UPND’S victory in by-elections not genuine
Dear Editor,
THE political trend in Zambia has been that the ruling political party always wins the majority by-elections. This scenario is not strange.
The former ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy and the former Patriotic Front are classic examples of the parties that used to win the by-elections whilst in power.
If truth is anything to go by, these political parties lost the subsequent general elections.
However, it is surprising that the United Party for National Development (UPND) is bubbling with confidence of winning the 2026 general election. This follows the party’s winning of 57 out of the 60 by-elections which held recently in various parts of the country.
What is certain is that winning most of the by-elections is not a yardstick to gauge the ruling party’s resounding victory in the forthcoming general election slated for 2026 for instance.
The UPND is standing on slippery ground and the party’s massive support has been dwindling by the day. The dwindling support has been exacerbated by the numerous unfulfilled campaign promises.
It is in public domain that President Hakainde Hichilema when he was in opposition and before the 2021 general election campaigned on the premise of reducing the price of mealie meal to K50.00 for a 25kg bag, reduce the price of fertiliser to K250.00 for a 50kg bag, improve the rule of law and bring the exchange rate of the Kwacha against the convertible currencies such as the dollar to a single digit.
The UPND government has failed the people. Furthermore, it has failed to address the high cost of living, particularly the high cost of mealie meal which is selling above K300.00.
The poverty levels are ever increasing. This is a source of concern because the UPND seems not to have a clear roadmap on how to solve the high poverty levels in the country.
The resounding electoral victory the UPND recently recorded and it is bragging about is not something to celebrate about. This is because the by-elections were marred with electoral malpractice in that the ruling party gave food and money to the electorate before the polls. Worse still, some political parties such as the Patriotic Front were barred from contesting the elections.
In all honesty, the playground was not levelled. This gave the ruling party an undue advantage over other political parties.