is Southern Province happy with their triplets?

Some see it as a calculated political separation to cover more ground, others see it as evidence of how power changes people.

I would say, power changes people, and evidence is HH – the once persecuted opposition leader now having to manage the loyalties and ambitions of his closest friends while holding the party together.

Whether this is a temporary fallout or a permanent split, the story of HH, Nkombo and Mweetwa remains the clearest mirror of UPND’s journey from the trenches to State House.

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