WHERE IS THE PROBLEM?
I think our political culture and paradigm is where the problem lies…
By Chanoda Ngwira
Zambia and Africa as a whole needs no change of political players if its citizenry ought to have a benefit from us politicians, otherwise we shall keep taking 100% steps back thinking we are changing things through voting. We are basically making politics and elections as an exercise to fulfill each election year without the necessary change that our citizens are eager and desirous to see as they wake up early in the morning to go and cast a vote.
Politics in Africa, Zambia in particular have basically been reduced to merely a Constitutional mandate that has to be fulfilled especially in Africa. All we do is change the colours of T-shirts and party gear, we see nothing significant in terms of the much needed change because after all, us politicians are practically dwarfed regards making our voters realise the main importance of changing leadership at all levels.
What changes mainly are slogans, dances and above all colours. Look at what has really been achieved in the many times we have changed Presidents from 1991 to date.. Has anything meaningful been attained? Are we really politically independent? Can we say we are proud of making the changes in leadership regards real development despite having all the necessary natural resources given to us by our God? Have the mineral resources really made us have an impact? Have the citizens really benefited from our arable land that China and many other developed countries doesn’t have?
Every five years we go to a general election and us politicians come to you the citizens to beg for a vote, promise you heaven on earth, call other political players as heartless, saying only us have solutions. Citizens listen, they go out in numbers to vote for us, they give us the support we need and we get to leadership. Do we fulfill our promises? Do we deliver on our slogans? THE HOUR HAS COME, MORE MONEY IN OUR POCKETS, ZAMBIA FORWARD.. Have we really seen more money in our pockets? Hass the much said hour has come really come? Has Zambia gone forward? The answer is a categorical NO..
The solution lies in us politicians, our culture, our way of doing things, our way of looking at politics, our way of viewing politics as a conveyor belt to political power, taking politics as a way to cement our connections, a way of cementing our wealth and establishment in society. To some it is basically a journey to cement importance and earn a name as a politician. We are basically wicked people, people that have taken citizens for granted for a long time now, people that have no hearts at all(I mean us politicians)..
Truth be told, we need a change in culture when it comes to politics, otherwise Zambians and Africans will simply be doing an academic exercise without getting the real change that they desire. All what our voters do is to change from one colour to another when the behavior by those privileged remains the same. The status quo remains unchanged. We are still the liars, the deceivers, the crooks and sweet talkers who have no shame to stand on the podium and lie to the citizen. What a cancer.
What we need now or never is a paradigm change, we need to look at the needs, we have to be directly proportional to the dynamics of the world, we must look at how the world has evolved. We must move with time if we are to make meaning and get appreciated by those voters out there. The culture of just having power is not helping our people.
CRY MY BELOVED ZAMBIA AND AFRICA….
The Author is Chasefu Constituency Aspirant for 2026