UPND HAS USED,DUMPED PARTNERS
…it’s highest mark of betrayal, insincerity – Changala
By Ernest Chanda
BREBNER Changala says the new dawn administration has used and dumped most of its Alliance partners and individuals who supported them in opposition.
Recently, All People’s Congress Party leader Nason Msoni warned against trivialising partners in political alliances.
In his Facebook post, Msoni said it was dangerous for the UPND to sideline people who fought with them in opposition.
“It is dangerous political assertion to trivialise the working together of the Opposition political parties by the UPND party. Dismiss the opposition political parties working together at your own peril and especially after engaging yourself into treacherous politics against those who assisted in grabbing power from the PF,” posted Msoni.
“Whereas we demand for loyalty from our colleagues but we too as political leaders should be willing and must endeavour to be loyal to our colleagues. Dr Kenneth David Kaunda’s longevity in power was never a product of an accident or as a result of dictatorship but was one of loyalty to his comrades. Likewise, his comrades had remained loyal and true to him to the very end.
Those who think that loyalty to their friends count for nothing in their political ambition will certainly one day pay a heavy price. In politics there is no higher sacrifice than that of your colleagues laying down their own political ambition in order to hand you the political momentum.”
And Changala, a good governance activist agrees with Msoni, adding that the ruling party has “indeed forgotten where it is coming from”.
He said the UPND has not shown gratitude to citizens who helped it come into government.
“The lamentation by Msoni who is a member of the UPND Alliance is a talk in town in which a lot of people used by the Alliance feel that they have been betrayed. They have been sidelined. They have been used and they have been bruised by the new dawn administration,” he told The Mast. “The UPND has not taken care to ameliorate or indeed repay that critical support that they canvassed prior to the August 12 general election. They brought many political parties, individuals and organisations on board in which UPND was used as a special purpose vehicle to remove the cantankerous PF.”
Changala catalogued some of the critical voices that spoke against PF brutality which the UPND has completely wiped out from the scene.
He wondered if President Hakainde Hichilema or any other member of government has spoken to any of the people that helped them win.
“When did the President or indeed anybody in government ever speak to Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa? When did the President or anybody in government ever speak to Gilbert Temba? These people were very critical. When did the President or anybody in government ever make even a simple call to Linda Kasonde? When did they ever pick up a phone and speak to John Sangwa,” Changala asked. “I want these people to know how they have separated themselves from the people who were movers of change and fighters at a very critical time when their lives were at risk because PF was a very dangerous organisation. So, it is important for John Sangwa’s contribution to the revolution to be remembered. Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa, Gilbert Temba, Trevor Simumba, Fackson Shamenda; these people sacrificed among many other Zambians of goodwill. They (UPND) abused people and have abandoned them. They went to create new friends for convenience; new friends who had no role in the struggle. That is a high mark of insincerity.”
Changala said because of such betrayal, most of those who helped UPND have gone quiet in frustration.
He reminded the UPND that on their own they could not have won the election.
“Going forward, I have been asking questions on several fora. What is it that all the people that were coerced to come on board and support UPND and win an election have gone quiet for? They are not visible. And this looks like it was a one-party show. It was a one man show where other people’s efforts, resources and critical support have been relegated to history,” he added. “This is the highest mark of betrayal and insincerity in a leadership. What do you expect if a party cannot respect small things, small individuals? They cannot respect small parties; how will they respect the bigger picture and the nation at large?”
Changala also reminded UPND about the role played by organisations like the Our Civic Duty Association (OCiDA) and other individuals such as Kelvin Fube Bwalya in bringing down the PF.
“There is a loud silence from one of the key players – KBF. There is a loud silence from one of the key players – Simuyemba. There’s loud silence from one of the critical organisations that actually played a pivotal role in the Alliance – the OCiDA. Nobody seems to remember OCiDA from the new dawn administration,” he said. “There’s a loud silence on their engagement with one bishop – [Arch]bishop [Telesphore] Mpundu. A man of immense wisdom, a man of immense character. A man of immense and strong Christian values who rose like a middle finger when it was not fashionable to speak against the Patriotic Front because of their brutality. He risked his life singularly and descended to the people that were under threat – the UPND and the Tonga in general.”
Changala noted that the UPND has instead acquired new and convenient friends at the expense of those who supported them when it mattered most.
“We also had some human rights groups which became the clarion call for the new dawn. These are men and women who have been shunted to the back seat of this administration,” he said. “We are now seeing people who wouldn’t defend their rights at that time; who wouldn’t condemn the abuse of the Patriotic Front – the criminal activities of the Patriotic Front. They have come in the forefront to take care of themselves and members of the ruling party. This is not the way to treat the people on whose glorious concern and mind you assumed power.”
He however praised Msoni for voicing out when others chose to keep quiet in frustration.
“The people have decided to fade away quietly. But I give credit to Msoni, a Ngoni warrior who has refused to keep quiet. He’s making a point that they were used and dumped,” Changala said. “And it’s not too late. This new dawn administration should assemble a meeting for everyone else that celebrated with them when the Alliance was brought together by the OCiDA. They must remember the launch of the Alliance. That day was very important and critical. It was a matter of who will join the struggle and kick out a criminal organisation; that was the PF.”
He reminded the UPND that their victory came from Zambians and not their own capacity.
“And I want to remind the new dawn that the victory of the new dawn was a cake handed to the new dawn without much ado because it was a fight between the Patriotic Front and the people of Zambia. The UPND was brought in as an alternative because there was no other opposition that could unseat the Patriotic Front. It was a struggle between the good, the bad and the ugly. It is a message on which the new dawn administration and its leadership must reflect,” said Changala. “They cannot allow every man and woman who participated in the struggle to go about complaining. To feel left out, to feel neglected – where this leadership of the new dawn cannot even lift, pick up a phone to call somebody and greet them. Just a phone! But they are able to travel to go and greet citizens around the world, leaving their own men and women at home without showing any sense of gratitude. It’s totally unacceptable and we must revisit how we take friends. It’s very important.”