THERE IS NO NEED FOR UNITY, SAYS CHISHALA KATEKA
President – New Heritage Party
31 August 2026
We have noted, with some surprise, the calls for ‘unity, the need to move on and how we only have one country’. Let us examine this word ‘unity’. It means amongst other things “the state of being joined together, living in full agreement and harmony”. Harmony speaks of agreement and cooperation among people or groups working for a common goal.
For unity to exist, an environment that allows unity to exist, must first be created. Unity does not just happen, it is something that is worked towards, with both sides of the divide being aware, fully engaged and in agreement regarding the common goal. Unity is not a wish, it is a process.
Prior to the elections, we so advocated for unity amongst the opposition, to the extent that NHP abandoned the pursuit of growth for our party and Presidential ambitions in order to pursue that unity.
This is because we were looking at the common goal for the sake of the the nation. Many Opposition players heeded the call to unite around a common cause – the cause of the Zambian people, though other parties and presidents did not do so.
It is important to note that the coming together of various political players around Mundubile and Makebi, had very little to do with Mundibile and Makebi themselves and everything to do with the fact that they, and no-one else, represented a rallying point to which most Zambians related to and gravitated towards. The two represented a leadership to a movement by the Zambians and for the Zambians, which Zambians themselves chose. Going against this movement, was saying “No!’ to what the Zambians themselves had chosen and was, in a way, fighting the will of Zambians.
That is why Zambians viewed anyone else in Opposition, that put their name on that ballot, as betraying Zambians and were heavily punished with very few votes. Look at the tallying before the system interfered with the vote results – that was the message to Opposition that failed to read the clear instructions from Zambians.
Back to the simplistic call for unity. We would love for this unity to exist. But unity exists in an enabling environment and not in a vacuum. Do we have such an environment? The clear answer is ‘No!’ Before you can call for unity, please answer the following questions for us:
• Do you see the killing of an innocent person in the name of Mutotwe Kafwaya with no apology to date, by the state as okay?
• Can you honestly look Mrs Kafwaya and those orphans in the face and tell them to move on as if all is well?
• Is the labelling of Katotwe Mufwaya and others as ‘militias’ justified merely because they pose a political challenge to power?
• Was the stealing of the people’s vote acceptable?
• Is the continued terrorising and silencing of the population by the state what we should be in agreement with?
• Is the disappearing, detaining and arresting of political leaders and ordinary citizens on trumped-up charges acceptable?
• Is the closing of court premises on the last two days of the petition period, the right thing to do?
By choosing to unite with whosoever, without dealing with the various elephants in the room, is tantamount to burying our collective heads in the sand. There can be no healing and uniting, without dealing with the underlying issues. You can not sweep these issues under a rug. If you put a bandage over a festering wound this will lead to worsening the situation as the environment will cause the germs to multiply and fester more.
The call for unity must not be used to hide fructures in the country. Rather than speaking to Opposition and expecting us to walk in unity, healing and moving on, speak to those in power instead so that they acknowledge that there is disunity in the country and point out to them that there is a need to deal with it. If we agree that there has been an abrogation of the constitution – address let us deal with the constitutional breaches first which can then lead to the healing process.
Calling on unity without facing the issues, is consciously participating in and aiding the grand theft of the people’s sacred constitutional right to a free one man one vote. Let us not see this as an opportunity to make a name for ourselves but let us deal with this matter with the seriousness it deserves. Let us fight for justice for the Zambian people and our posterity.
As leaders, let us not act the same way vultures, hyenas, and other scavengers take advantage of a dead or dying animal and join in the feast by eating the scraps! Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu deserve our support not our betrayal. This election was stolen from the people by the UPND, so no patriot or self-respecting opposition leader should take part in legitimising this crime.
Mundubile, Makebi and others are unjustly incarcerated in filthy dungeons, a people’s vote has been stolen, lives have been lost and the constitution abrogated as a result of the closing of the courts. Can one then go ahead and ask the victims to congratulate and unite with the villains! We would in effect be telling Zambians that by implication, the state is right to detain our leaders because they have actually broken the law.