By Patson Chilemba
Chishimba Kambwili said there must be sincerity in the opposition that PF is the largest opposition political party in the country.
And Kambwili urged opposition leaders to put aside their egos for 2026 by going with the most “famous and prominent politician right now”, if they have to remove “a monster” from power.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Kambwili said it will be foolishness of the worst kind if the opposition fails to unite to remove President Hakainde Hichilema, going by what he said the President’s failed leadership and the threat he posed to national unity.
Put to him that going by the results from the by-elections that have been held since the 2021 general elections, the PF and SP seemed to be the strongest opposition parties, at least going by the results, however, Kambwili said the strongest opposition party in the country today was PF.
“You cannot compare PF strength with Heritage Party, with Socialist Party. Socialist Party is an upcoming political party but to say that Socialist Party and PF are the biggest and strongest, that’s not correct. Socialist Party is still growing,” Kambwili said. “But that does not mean that if the people feel that the leader of Socialist Party must lead this alliance or pact that we will reject. No! If the people of Zambia say that, we will follow that. But to compare the strength of the PF and Heritage Party and Socialist Party that is not correct. They are still growing. This country is very big. I have run a political party before, mind you?”
Kambwili said he formed a party which came on the scene like a baby born with teeth, but were not represented in all the parts of the country, only represented in several areas at a small level.
He said but to be represented at the level PF is was not an easy thing, saying even for the UPND to be accepted nationally it had to take 23 years.
“You cannot call a political party that is formed four years, three years ago that they are as strong as PF. That is not correct. And this is the openness and the sincerity that we must have,” Kambwili said. “Immediately we start misleading ourselves that there is a party in Zambia that can compare to the strength of PF and UPND then we are not being sincere.”
He said winning ward elections was not a sign that a political party was very popular, saying sometimes it was just a question of money especially in a struggling economy like Zambia, something he said could not be replicated in a general election.
“You can easily manipulate the 1800 voters by buying them mealie meal, buying them this. But are you going to manipulate them during the general election where you will have 156 constituencies and over 2000 candidates in the ward elections? The answer is no,” Kambwili said.
Opposition leaders have been seen putting up a united front, even regularly holding joint press briefings. However, this is not something new as the same has happened previously only to disintegrate at the last minute after failing to agree on presidential and other candidates.
But Kambwili said it will be foolish for the opposition to fail to unite for the 2026 general elections.
“My dear brother, what is happening today, the way HH has portrayed himself and behaved in the last two years, it will be foolishness of the worst kind if the opposition do not come together to kick him out of office,” Kambwili said. “If people will be selfish to say it just has to be me, what should happen in 2026 is what happened in 1991, where everybody must sit down and say gentlemen let’s put our egos aside, (and consider) who is the most famous and prominent politician right now? Who can win us the votes? And everybody must do introspection of themselves and say at the moment can I win the election? If the answer is no, just say not me.”
Kambwili said opposition leaders do not need to be told because Zambians know who could win the elections against the UPND right now, and that all the opposition parties know the person who could defeat the incumbent at the moment.
He said in 1991, there were a lot of people who wanted to be President, but they all had to put self-interest aside and settled for Frederick Chiluba.
“The problem that we have in Zambia today is that everybody wants to be president. But to remove a monster, you need to put your egos aside and decide as a people and say this is the right candidate who can win us the election,” Kambwili said. “Come together all of us. If we don’t remove HH from power in 2026, this country will be badly divided on regional lines. We need to build the One Zambia One Nation. The UPND today pronounces the One Zambia One Nation but they don’t practice it.”
But asked on his own presidential ambitions, and if he will forego them going by what he is saying and the fact that former president Edgar Lungu has come back into active politics as president of PF, Kambwili said if the people of Zambia “say it’s Lungu that they want, and if everybody says it’s Lungu that can win, I am just giving this as an example, why not?”
“But I am sure you heard what president said. He said ‘I have just come to fill that void which Miles Sampa wanted to use as the reason for doing his illegal convention.’ And the reason was simple. He was saying there was a vacancy in the the office of the president,” Kambwili said. “So ‘I have come back as substantive president.’ And he has made it very clear that whoever the Zambians think is the right candidate, whether from PF, from among the opposition, I will hand over power to that person and support him. That’s what president Edgar said. He has made it very clear. He said ‘I have not come to run for a second term.’”
But put to him that indeed Lungu had said that, but what was happening was different as his supporters were, with tacit support from himself, saying that he should run in 2026, Kambwili said if the people of Zambians say “we want Lungu, why not?”
“If the people of Zambia say we don’t want Lungu, why go with him? So like president Edgar Lungu, to borrow his words he said whoever the people of Zambia will advise us that this is the right candidate, whether from within PF or outside PF, we must support that particular person, that’s my stance,” he said.
He said Zambians will advise on which opposition leader to go with in 2026, going by their own suffering, saying the PF in “10 years borrowed over $13 billion but the UPND in two years has borrowed over $6 billion.”
Kambwili said President Hichilema was behaving like a guilty person already over his recent statement that he was not instructing the police to arrest opposition leaders, because they were offending the law by themselves.
“Tell the President that Chishimba Kambwili says aba Bemba batila akanwa kamilandu kalaibala (tell the President that a guilty mouth always offends itself). Who asked him to tell us whether government is involved or not? Nobody asked him,” Kambwili said, saying the President must not think that Zambians were gullible. “These arrests we know everything that they plan. That Siandege was brought specifically to harass the opposition, and their modus operandi we know it. They think they can intimidate everybody to stop talking about their wrong things, particularly tribalism which is being perpetuated in the government in terms of appointments.”
He said the government also wanted to stop people from talking about the failed economic policies, the over borrowing, the corruption and over travels.
“What they have done is they have created a ka certain team chaired by Siandenge. When every opposition leader issues a statement, they go and sit and look at which of the words that you have used can amount to criminality,” Kambwili said, reminding the President that he was against laws like the Cyber Security Act before assuming office, which he was now using against other citizens. “He said it was a very bad law such that immediately he ascends to power it will be the first act that he is going to repeal and remove from our statute books. Ask him today what has happened.”
He said the Cyber law has not been removed because President Hichilema knows that that is the only way he is going to gag the people from expressing themselves, arguing that repealing the defamation of the president has not changed anything since the Cyber law in place already has harsher provisions.
“So that law must be repealed if HH is telling us that he is not involved in the arrests. As long as he keeps that Cyber Security Act on the statute books he’s involved in the arrest of opposition leaders,” he said.
On the remarks by police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga threatening former campaigner for President Hakainde Hichilema, Rachel Chileshe, that she must not complain if she is cited for contempt of court if she continued ranting over the Hatembos case, Kambwili challenged Hamoonga to do the same with Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti, Home Affairs minister Jack Mwiimbu and others who have been “ranting” over the issue of the Registrar which was in court.
“Tell that Rae Hamoonga to stop being partisan and do his job,” he said
On the recent incident where a caller in Kabwe was arrested for demanding answers from the UPND administration, with provincial permanent secretary Milner Mwanakampwe telling him that the administration was cleaning the poop he and PF left, Kambwili said this is what happens when people who have never served in government are appointed.
“Because if the permanent secretary can say tulepipa amafi eyo mwanyele, who is he referring to? Because government is in perpetuity. So if you are a civil servant you cannot condemn previous governments because you are part of government,” said Kambwili said, saying Mwanakampwe was a cadre who must be removed from office. “I expected President Hakainde Hichilema to fire that permanent secretary and tell the police to release that man unconditionally. But because he’s not a democrat, he has no experience in government, he thinks what his permanent secretary did is correct.”
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