NEW HERITAGE PARTY POSITION REGARDING OUR PARTICIPATION IN THE 2026 GENERAL ELECTIONS AND BEYOND
Chishala Kateka
President – New Heritage Party
27 May 2026
Now that the nomination period is over, we, at New Heritage Party (NHP), issue this statement in relation to our participation in the 2026 General Election and beyond. Before we do that, however, we wish to restate our reason, that we constantly shared and affirmed, for forming NHP andjoining politics.
Where we are as a nation
The nation of Zambia is in a state of flux. After the nation attained its political independence, the country went into a One-Party State under the UNIP Government. When the MMD came into power and the country was returned to a multi-party system, the Zambian Constitution was only amended to cater for that change, but to all intents and purposes remained one catering for a One-Party State albeit in a multi-party dispensation.
The nation has lagged very far behind its potential with the focus of our leaders, by and large, being to ensure that they stay in power whilst fighting their predecessor:
• The President Chiluba MMD Government changed the Constitution to bar President Kaunda using the parentage clause. They also tried to change the Constitution so that President Chiluba could go for third term.
• President Mwanawasa spent millions of Kwacha in a ‘battle against corruption’ in the ZAMTROP case and pursued President Chiluba incessantly.
• President Sata pursued President Rupiah Banda on charges of corruption.
The two that did not pursue their predecessors are Presidents Rupiah Banda and Edgar Chagwa Lungu. This could be due to the fact that they inherited the Presidency by reason of the death of their predecessors.
Why do these facts matter? When a Head of State prioritises retribution over development for the people, it is the Zambians that suffer. That leader uses the already bad constitution that we have, to carry out his agenda – weaponising state institutions and destroying both the political environment as well as and the governance structures. The nation then fails to move on with its developmental agenda. It retrogresses.
This is currently very evident in our nation, as Zambians have continued to live well below the poverty datum line. About 78.8% in the rural areas live below the poverty line, while 31.9% in the urban area live below that line.
The cost of living has risen sharply. The needs basket is, as of April 2026, currently sitting at K12,052 compared to K8,474 in September 2021. This is a 42% increase from 2021.
The nation is more divided along party lines and regional lines than it has ever been. The upliftment of Zambians’ lives that we had hoped for, has not been prioritised. President Hakainde Hichilema like those before him, has unfortunately chosen the well-worn path of retribution against not only his predecessor but the former party as well.
Why we entered the Political race in 2020
As NHP, we entered the political race to make a difference for the Zambian people. We believed then as we still do now, that each one of us Zambians holds the responsibility to turn the nation around 180* from the downward spiral we have experienced in all major economic and social metrics. Significant resources and time have been lost through partial and divisive leadership, poor debt management and unchecked corruption.
As a result, our sovereignty, dignity and national security have been severely compromised. However, if we make a well-considered choice, we will be restoring not just the economy but the ownership and dignity of a country whose heritage currently resides with non-Zambians and creditors. The nation will be taking its place of significance as a land-linked and enviably resourced powerhouse, represented in great numbers by a vibrant and youthful population ready in the wings to unleash their innovation, creativity and competitiveness for the growth of the land of their birth.
As the New Heritage Party, we believe the cause is not about a person or persons, but for a nation that has the capacity and deserves to be a significant economic player on the continent, and that every Zambian deserves and has the unequivocal right to ownership, dignity, equitable access to opportunities and active participation in the economic and social elevation of the nation.
What does this take? It takes a values-driven government that provides the catalytic environment in which ambition, enterprise, innovation and meritorious leadership thrive regardless of political and other affiliation. When strong and uncompromising values underpin who we are as Zambians, then contrary behaviour that results from tokenism in development, selective access to and misallocation of our shared resources, partiality in leadership and other opportunities can no longer continue to define us. In the final analysis it is about restoring the nationhood that our selfless forebears were prepared to die for, defined by our strength in our diversity. There is only one Zambia and only one Zambian people.
We, at the New Heritage Party recognise that Zambia’s true and enduring independence lies in economic freedom, and the safeguarding of its posterity through quality, committed and accountable leadership and deliberate development of next-generation leaders.
True freedom will therefore be defined by this:
1. Economic sovereignty free from external control as is the case now;
2. Owning and managing the economy in a responsible and accountable manner on behalf of our great nation, and;
3. Providing quality team leadership and ensuringleadership continuity.
We believe that everyone of our 20 million Zambians is a stakeholder who is entitled to enjoy the resources, the opportunities and security that this country has to offer. This is not the preserve of only a few that belong to a certain party or region but it is the preserve of every single Zambian.
This has been the ‘why’ of our entering the political race.
