Why I Detest HH and UPND Politics: A Critical Reflection on Zambia’s Democratic Decline- Chitundu

Why I Detest HH and UPND Politics: A Critical Reflection on Zambia’s Democratic Decline

By Chitundu

The political culture of the United Party for National Development under President Hakainde Hichilema has evolved into a troubling paradox. What once appeared to be a promise of reform, meritocracy, and national renewal has instead become an exercise in exclusion, self praise, and institutional capture. The degeneration of Zambia’s democratic environment under the banner of economic efficiency and a disciplined anti corruption posture mirrors what political scholars describe as the authoritarian temptation, where leaders justify coercive rule in the name of progress.

This isn’t a partisan lament, but an intellectual critique anchored in evidence, literature, and historical context. I detest HH and UPND politics because it has replaced democratic ethos with personal glorification, civic participation with loyalty tests, and national unity with tribal dominance. These patterns can be analysed through several interlinked pillars: the cult of personality, the normalization of ignorance, the myth of genius leadership, the ends justify means culture, and the tribal spiritual consolidation of political power.

1. The Cult of Personality: Leadership as Idolatry

Political theorist Friedrich Hayek warned that when citizens place their faith in a great man, they surrender freedom for the illusion of security. The UPND’s communication strategy, which portrays HH as the embodiment of wisdom, efficiency, and purity, has given birth to a leadership cult. He is no longer seen as a civil servant accountable to institutions but as a messianic figure whose decisions must be accepted without question.

Drawing from Erich Fromm’s psychological work on the escape from freedom, citizens overwhelmed by economice frustration and national anxiety often prefer paternal leaders who promise stability. Under HH, state institutions, including ministries and regulatory bodies, have been reconfigured to orbit around presidential will rather than constitutional procedure. This diminishes civic autonomy and makes criticism of the president a social taboo, creating an echo chamber of praise disguised as patriotism.

2. The Normalization of Ignorance: The Politics of Unquestioning Loyalty

Antonio Gramsci argued that hegemony is maintained not only through force but through the manufacturing of consent rooted in ignorance. Within UPND, political discourse has shifted from issue based reasoning to blind loyalty. Party supporters are encouraged to defend HH’s decisions regardless of legality or morality.

Social media spaces, which should be arenas for democratic dialogue, have been turned into platforms for insults, propaganda, and intimidation. Facts and evidence are rejected as political manipulation, and party slogans replace intellectual thought. Ngugi wa Thiong’o observed that political systems which reward ignorance eventually produce what he called educated parrots, individuals who can speak but not think critically.

This culture of intellectual surrender corrodes Zambia’s public sphere and silences professionals, journalists, and civil servants who fear victimization for expressing independent thought. When truth becomes politicized, policy failures can be easily concealed behind party loyalty.

3. The Myth of Genius Leadership: The Technocrat Messiah

Supporters of HH often describe him as a financial genius whose business achievements automatically translate into exceptionale political leadership. Yet history warns against such assumptions. Max Weber, in his work on charismatic authority, noted that charisma becomes dangerous when reverence substitutes competence.

UPND’s inner circle cultivates the perception that HH is Zambia’s only capable mind. This produces complacency within government because bureaucrats avoid contradicting the president’s public image as a brilliant economic reformer. Ministries freeze in decision making, waiting for approval from above, and national policy becomes dependent on the preferences of one individual.

Such glorification undermines democratic principles. It limits collective accountability and transforms the state into a personality centered administrative space rather than an institution centered republic.

4. The Ends Justify Means Governance: Machiavellian Ethics in Practice

UPND’s political conduct reflects a classic Machiavellian approach, where any tactic that preserves power is justified, even at the cost of justice or public trust. Selective prosecutions, intimidation of rival politicians, suppression of labour unions, interference with civil society, and manipulation of state institutions all point to a government that prioritizes political victory over principled governance.

