THE UNITED KWACHA ALLIANCE IS WELCOME- Dr Cephas Mukuka

THE UNITED KWACHA ALLIANCE IS WELCOME

16 February,2024 Friday.

There is a debate going on after the formation of the United Kwacha Alliance.
A number of people have said different things on the issue at hand.

The truth of the matter is that alliances have always worked out save on few critical situations.

Prior to Zambias independence in 1964,we had the African National Congress play a pivotal role .
Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula joined hands with Kenneth Kaundas United National Independence Party,UNIP.

In the same vain, we saw the President of the then Northern Rhodesia Trade Union Congress,NRTUC Lawrence Katilungu, giving solidarity to his political counterparts.
Northern Rhodesia experienced a number of strikes and work stoppages in order to weaken the colonial masters.

As a matter of fact, the NRTUC had a political wing, which gave support to the ANC.

In the final analysis, independence was given to a new nation called Zambia.
This was as a result of concerted efforts from various stakeholders.
The church equally preached equality ,freedom, and justice.

In 1991, there was a repeat of the 1964 concerted efforts of various stakeholders.
The Movement for Multiparty Democracy,MMD had to join hands with the Labour movement, the church ,civil society organisations, and Nongovernmental organisations to oust the then ruling party UNIP
Dr Frederick Chiluba became the first democratically elected President under this new political dispensation .

Chiluba handed over power to Levy Mwanawasa, whom most people despised and classified as a political novice ??
Later, Mwanawasa performed, and his government received local,regional, continental, and global recognition.

In 2006, when Dr. Kenneth Kaunda formed the United Democratic Alliance,UDA, and it was too late to defeat Mwanawasa.

Under the Mwanawasa administration the economic, social and political atmosphere was very fair that people decided to retain him after defeating Alliance partners,Forum for Democracy Andrew Development, FDD,United National Independence Party, UNIP and the United Party for National Development, UPND.

Kindly take note that the electorates saw no reason of changing leadership due to a favourable economic and social atmosphere.
The political front was heated up as Mwanawasa waged war against his predecessor and a few others in a crusade to recover purported stollen funds from government coffers??

In 2021, the UPND then in opposition had support from the church, Nongovernmental organisations, and, of course, other political parties.
This worked for them, and Hakainde Hichilema became the 7th President of Zambia.

The coming on board of the UKA should not be underrated in any way.
This formation will enter political history in 2026 soon after the Presidential and general elections as victors.

It’s therefore totally wrong and unacceptable for anyone to rubbish it’s coming on the scene.
History will always repeat itself.

At continental levels, we can cite a few examples of political alliances that worked and were people driven.

In Kenya, we had the Rainbow Coalition, which reelected President Mwai Kibaki.
South Africa s ruling party, the African National Congress, is in an alliance with the South African Communist Party,SACP,and the Congress of South African Trade Unions ,COSATU.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is but a product of this same alliance.

In Malawi, the formation of the Tonse Alliance saw the coming to power of the former ruling party under President Lazarous Chakwera.

Let political players learn to be sincere and respect each others political views and avoid unnecessary antagonism.

The United Kwacha Alliance ,UKA, is people driven and is set to upset political tables in 2026.

UKA has nothing to do with Hakainde Hichilema as an individual but is there to redeem the suffering people of Zambia.

Dr Cephas Mukuka
Citizens First party Deputy General Secretary / politics and operations.
UKA alliance partner.