By Daily Revelation Editor
Movement for National Renewal (MNR) founder John Sangwa says no one should contribute more than K20,000 monthly towards his political movement in order to preserve broad participation and prevent the concentration of financial influence.
In a recent interview with Daily Revelation yesterday, Sangwa stated that most any one could contribute towards the party’s cause per month should not exceed K20,000.
He argued that renewing the country’s democracy is not only about the policies advanced or the institutions that were to be strengthened, but the standards that should be set in the conduct of political life.
Sangwa said a political movement financed by its citizens will always remain accountable to them.
He stated that for this reason, his campaign relied entirely on voluntary contributions from the people of Zambia.
”There is no minimum contribution, because even the smallest contribution represents participation in building our democracy,” stated Sangwa. “To preserve broad participation and prevent the concentration of financial influence, individual contributions are capped at K20,000 per person per month. Contributions in kind, such as volunteering and supporting the movement’s activities in communities across the country, are equally valuable.”
Sangwa is coming on the political scene with some proposals in terms of how the politics in the country must be conducted. The views being espoused by Sangwa are worth seriously pondering upon, as if successful they would change the shape of politics in this country.
What Sangwa is saying is how the ideal world should actually operate.
However, from the gatego, introducing this new type of politics would be a toll order. We say so because for decades the politics in this country have been oriented towards money. It’s usually the politicians who give out huge sums of money who usually get voted into office. It’s mainly not around the policies and morality, but how much politicians can bribe their way to victory.
And Zambians have generally accepted this conduct as a norm, as something that is acceptable. And usually the politicians who can’t dish out huge sums, no matter how well meaning they can be don’t usually get to have a look-in from the voters.
One can already deduce that kind of mindset from the social media reactions to the story where Sangwa raised the same issues.
However, in the ideal world, electorates will feel a sense of ownership when they can contribute in whatever form they can towards a political purpose they believe will serve their interests better.
When we allow a political system which has embraced the ideal where politicians buy their way into public office, it becomes almost impossible to hold those politicians elected under such a system accountable to the electorate. The system we have is one which places a lot of entitlement on the elected officials rather than on the people. The politicians know that even if they do not perform, they will still hold the cards for re-election if they can sufficiently bribe their way through the political terrain again. It’s only when a critical mass had become fed up that such politicians will be voted out of office. But that is usually after they have served a long time in office, and after they have caused so much damage in terms of public interest.
If the country embraced a system which Sangwa is advocating, particularly around money, the same would go a long way in terms of regulating the conduct of special interests who usually influence government policy. Instead of focussing on serving the wider public interests, the politicians who get helped by the special interests into power set about advancing policies that benefit the special interests rather than the public good.
Sangwa is raising issues around the role of money in politics, a topic that deserves serious reflection.
Related
By Daily Revelation Editor
Movement for National Renewal (MNR) founder John Sangwa says no one should contribute more than K20,000 monthly towards his political movement in order to preserve broad participation and prevent the concentration of financial influence.
In a recent interview with Daily Revelation yesterday, Sangwa stated that most any one could contribute towards the party’s cause per month should not exceed K20,000.
He argued that renewing the country’s democracy is not only about the policies advanced or the institutions that were to be strengthened, but the standards that should be set in the conduct of political life.
Sangwa said a political movement financed by its citizens will always remain accountable to them.
He stated that for this reason, his campaign relied entirely on voluntary contributions from the people of Zambia.
”There is no minimum contribution, because even the smallest contribution represents participation in building our democracy,” stated Sangwa. “To preserve broad participation and prevent the concentration of financial influence, individual contributions are capped at K20,000 per person per month. Contributions in kind, such as volunteering and supporting the movement’s activities in communities across the country, are equally valuable.”
Sangwa is coming on the political scene with some proposals in terms of how the politics in the country must be conducted. The views being espoused by Sangwa are worth seriously pondering upon, as if successful they would change the shape of politics in this country.
What Sangwa is saying is how the ideal world should actually operate.
However, from the gatego, introducing this new type of politics would be a toll order. We say so because for decades the politics in this country have been oriented towards money. It’s usually the politicians who give out huge sums of money who usually get voted into office. It’s mainly not around the policies and morality, but how much politicians can bribe their way to victory.
And Zambians have generally accepted this conduct as a norm, as something that is acceptable. And usually the politicians who can’t dish out huge sums, no matter how well meaning they can be don’t usually get to have a look-in from the voters.
One can already deduce that kind of mindset from the social media reactions to the story where Sangwa raised the same issues.
However, in the ideal world, electorates will feel a sense of ownership when they can contribute in whatever form they can towards a political purpose they believe will serve their interests better.
When we allow a political system which has embraced the ideal where politicians buy their way into public office, it becomes almost impossible to hold those politicians elected under such a system accountable to the electorate. The system we have is one which places a lot of entitlement on the elected officials rather than on the people. The politicians know that even if they do not perform, they will still hold the cards for re-election if they can sufficiently bribe their way through the political terrain again. It’s only when a critical mass had become fed up that such politicians will be voted out of office. But that is usually after they have served a long time in office, and after they have caused so much damage in terms of public interest.
If the country embraced a system which Sangwa is advocating, particularly around money, the same would go a long way in terms of regulating the conduct of special interests who usually influence government policy. Instead of focussing on serving the wider public interests, the politicians who get helped by the special interests into power set about advancing policies that benefit the special interests rather than the public good.
Sangwa is raising issues around the role of money in politics, a topic that deserves serious reflection.
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ePaper No.376, March 16-17, 2026
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