UKA still far from what most Zambians want it to be – Zumani
UKA still far from what most Zambians want it to be – Zumani
By Ernest Chanda
POLITICAL scientist Chris Zumani Zimba has outlined things the United Kwacha Alliance (UKA) should deal with before it becomes a formidable opposition force.
Dr Zimba was former president Edgar Lungu’s political advisor from 2019 to 2021.
In his latest write-up titled ‘12 Things UKA must address to become more formidable for 2026: otherwise, political incest will injure & ruin PF more’, Dr Zimba says the alliance is still far from being what Zambians want it to be.
“As far as HH is concerned UKA is his main headache for 2026 against him simply because it brings a proper PF-ECL rebranding to Zambians as well as diverse political stakeholders coalition. UKA has blue, black, grey, yellow, brown, purple and white parties from different backgrounds. This has posed to be HH’s greatest threat and many top State House officials are sure that they will sign off in 2026 and retire in peace,” he wrote. “However, UKA is still far from being what most Zambians want it to be or become the unstoppable threat to face and remove the UPND alliance and HH in 2026 because there are key issues that are unresolved and need to be bravely addressed on time.”
Dr Zimba advised members to “define the nature of the alliance” among many other issues they should deal with.
“Everyone has been made to believe that UKA is an alliance of registered political parties. This was welcomed and celebrated by many Zambians. But at some point UKA was vehemently pushing to register itself as a political party! How and why for an alliance of political parties? Later, UKA appointed my good friend Thomas Sipalo as its national youth chairman. From which political party? My brother is politically independent but forcefully good and politically visible,” Dr Zimba noted. “Based on their own conduct as well as appointments UKA is a political pressure group, some form of a defined political movement that is positioning itself into an electoral pact. UKA must clearly define its nature of organisation – if it is unregistered political organisation, an alliance of parties or an open organisation or movement of parties and individual citizens. A movement would be more appealing, useful and forceful for 2026. Once this question remains hanging, expect more problems at some point.”
He also advised UKA to carefully define, clarify and broaden its top leadership.
“Every time we see a new appointment in UKA, they always refer to the ‘council of presidents’. I have personally suffered smoked phone calls from many PF members, MPs and MCCs following two or three UKA appointments at the level of ‘council of presidents’ with multiple complaints, furious questions and hill view concerns. Some complaints have come from those who are already in UKA but have been excluded to be part of ‘council of presidents’. How can leaders of political parties without any councillor or MP anywhere in Zambia start discriminating themselves between seniors and juniors? This is prevailing in UKA unfortunately,” said Dr Zimba. “At some point, UKA attempted or did create the ‘council of SGs’. No one knows if they meet and what they do anyway. Are these UKA SGs also divided between seniors and juniors? Sometimes, this ‘council of SGs’ has zero idea of what the ‘council of presidents’ does. It’s like a wife who does not know if her husband is still working or he resigned yet they live together and talk every day. The above arrangement tells us a bigger story about what UKA ‘ought to be doing’ and not necessarily what UKA ‘is doing’.”