UPND’S BOLD PUSH: PROGRESS OR PROMISES?
Since storming into power in 2021, the UPND has thrown everything into reshaping Zambia’s future from free education in schools to social cash transfers reaching the nation’s most vulnerable. The ruling party brands itself as the government of action, promising to put ordinary citizens at the centre of development.
There’s no doubt, many Zambians have felt the impact. Classrooms once shut to poor children are now open, farming inputs are reaching more small-scale farmers, and young people are seeing fresh opportunities in training and empowerment schemes.
“If it wasn’t for free education, my daughter would have dropped out. For us in the township, that is real change,” says Mary Mwale, a market trader in Lusaka.
But the question on many lips is this: is it enough?
While strides have been made, critics point to the stubbornly high cost of living, youth unemployment, and delayed project rollouts as cracks in the UPND’s record.
“The government is talking big about reforms, but people can’t eat promises. Prices are killing us,” argues Chanda Phiri, a minibus driver in Ndola.
Opposition leaders have been quick to pounce. PF’s Raphael Nakacinda recently declared: “What we are seeing is window-dressing. The UPND has failed to address the basic economic realities facing our people.”
Similarly, Socialist Party president Fred M’membe accused the ruling party of neglecting the poor: “Free education is welcome, but what use is it if children go to school hungry? The cost of living is unbearable.”
The government insists that global economic pressures are partly to blame and argues that its reforms are long-term investments that will pay off.
Political analysts, however, warn that time is ticking. “The UPND has delivered significant policy shifts, but Zambians judge by the meal on the table, not policy papers. If the cost of living remains high, frustration will grow,” says political commentator Dr. Naomi Zulu.
For now, Zambians are watching closely. Supporters hail the UPND as the first government in decades to take ordinary people seriously. Opponents say the party is running out of time to turn bold promises into daily realities.
As 2026 approaches, one thing is certain: the UPND has set the stage for transformation but the final verdict will come from the people living the reality of its policies.
So how can you develop an economy without owning it’s handlebars? All the bolts and nuts of our economy are in the tool box of foreigners and all you have is crumbs from their dinner table and little soup from taxes on the poor middle class boys and girls.
What a shame Mr. President. You own the mines and the strategic industries first. Then that’s when you plan economic development. Don’t parrot those useless theories they taught us in their master’s degree programs. They don’t work here because they assume you own the economy through your citizens so no externalizing of gains happens. Their master’s degree models can work if your country is in Europe or the Americas not Africa.
We use Ibrahim Traore’s radical method here. If the whites were the ones on our situation, they would get back the mines and chase us, no fear of war or secret assassinations, the main fear of coward African presidents…..