Opposition parties, unite!
ZAMBIA FACES AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
…Hichilema must not be returned to power in 2026 – Sishuwa
By Mast Reporter
ZAMBIA faces an existential crisis if President Hakainde Hichilema is not removed from power in the 2026 election, historian Sishuwa Sishuwa has warned.
In an interview yesterday, Dr Sishuwa urged opposition parties to put Zambia first and field a common and credible candidate in the 2026 general election.
“I make an earnest appeal to all serious opposition party leaders to forego personal ambitions, identify and field a common and credible presidential candidate who has courage and character, and draw a political programme or national vision that resonates with the concerns of majority voters. I know that this is hard for our opposition politicians to do because of their little egos, but it is naïve for anyone of them to think that they can jump from limited support in the last election to obtaining 50 percent plus one in the next election,’ he said.
“They should not deceive themselves that they can win on their own, even if backed by former president Lungu. What is needed is for them to come together and either field a common candidate or identify one credible ticket to support. They need to identify a candidate soon so that he or she can be marketed to Zambians throughout the country and so that the opposition can build momentum around that person. Or else they risk handing Hichilema an undeserved second term in office.”
Dr Sishuwa said President Hichilema is a failed political experiment whose dreadfully poor record in public office is his biggest opponent.
“All things considered, Hichilema is a failed political experiment. In fact, his single major opponent is his dreadfully poor record in office. When it comes to the bigger national issues, such as safeguarding our cherished democracy, getting the best out of Zambia’s mineral wealth, respecting the Constitution and the rule of law, professionalising the civil service, fighting corruption beyond rhetoric, genuine promotion of national unity and equitable distribution of appointments to public service positions, sorting out the cost-of-living crisis and the deplorable conditions of life for most Zambians, Hichilema has, so far, lamentably failed,” Dr Sishuwa said.
“Zambia faces an existential crisis if he is not removed from power in the 2026 general election. But what will be decisive to the removal of Hichilema is the unity and viability of opposition parties including their ability to articulate an alternative vision that resonates with the concerns of majority voters. Once they do this, then they have a good chance of unseating the incumbent president despite the many loyalists he has installed in key formal institutions that manage elections such as the police, the electoral commission, and the judiciary.”
He argued that President Hichilema has consistently shown little regard for majority Zambians.
“In my view, Hichilema appears to be primarily serving two interests: his own and external ones, with little attention paid to addressing the domestic concerns or needs of the people who put him in office. Since his election in 2021, the man has consistently shown that he is out of his depth on the issues that matter most to Zambians. For him, public office appears to be a vehicle for personal self-enrichment and meting out revenge on those who wronged him or his party when they were in opposition,’ said Dr Sishuwa.
“Our complex national challenges call for a different kind of leadership, one that is highly competent, sufficiently educated and based on the possession of ethical values. These include courage, compassion and love for fellow human beings, moral force of character, integrity, genuine humility, honesty, a predilection for consultation, consensus-building, communication, cooperation, active listening, and the selfless pursuit of the public good, and not the selfish striving for personal gain. It is hardly possible to look at Hichilema’s cabinet today without being struck by the calamity of the absence of this kind of leadership. The question is: what are we going to do about our national plight before we sink further into the abyss? How can we move from simply knowing how bad things are to taking action?
Okay Mr.Sishuwa ,who is your alternative if you’re saying HH has failed.
What a load of malarkey!! Zambezi has failed,period!! Get it? Leave government to the big boys!!! There are umpteen possible leaders in waiting including Shishuwa.
Dr Sishuwa, if you are looking for a position in your imaginary cabinet, you are all getting it wrong. Who is benefiting from the enhanced CDF and free education? I don’t understand when you say HH is serving external interests. Since you are a historian and understands the past very well, give us an example of any past Governments that achieved their goals in three years in our country and when you do, we can begin to talk.
I would also like to know his proposed alternative. Additionally how specifically weighing the various aspects of national debt, i.e governance, economy, debt, corruption, mingalato etc. Then compare against the MMD & PF.
I am equally dying to hear his comments on the eligibility judgement. He has been mute along with other minded critics.
Wasted brians! Should have just joined Nyau dancers instead of wasting the valuable resources the nation spent on his education.
