TRAITS SHOW, PF MAY NEVER REBRAND – IT’S THE CASE OF PUTTING NEW WINE IN OLD WINE SKIN
A KBN TV EDITORIAL
Presently, there are only two centres of power where the next President is likely to come from. It’s either President Hakainde Hichilema continues or UKA, if they put their house in order, stands a chance to produce the next President.
Today, the political stakes are so high that the former ruling party wants to get back into power by any means possible. However, the happening in that party is showing that while their biggest need is rebranding, the PF is beginning to demonstrate that they cannot or have not seen the need to rebrand. Rebranding seems to be an impossible feat for them, it might appear.
The PF had a chance to show the Zambian people that they could change and embrace an opportunity for a second chance at power but traits of greed, intolerance and entitlement will potentially wreck their chances to bounce back into power.
These traits of greed and entitlement have driven the PF into three distinct camps that no one wants to let go!
Expecting a party that’s failing to govern its own affairs to bounce back in power without any sense of repentance is courting disaster.
Apart from fighting over the carcass of the party, PF has mishandled UKA, the only lifeline they had to help launder their tainted political image.
Let’s not forget that despite all the major infrastructure development projects including airports, roads, power stations, hospitals etc, PF were roundly rejected and kicked out of power lamentably because of caderism, corruption, arrogance, recklessness and an attitude of entitlement.
No one cared about the PF investments, the party had to go! Its leaders lost touch with reality, abused the police and lacked empathy for the suffering masses.
With a shoddy performance by the UPND, 2026 is anyone’s game. This is an opportunity that the PF doesn’t want to just see go past them. That’s why although the Bembas say “ukupoka ichinsenda kunkoko, kunakila” the PF don’t want to exercise patience over UKA, they want it all to themselves.
Zambians cannot be subjected to a protest vote twice and make the same mistake. PF was kicked out through a protest vote, Zambians are likely to kickout the UPND through another protest vote but the protest vote should not be to bring back the PF, it’s risky!
What’s the new wine, it’s the new opportunity that the UPND has willingly thrown away through their lack of seriousness and taking the Zambian people for granted, subjecting the nation to endless darkness for days by prioritizing power exports, risking lives of citizens through contaminated maize occasioned by the careless export of our national reserves and causing untold misery among the citizens through the high cost of living and sophisticated corruption.
PF represents old wine skin. Their desire for a comeback may not be sincere, it could be fuelled by an insatiable appetite for power and revenge. Zambians should think twice about putting new wine in old wine skin.
Entitlement has been exported into UKA, an Alliance that wholeheartedly welcomed them but PF wants to overrun everyone. The attitude of PF towards UKA can be likened to a hospitable host who welcomes a tired, butchered and bruised guest whom they bathe and give a warm cooked meal only for the guest to kick out the host with a thankless kick in the butt.
When President Lungu joined UKA, his Central Committee resisted the move. When they realized UKA was laundering the image of their party leader, and presenting him with a chance for a possible comeback, they mounted a vicious campaign to impose ECL on UKA and the people who welcomed him should be clapping for him while he takes over the alliance. Where is the mentorship, where is the statesmanship to help a nation?
Is Zambia short of leaders that we should be calling back retired and tired politicians?
When we recently heard President Lungu say he would be on the ballot, he poured water on his earlier commitment to UKA that he was merely there to help galvanize the opposition to fight the UPND.
The fact that ECL could u-turn so easily against his own words, paints a very weak leadership trait in him. If he can’t stand to defend his own words, it shows that he could easily be captured and controlled by those around him. Zambia is going through tough times, we need a leader who can show the strength of character to tame those under his charge.
As Secretary General Raphael Nakachinda told us yesterday, “you don’t expect me to say anything that my President doesn’t know or approve of.”
It’s very clear, the declaration that ECL is UKA and UKA is ECL is not the making of Nakachinda, Lungu wants the seat back and the externally driven instigation to endorse ECL as UKA candidate has the potential to split UKA into two factions, just the PF fate.
If it’s true that PF is courting New Congress Party, a member of the UKA Alliance behind the backs of all other partners and has assigned lawyers to study the party’s constitution in readiness to use it as a PF alternative, shows the insincerity of PF in UKA.
How can PF justify the decision that its members should only participate in by-elections as independent candidates and not on any of the alliance partner’s tickets and yet they expect UKA to swallow a humble pie and endorse ECL. Those are dangerous double standards.
That can only happen if PF is bankrolling UKA activities and all COP Presidents are in the pocket of ECL. The other assumption is that all registered voters can only vote for PF and its candidate in the coming elections, which in itself, is taking the Zambian people for granted.
PF MAY NEVER REBRAND – IT’S THE CASE OF PUTTING NEW WINE IN OLD WINE SKIN
