12 Dangerous Human Liabilities around HH who Will Sink & eventually bury his political grave in August 2026
………When you critically evaluate President Hakainde Hichilema (HH) from a party leadership perspective, you will conclude that he is a defined political statute in terms of control and direction strength. Despite failing and disappointing Zambians in many sectors, HH is still on top of his UPND ruling party as well as his UPND alliance government with defined political control over top officials, structures and membership countrywide. This solid leadership personality cult is evidently lacking everywhere across the chaotic, lukewarm and indecisive opposition…..
By Dr Chris Zumani Zimba
Introduction
Unlike PF which was torn apart and has been shared into “Chabayama” political pieces since the death of its founder in 2014, HH has kept UPND politically intact since 2006 and consequently pushed it into power in 2021. His personal control and leadership over the Mazoka party for more than 18 years now is brutally unshakable, in-comparable and must be admired and commended by all objective observers and analysts.
But with all such good leadership merits, what is really making HH fail to govern Zambia, betray to deliver on campaign promises and now stand politically so vulnerable and naked before voters going into 2026? Among many reasons, this article tried to scrutinize, understand and concluded that his choice and type of political appointees at state house, cabinet and top government levels are equally more responsible to explaining this unpalatable story of leadership crisis and governance failure before him. In detail, this is why and how:
1. Zambia is a presidential system with a fusion of power. This entails that a president appoints cabinet ministers from elected parliamentarians-MPs. Under such a system, you need well trained and experienced expert team of permanent secretaries to competently run sectors and cover up for the policy shortcomings of non expert cabinet ministers. But if you further appoint cadres as permanent secretaries, you create a mountain crisis in terms of public service delivery. If you pick my three comrades in Kangwa Chileshe, Thabo Kawana and Pilato as classical examples of HH’s key sector PSs versus the expert competencies of their respective Cabinet ministers, then you clearly understand why Bally has created a performance failure and crisis in many sectors for himself.
2. Clearly, President HH has created an expert deficiency at PS and Minister levels in many sectors! When it comes to the performance of sector ministries, republican president rely more on permanent secretaries with technical capabilities and expert experience. However, HH’s government seem to be in a crisis at both PS and minister levels in many sectors. Take the stubborn crises and even scandals in the ministry of health, energy, mining, agriculture, infrastructure, finance, foreign affairs or local government, it clearly shows that many PSs under HH are mere political “Bootlickers” than competent experts in their respective sectors.
3. In the UPND government, the sense of having “Yes Bwana, Yes Bwana type of Cabinet Ministers” is equally high. How many UPND cabinet ministers seem politically confident in public discourses and boldly presents themselves as co-rulers with HH? How many cabinet ministers as well as provincial ministers under HH are widely known by the masses? Personally, l cannot list more than ten. At Man City, Barcelona or Real Madrid, genius players are popular known and celebrated by their fans! Now your guess is surely mine about HH’s key cabinet appointees. We have told that ACC is investigating a sea of HH’s cabinet ministers for corruption allegations. And I presume that many of such under surveillance are vividly incompetent but HH is shielding and keeping them liked baked bans for Christmas Eve in 2026!
4. Even in Lusaka, very few people at City market, Chirundu main bus station or Feira Fish Market know their provincial minister under the UPND government. It is the same story you find in Muchinga, North Western, Eastern or Central Provinces. This is a mark of leadership mediocrity or failure. It is terribly disappointing and shameful for any government! The fact that majority cabinet and provincial ministers are only known by HH himself and their families than the masses must make Bally panic politically going into 2026. This entails that their political value to both HH and Zambians is very low. Clearly, many seem to lack assurance, confidence and capacity to rise and shine in their respective positions!
5. Once a President is surrounded by non expert advisors who merely report to him on a daily basis like Muchinga butterflies, then, that leader faces serious political challenges in terms of providing public service delivery supervision, quality control and policy oversight. State House is the highest organ of government and must be stocked with the best experts and policy advisors to manage the presidency. If you do a basic performance appraisal of the political, economic and media performance of HH’s presidency, you instantly trace higher mediocrity and dangerous incompetences everywhere. When such incompetent political liabilities are kept longer at the presidency as “useful idiots” and anointed praise singers, such a president is a step ahead into handing over power in the next election.HH is exactly standing on this point today!