Mr history, its not just one candidate to win an election, its the remedy to the current economic and social stress that we need. Otherwise use the academic qualification of yours to wipe your bum clean. The people you want take over are all criminal affiliated, mmembe taxes and workers contributions, kalaba pf produced thief, kbf law abogator waking judges at night, the others are chiwawas barking through the night. Let the opposition tell the national how they ll solve the problems facing the country. Not this up side down dream of coming to subsidise fuel , electricity and mealie meal he ll be shiting that money. Pf subsidised those stuff and the result is the debt we are left with.
It is not Zambia which is facing an existential crisis but the opposition parties, for heaven’s sake!
You just have a hate thing about HH and UNDP.
Put your hand on your heart and swear that HH and UNDP have achieved nothing.
Shishuwa is just one vote! You can bubble things all you want, ultimately your vote and ideas will only account for a single vote. HH & UPND have brought alot of hope to young Zambians despite tough economy challenges caused by various factors some outside the control of the govt.
Shishuwa if you want HH7 to fix the economy, then you’re admitting that the Defunct TuPF criminals left a damaged economy because you don’t fix something that’s working properly
If HH7 has failed to fix the economy in three years then it simply means that the economy was damaged beyond repair by the Defunct TuPF criminals
Sometimes I wonder where this deeply ingrained negative attitude toward one person comes from. HH is a President, and if you haven’t visited rural areas where children are now in school, farmers are well supported, and the country is largely violence-free and progressing, then you are likely just comfortable supporting Mumembe, who has a record of evading taxes.
Ma rubbish person.. tu pf paid to talk from his matako..
The only one whose existence is under threat is Lungu. For the crimes he committed and for failing to take responsibility for those crimes.
If Zambia had continued under the misleadership of Lungu, yes our very existence would most certainly be in qweshen as we would be suffering the full consequences of Lungu’s financial recklessness. As it is, HH has saved the nation from certain collapse.
Dokota Shuwa Shuwa, you need a reality check. Wishing ill on those who are fixing Lungu’s fark ups and painting a wrong picture of the situation will not change the fact that HH is doing a great job and will be re-elected in 2026.
The people that used to syphon government resources are ganging up against HH and Zambians Know this.
Forget substituting HH for any one that has ever had dealings with PF the Toxic Party.
You have run out of a credible basis to justify why HH should be replaced.
Be rest assured that unless you rethink why you want to seek public office, and if the reason is noble. You will not find a justifiable reason to replace him. Neither will the reasons and basis for woeing voters occur to you.
For a Doctor of Philosophy in History and cant figure that out. Mufana ukalikutali.
We are waiting for the day when this cadre will come to Zambia and be arrested.
Mr Sishuwa do you think PF rule was better ?
Sishuwa does not live in Zambia, bitterness weighs heavily upon the one who carries it. Economic progress matters are not short term? 3 years for HH atleast has shown the man is on the right track. Despite your differences with him at least try to applaud where good is done. it is not a hoax that quite many people have been employed in govt under UPND and the private sector too. we cant compare 3 years to the 10 years of PF and say UPND has failed where is the fairness. How long does it take for an economy to turn from bad to good? surely that can be about 5-7 years.
The young academic is writing under the influence of Rasta fumes. No one in his right mind can say that HH has failed when:
(1) he found the economy in a mess. Where were these naysayers when Lungu who inherited a healthy economy run it aground in 5 years and still ended up with 1 million people voting for him?
(2) HH has not improved things as quickly as people hoped because of his s1lly pre-election political rhetoric (unrealistic promises made out of ignorance and political immaturity) but he has stabilised the economy. The patient is out of Intensive Care but still in hospital.
(3) cadre violence is almost at zero and Zambians appreciate it.
(4) the appointments that people say are tribal/regional are because he has to correct the original evil where most of these people were overlooked or even terminated by Lungu. I say this, and I am from Eastern Province! Zambezians suffered from the day that Sata took power. Lungu aligned with Northerners in order to survive civil war in PF. Just look at all opposition parties in Zambia today. The majority are headed by Northerners and a couple by Easterners. Northerners are very good at vuvuzela and noise making.
