Lusambo, politicians positioning themselves

By Daily Revelation Editor

Former Copperbelt and Lusaka Province minister Bowman Lusambo says it should not surprise anyone to see him joining UPND or anyone from the UPND joining PF during this period when politicians are positioning themselves.

Featuring 5FM’s radio programme dubbed Burning Issues, Lusambo said this period was critical in politicians’ lives as they positioned themselves for the 2026 general elections.

We appreciate Lusambo’s honesty. Indeed what he is saying is what usually happens during the period when the country is heading towards election time, politicians are always on the lookout, seeking to find the best vehicle they can use to get them into power so that they can eat. Now therein lies the problem that has resulted in underdevelopment in this country. We thought responsible politicians would be discussing about positioning themselves with policies on how best to run this country with workable ideas, given the many challenges besetting it.

It is very surprising that given the many challenges facing this country, from the crippling blackouts, to one of the highest cost of living the people are enduring, Lusambo’s head is more preoccupied with non-issues.

In civilized countries, politicians would this time around be more preoccupied about coming up with workable ideas they would take into the elections in order to convince the voters to come out and vote for them. They would be discussing issues around policies that would improve the economy, mining, the environment, manufacturing, health etc. Theirs is an argument about ideas, while the preoccupation here is about eating. This is why the politics here are so uncivilized that they always descend into fist fights during election periods, because for many politicians election time is a matter of life and death. They are willing to sponsor all manner of violence just to ensure that they intimidate the other group enough to make it easier for them to win.

Unfortunately, that mindset is commonplace across the whole political spectrum, ruling party as well as the opposition. And the same mindset is likely to continue because the country keeps on voting for the same politicians who have mastered the art of eating. They are proficient in terms of reading the season in terms of which political party they should join, which would give them the best opportunity to win so that they can eat more. As a result, we tend to keep recycling the same people in leadership positions whose main preoccupation is not national development but the security their political job will offer them, their immediate family members and a few supporters they mainly use to steal when they have the power.

It is surprising that Lusambo can even talk about the possibility of joining UPND given the many harsh things he has said about that party and how he feels that they have failed to deliver. He reached that conclusion quite early actually, in the first few months of their being voted into office. We are wondering how he could open up the possibility of even joining a party he feels has failed to deliver. In doing so, won’t he be associating himself with something that has already failed?