6. In the US, we see President Donald Trump being proactive by avoiding “Yes yes Mr President” type of advisors ahead of November 2024 presidential elections by appointing respected and experienced experts as his presidential advisors. Last week, Donald Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Tulsi Gabbard, two former Democrats who have endorsed him to become part of his transition team responsible for shaping his key public policies and selecting top administration appointees if he becomes president. This is what a president who understands statecraft, sovereign management and efficient public service delivery do: they lock themselves with defined and competent experts at the “presidency” and not appease unschooled party cadres with key state positions.
7. So far, I have keenly followed and concluded that HH is still taking 2026 for Choma comedy or Mafinga jokes by entrusting key government positions to ‘Yes Yes Your Excellency” type of praise singers. The signature of “I am guided sir” type of presidential personnel is too visible under the New Dawn Administration. How can presidential advisors or PSs who are specifically employed to help a sovereign leader on technical and policy issues be “yes yes sir” type of key personnel? When you hear some of HH’s advisors, cabinet ministers and PSs speak in public, you immediately start mourning for Zambia! Even HH’s running mate and now Republican Vice President is another dangerous political liability around him if you follow her debates in parliament!
8. When you critically analyze HH’s policy blunders and near crisis speeches either during his own official press conferences, public meetings or indeed political rallies, you clearly see a higher level intellectual dwarfism and expert mediocrity in his personnel responsible for policy and technical matters. And this is how they will sink him politically in 2026 without any doubt because he has misguided himself by being surrounded with “yes yes sir” technical advisers. President HH must know that it’s Garbage in, garbage out!
9. While HH may still enjoy a handful praise singers singing for him like our flamboyant birds of Lower Zambezi as if they are collecting monthly “Tenth and Political Offerings” from Community House, the truth is that Bally has appointed and is entertaining many dangerous political liabilities, useful idiots and incompetent bootlickers both at state house, cabinet, PS and party levels. Many of these will certainly sink and bury him going into 2026 if he does not reform or reshuffle if not expel generously and urgently!
10. So, in as much as we see HH as a political failure as well as economic disaster in his three years of power, Bally has some covert political strength that should have adorned him to shine before Zambians if he had competent and confident leadership at state house, cabinet and PS levels. We are talking about a president who is in full control of his political organization and membership across the country but grossly failing in terms of public service delivery almost everywhere. This is where he needed to check his back on his top government appointees!
11. The critical question is the same. Why is HH who still has elephant’s ears, giraffe’s vision, buffalo’s power and lion’s influence over his UPND supporters countrywide pathetically failing to deliver in key areas such as agriculture, health, energy, mining, infrastructure or external affairs? In 2026, he will also realize and regret that the choice and type of political appointees you entrust in key positions at state house, cabinet, PS and parastatals levels have a bigger signature in politically sinking you out of power. HH should ask ECL, he has many examples to teach or guide him on such!
12. In 2009, I was working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as political secretary in charge of North and South America. My director, ambassador Kapoma as our PS and myself went to brief President Rupiah Banda before his trip for the ASA Summit in Venezuela. At state house, we found president RB with Dr. Francis Chigunta, my former lecturer at UNZA as one of his top advisors. RB did indicate the he wanted State House to be flooded by experts in different areas so that it is easy for him to engage ministers, PSs and under the performance of his government. This is what HH needed to do from 2021. But like RB and other former presidents, l see HH bringing experts in many key positions after his titanic government is completely sunk and about to disappear. It does work and even now, it is too late for HH because he only has a year to start vigorous campaigns!
Conclusion
The political appeasement of flooding known incompetent cadres and dangerous human liabilities with key government positions at PS, presidential advisors, cabinet ministers, diplomatic and parastatal levels has never helped any president to defend power anywhere but to easily lose it in the next election. Voters elect presidents to diligently work and effectively deliver for them. If that is not achieved like in the case of “Bally Will Fix It”, start preparing to go back to the farm. This is a classic testimony awaiting HH after August 2026! There is no one who has produced mangoes by planting soya beans. And president HH cannot be the first one.
Dr Chris ZUMANI Zimba is a Political Scientist, Researcher, Author & Consultant specialized in Comparative Global Governance and Democratic Theories. He holds a PhD, MA, BA and Cert in Political Science. Zimba was President Lungu’s Political Advisor from December 2019 to August 2021. By philosophical approach, Dr. Zimba is a Pan Africanist as well as Afro-Christian by religion.
Email:chriszumaniZimba.cz@gmail.com
12 Dangerous Human Liabilities around HH who Will Sink & eventually bury his political grave in August 2026