NHP, the 2026 General Election and Beyond
We are, once again, at the defining electoral cross-roads. We can vote back into office, the incumbent, President Hichilema, or vote in someone else. There are 13 opposition candidates that have filed in successfully.
We at NHP, made a deliberate decision not to participate in this election when we assessed the current political landscape. Our assessment led us to believe that this election was meant to bring a complete change away from a single party and the personality politics that has been the norm in our nation.
We have determined that because that this country has been driven to a point where the nation is in an existential threat of becoming a failed state, by the UPND, due to their incompetence and divisive practices along sectarian lines, we at NHP determined that what was necessary or incumbent upon all patriotic citizens and political leaders and their parties, was to reset away from sectarian politics which emphasize internal competition – which is alright for a normal situation – our situation however is far from being normal. NHP has spent the last three years, not in campaigning and growing our Party, but in trying to bring Opposition players together. To this end, we played a very pivotal role in bringing together the United Kwacha Alliance (UKA), the United Front, the We’re One Zambia Alliance (WOZA) and more recently, the effort to get one Unified Candidate for the Opposition ticket.
We have been playing this role quietly behind the scenes away from the public eye, because to us, what was important was to achieve opposition unity. This opposition unity was meant, primarily, for the opposition to unite around a national patriotic program of national restoration and then because the UPND have demonstrated that they are implementing a sectarian agenda, removing them so that the opposition, through a Government of National Unity, can begin to implement the program of national restoration. Consequently, within the context of what we have explained, removing the UPND becomes a national imperative.
Has this all been worth it? The answer is a definite YES. Why? At NHP we do not believe that the current sectarian model of politics that we are undertaking as a nation will lead us to our promised land.
It is divisive and tends to exclude those not belonging to the party in power, or those not from their region, regardless of how well suited they are for the job. It rather favours those, no matter how incompetent, that are aligned to the Party in power.
At NHP, we believe that faced with the existential threat of failing systems of governance and an economy that is not performing well, the nation needs its best possible brains to help put the country back on track, regardless of ethnicity, party or religious affiliation. We believe that currently, no one Political Party (including the UPND) has all the requisite skills to undertake the mammoth task of transformation that Zambia so badly needs.
To this end, we are of the view that the coming five years to 2031, should not be business or politics as usual for Zambia and Zambians. We need to undertake a project for ourselves in which we must, of necessity, embark on a transformative path to halt the self-destructive trajectory that we find ourselves on and redirect our efforts to a development agenda, with Zambians as the major beneficiaries. In order to do this, we need the next Government to undertake to commit to a minimum program for the country as follows: This will include:
1. Undertaking of a people driven Constitutional reform process and National Referendum: This will usher in the 4th Republic with a people-driven constitution, giving power back to the citizens. A True People’s Republic of Zambia, by the people, for the people.
2. Restoring Good Governance: This will restore transparency, accountability, and meritocracy in public service, making it non-partisan and efficient.
3. Working towards National Unity: Through a truth and reconciliation process, this will aim at confronting past hurts, healing our wounds, and uniting as a nation.
4. Restoring Meritocracy in Public Service: By ensuring that appointments are based on merit, not on patronage or party affiliation.
5. Ensuring Economic Ownership: By empowering Zambians to own and control their own nation’s wealth, creating a prosperous and equitable society. Encouraging the growth of a vibrant middle class by tilting the economic balance of power towards Zambians, increasing the ease of doing business, reducing the hurdles that have worked against them.
6. Achieving devolution of power: Power will be devolved out of the centralized and personalized office of the president to ensure that going forward the executive, in particular the Republican President, no longer holds the country hostage. This will be done by giving the power to local communities, and appropriate independent national and local institutions.
This democracy and development change agenda needs to be known, understood, and supported by all Zambians. This calls for a fundamental overhaul of the governance and economic system.
The undertaking of this project must be inclusive and will help to help unite Zambians around a common cause.
We are of the view that in this coming 5 years, we need to have a Government of National Unity, where we take the best brains from each Political Party to form a working Government.
The New Heritage Party in this 2026 Election
The UPND in Government has so far demonstrated that they are not open to following a transformative agenda for the country but are in fact set in leading Zambia to a de-facto One-Party State, likely to remove the Term limit and Running Mate clauses. We spent sixty years to get to where we are and must not allow anyone to take us back from whence we came.
Taking such a route is not only retrogressive but is also likely to rob us of the peace that we have fought so hard to attain.
For this reason, the New Heritage Party will NOT be supporting the UPND. We shall firmly be working with the Opposition to ensure that UPND is removed whilst alsopushing for the next Government to undertake policies that will prioritise the transformation agenda that we have already outlined.