Zambia’s political liberation was started by Zambezians when they formed the ANC and yet, they have never ruled Zambia until now. If it was the other way round, we would have had no rest from the vuvuzelas.
Some kind of thinking this. Can you prove your assertions or you are just making eloquent noise? Show us using credile and verifiable numbers to prove your assertions. Otherwise its an unsupported assumption that you base your opinion.
When can this Sishuwa stop writing articles? He’s a terrible misfit. HH must have stepped on his toes hence the bitterness. He has nothing positive to say, I guess him and Mmembe are sleeping in the same bed.
But he’s always been afuledi matako’s side chick…..that’s when you believe now???
The lack of analytical skills portrayed by people like Mr. Sishuwa, it’s safe to say he can not manage to make it in an engineering field where such skills are a necessity so he could only make it in such fields as history which are commonly refered to as “chikwakwa” at uni because such fields do not need any analytical skills but pure memorization. Surely any person with basic understanding knows that there is what is called cause and effect so one must not only look at the effects but look at what caused it. If Mr. Sishuwa had any understanding about economics he could have understood that despite the many challenges the country is facing, the current government has done fairly well given the extent of the damage they found left by the previous administration. In fact, the country is projected to be among the top 6 fastest growing economies in 2015 in the whole Africa. Surely does that sound like a government which has failed to a normal thinking person? Yes there are a lot of challenges facing our country but the current leadership is the best option available currently.
When are we going to learn to tolerate divergent views? When are we going to learn to question ourselves or even laugh at ourselves in the face of divergent views
You are always negative on HH and the Govt. So, the pressure to have HH voted out in 2026 is for your own selfish agenda, because you are on self exile in south Africa and want to return to Zambia after perceived change of Govt.
Your fears Sir are unfounded, there is no president in this world who is deemed to have failed in three years, takwaba. Unless you want HH to be the first and only one. It is also not true that HH is serving his own interests and those of foreigners. HH has given money to the people more than any past president, increased CDF, students meal allowances, SCT, drought relief etc. I can only agree with you if he is sending all this money to foreigners and not Zambians. Right now, many former high profile leaders in the previous administration are either serving prison sentences or they are in court for embezzling of government money, is that what you can term as serving the interests of Zambians when some of these leaders were busy syphoning their money every day? HH has built decent classes for our children, he has bought them desks, they no longer learn under the trees, they no longer sit on the floor. HH has attracted direct investment in the country more than expected, he has managed to restructure the unsustainable debt that was making us suffocate. If this is what you can call a failure, then there is something seriously wrong with your mind. It could be upside down because it seems you don’t get the correct view of things.
In my opinion, what you are saying is the opposite of the reality, Zambia faces an existential crisis if the people of Zambia remove HH from power in the 2026 general election. That can not only be a big mistake but also pressing a self delusional and self destruction button. Changing a government in 2026 cannot make zambia any better, if anything it will just worsen it. Just take a deliberate visit to Zimbabwe or Malawi, you will come back running to shake HH’s hands. HH has done a lot for this country and is still doing a lot and results are for everyone to see. As at now, HH remains the best person to take the nation beyond 2026.
That is why personally I don’t refer to people like Mr. Sishuwa and his other friends as doctors because their level of analyzing issues is below one with a diploma. Surely how can someone with a normal frame of mind claim president HH to be a failure when he has really transformed the country economically despite the numerous challenges he found? For instance, he managed to take economic growth from recession (negative growth) to positive growth despite the suffocating debt, restructured the debt which PF claimed was impossible, has employed over 90K public workers during the same period the economy is in stress without any wages freeze like it was in the past when the country did economic restructuring programs, paying off most pensionares who stayed for over 20 years some of them, providing free education and introducing feeding program in schools, resuscitation of the mining sector which almost collapsed and attracting over US $8 billion new investments in the sector in just 3 years, increased CDF from K1.6 million to over K36 million which is 2,250% increase, restoration of meal allowance for university students and even increased the number of students on student loans and these are just a few achievements president HH and his government has scored within this short period despite the severely damaged economy they inherited. If this is what is called failure then I don’t know what success entails.
Shishuwa, go eff yourself