Zambia Is Not Malawi?” Tell That to Hichilema’s Shaky Throne
By Michael Zephaniah Phiri Political Activist
The recent elections in Malawi have rattled the very foundations of UPND. Suddenly, their praise-singers have found refuge in a tired chant: “Zambia is not Malawi.” But who are they fooling? The truth is staring them in the face — Malawi’s political storm is a mirror reflection of what awaits UPND in 2026.
When Lazarus Chakwera rode to power, the UPND in opposition danced and sang praises, hailing him as a hero of democracy. Today, as Malawians reject him, the same UPND cadres shamelessly twist their tongues to say, “Zambia is not Malawi.” Yet Zambia and Malawi are like Siamese twins — culturally, politically, and electorally bound. What happens in one is a prophecy for the other.
Hon. Miles Sampa, Leader of the Opposition, once prophetically described President Hakainde Hichilema as a “Once Viewed President.” Malawi has now produced its own version in Lazarus Chakwera — a leader once adored, now rejected. The parallel is striking: both nations have been cursed with loquacious presidents who showered citizens with promises of heaven on earth, only for implementation to hit absolute zero.
Even in Parliament, when Hon. Stephen Kapyongo raised the alarm about UPND’s dwindling fortunes, the Second Deputy Speaker rushed to cut him short with the same hollow excuse — “Zambia is not Malawi.” But the facts are undeniable. Mpulungu’s by-election already handed UPND a bitter defeat at the hands of NCP. The people are speaking, and the echoes from Malawi are only amplifying Zambia’s looming verdict.
The arrogance of UPND will not save them. Hichilema’s government has become a carbon copy of Chakwera’s regime — loud on promises, mute on delivery. Just as Malawians are pushing Chakwera out, Zambians are preparing to show Hichilema the exit.
The fear in UPND today is real, and it is justified. Because when the people rise, no slogan — not even “Zambia is not Malawi” — will stop the fall of a once viewed president.
*UPND should stop comforting themselves — Malawi has simply handed them their political obituary in advance.*
Hunger can cause hallucinating.
You can demonise HH all you want, it is the Zambian electorate (not the Malawian electorate) who will finally decide.
Good thing about social media is that it keeps a record of people’s utterances. For future reference. Come September 2026, we will remind this so called “political activist” about the things he said.
HH 2026 nobody is going to beat him
Yes, UPND should take note of the happenings in Malawi. However, their detractors must not assume that Zambia will inevitably follow the same route.
UPND stands a very good chance of retaining power. You cant compare PF”s record to that of Mutharika’s DPP. For starters, Mr. Lungu is no more which takes out the all important comparison of former president. PF was extremely violent, corrupt and thrives on chaos. The DPP might have been corrupt but not to the extent of PF. It was not violent.
However, UPND should not down play the impact of the economy on the mental state of the voters. A hungry man loses the capacity to reason.
Sorry Mr. Political activist, I am not UPND, am not PF, I am just a citizen. Zambia is not “electorally bound” to Zambia. The problem is what are opposition offering us? Just expecting a gift from Malawi? PF said free education is “impossible”. I want to hear the opposition position on education, health, agriculture, mining. Nobody is presenting any programme, only “we must remove HH”, so that you do what? CDF which the PF misused for only their constituencies is a game changer, ask the villagers, if that is zero delivery. The problem is that you want mealie meal prices to be changed from the office. Mealie meal is not produced in the office..
Keep on dreaming.Some of you people deserve a sjambok to give you sense in those empty tins you carry as heads. Your very people who once ruled us at one time defaulted in paying back the money they borrowed externa and internal debt which even attracted penalties.They left the country bankrupt failing to feed the students to give them meal allowances.They borrowed money to tantamika you in the name of kasaka kandalama and give you the for consumption,Zero Investment.The economy started shrinking under you people.
Your government closed all the mines, failed to resolve legal battles, killed KCM failed to detwater shaft 28. You chaps are just good at talking and lying to the public. PF was just a criminal government if you ask many Zambians.People who appreciate what HH has achieved is not you thieves and you have never been.They will vote for him massively.You even have time to write nonsense,what kind of people are you without shame?
Some people like day dreaming, it’s better to ignore them. Malawians themselves would be very shocked and very disappointed if they heard that Zambians have voted out HH. With HH, Zambia is in safe hands and is being admired by many countries in the Region and beyond. Agree or disagree, even if Lungu was still alive, it would have been an impossibility for him to defeat HH. HH is the pride of majority Zambians and he’s like now a model president in Africa. For those who don’t know, the world is still shocked about how he quickly managed to restructure the unsustainable debt? And Zambia has remained both economically and politically stable since then. Had it not been the worst drought in living memory which we had, things could have been much much better than what we are seeing now. Already we have unprecedented bumper harvest the previous season which FRA may even fail to buy. So if Lazarus Chakwera never did anything for Malawi in five years, HH has done a lot for Zambia the past or last four years, come 2026, a landslide win awaits him and his critics will remain leaking and nursing their wounds. HH until 2031.
Did nothing and not did anything