177 ViewsHistorian Sishuwa Sishuwa says prior to the 2021 general election President Hakainde Hichilema was the United Party for National Development (UPND)’s greatest asset but now he is the party’s huge liability. Sishuwa maintains that Hichilema will lose the election on 13 August, adding that the only thing that can save him from defeat is […]

177 Views

President Hichilema

Historian Sishuwa Sishuwa says prior to the 2021 general election President Hakainde Hichilema was the United Party for National Development (UPND)’s greatest asset but now he is the party’s huge liability.

Sishuwa maintains that Hichilema will lose the election on 13 August, adding that the only thing that can save him from defeat is pre-ballot death or industrial scale vote-rigging.

He says never again should Zambia elect a lying, tribal, corrupt, unpatriotic, vindictive, hypocritical, lawless, and undemocratic person as President.

Sishuwa Sishuwa writes:

Dr Sishuwa

In 2021, President Hakainde Hichilema was the United Party for National Development (UPND)’s greatest asset.

In 2026, Hichilema is the UPND’s greatest liability. Things are not okay in Zambia.

Sometimes, incumbent presidents fail and ruling parties collapse because of having hardcore supporters who shield them from blame or criticism. I recently watched Laura Miti, one of Hichilema’s die-hard supporters, criticising the communication team of Hichilema in both the government and the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND).

According to Laura, Hichilema has performed very well, especially on the economy, and the main problem has been the failure by the UPND media director Mark Simuuwe, presidential spokesperson Clayson Hamasaka, Ministry of Information Permanent Secretary Thabo Kawana, and UPND spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa to communicate Hichilema’s achievements meaningfully and effectively to the Zambian people.

I have seen this argument – that the problem is the UPND’s poor communication team – repeated in equal measure by other supporters of the ruling party. According to those who hold this view, the problem is not extreme poverty nor the anti-poor policies of Hichilema and his UPND. It is that the hungry citizens have not been provided with communication that is good enough to calm them down, to persuade them to accept their status. The measures being taken by the government to address their plight – measures that we Zambians are not told – are good. The real problem, according to Laura and those who think like her, is that Hichilema and his friends in government are failing to communicate to this hungry mass of ignorant bodies.

In other words, the suggestion here is that Hichilema and the UPND have sustained us in a state of ignorance about the supposedly good things they have done, for us. To remedy this problem, they need to communicate to us ‘meaningfully and effectively’ about the state of the economy. The implication is that what Hichilema needs to do is to dismiss Hamasaka, Simuuwe, and other relevant officials in the communication team who are failing to communicate the wonderful things the president is doing for us. Once the president finds better liars, our problem would be solved; we will no longer suffer. There is something extremely patronising and quite insulting about this degree of sycophancy.

The problem is not the lack of communication. Neither is it Simuuwe, Kawana, Mweetwa or Hamasaka – notwithstanding their many failings. The problem is that Hichilema has failed to honour many of the things he promised such as lowering the cost of living, fighting corruption, ensuring adequate ethnic-regional diversity in public appointments, professionalising the civil service, and expanding democratic rights. It is impossible to package failure successfully, especially failure that people live through or experience every day.

Zambians do not need to be told ‘meaningfully and effectively’ that they are suffering. They know and understand their misery better. What they want is simple: concrete solutions to their everyday problems, which include expensive petrol, diesel, fertiliser, ‘saladi’, mealie meal, transport, food, and other basic services.

Zambians elected Hichilema because he – not Hamasaka, Simuuwe, Kawana, Mweetwa, or anyone else – undertook to reduce their hardships, their suffering. Five years down the line, the prices of essential commodities are all rising faster. We do not want any explanation for this. We want the prices to go down. The primary responsibility of the government is not to explain our problems; it is to solve them.

Instead of worrying about how the UPND are communicating, any sane person who believes in accountability must demand answers from Hichilema on why the prices of essential commodities are not going down. Recently, the president said the prices of basic services will “stabilise” soon. In case Hichilema does not know or he has forgotten, we did not vote for him to stabilise prices. We voted for lower prices, and Hichilema graphically showed us how he would reduce them. He looked and sounded brilliant then. Where has that brilliance gone?

Here is the point: Hichilema’s problem is not lack of effective communication; it is lack of credibility. Five years ago, he could promise voters anything and many would have believed him. But that was before he was given a chance to govern. It was before his leadership was sampled. Today, after five years in power and going back on his many promises, many see him as a liar. The veil has been unmasked. His new promises ring hollow. No communication specialist can manufacture effective lies to make him appealing.

Hichilema is just a bad product. Even if you gave him the most effective communications team, they would find a problem to successfully market him. In 2021, Hichilema won power not because he had an effective communication team but because he did not have a bad record in government and many people felt that they could trust him enough to test him, to give him a chance. That innocence is gone. The public’s trust in him is gone.

The ruling party has a bad product. If an institution has manufactured a bad product, it does not matter how effective its sales team is. The bad product won’t sale. Customers will be repulsed or put off by its character. Good products, in contrast, sell themselves. Their record, their integrity, attract more customers.

Things are not okay in Zambia – and Hichilema bears ultimate responsibility for the status quo. Anyone who believes that things are okay should urgently get their head examined.