Zambian scholar Mwizenge Tembo once wrote that a regime that sacrifices morality for control digs its own legitimacy grave. Under UPND, the Anti Corruption Commission, Drug Enforcement Commission, and Zambia Police appear to conduct operations that disproportionately target opposition figures while shielding allies.

This selective morality converts justice into a political theatre. A government that once condemned oppression now governs through systematic intimidation, transforming fear into a national currency.

5. Tribalism as a Political Engine

Ethnicity has become the silent but powerful engine of political consolidation under UPND. From senior government appointments to public procurement and diplomatic placements, there is a noticeable pattern of regional concentration. Scholars such as Ali Mazrui and Claude Ake have argued that liberation movements often convert ethnic loyalty into political permanence once they ascend to power.

Instead of dismantling tribal barriers, UPND has sustained them for strategic advantage. Political mobilisation in Southern Province remains intense and unwavering, reinforcing the perception that the region functions as a permanent political fortress. In many state corridors, tribal identity now plays a decisive role in access to influence and economic opportunity, undermining the national philosophy of One Zambia, One Nation.

This trend threatens cohesion and risks creating an ethnic aristocracy embedded in the fabric of public power.

6. The Persecution of PF Leaders, Families, and Sympathizers

One of the most disturbing realities of the current political environment is the targeting of former Patriotic Front leaders and their families. What began as an anti corruption agenda has mutated into collective punishment. Children, siblings, spouses, and even distant relatives of PF figures have been arrested, interrogated, or harassed merely for sharing a surname with a political rival.

Elderly parents have died from stress and humiliation associated with endless court appearances. Homes have been raided and property seized without due process. Many families now live in constant fear of state sponsored persecution.

Hannah Arendt warned that the origins of totalitarianism lie in the notion that guilt is inherited through association rather than proven through action. Zambia must never accept a political culture where family identity becomes a crime and where innocence depends on political affiliation.

No ethical government destroys families to impress a head of state. Such cruelty diminishes the presidency and corrodes the nation’s moral foundation.

7. The Southern Province Political Fortress and Its Spiritual Foundations

Observers increasingly describe Southern Province as a political fortress that operates as an unbreakable stronghold for UPND. This is not a religious comparison but a sociopolitical observation rooted in loyalty, ideology, and collective identity. The region provides near absolute electoral support and functions as the cultural and emotional center of UPND power.

A critical and often overlooked component of this structure is the influence of the Seventh day Adventist community. The SDA’s disciplined organisational culture, moral strictness, emphasis on education, and communal solidarity have indirectly shaped UPND’s political identity. HH, molded within this environment, has drawn from these networks to build a political order defined by loyalty, moral rhetoric, and strategic cohesion.

When this religious cultural identity merges with political allegiance, dissent transforms into betrayal. Opposition within the region is rare, and UPND’s dominance is maintained with spiritual weight and ethnic solidarity. As the party tries to expand this model into other regions, it relies on tribal alliances, spiritual symbolism, and political pressure, creating a system where national politics becomes intertwined with regional spiritual identity.

This trend threatens the foundational idea of a secular republic and risks turning Zambia into a federation of political faiths rather than a nation of equal citizens.

Conclusion: A Call for Democratic Renewal

My detestation of HH and UPND politics is a defence of democracy. It is a plea for constitutional accountability, moral leadership, and national unity. The party’s governance reflects elements of what Dr Delroy Paulhus described as the dark triad of leadership, a combination of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy expressed through manipulation, intimidation, and emotional indifference.

If Zambia’s democratic future is to be preserved, citizens must resist the seduction of messianic leadership and reject the normalisation of political persecution. HH and UPND must be reminded that legitimacy is not earned through victory alone but must be renewed continuously through justice, humility, and genuine inclusion.

Zambia’s earlier leaders were imperfect, but they upheld a foundational principle: no individual is greater than the Republic. That principle must not die in our generation.

John 8:32 “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
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