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…. Leave ECL alone- Shakafuswa tells UPND
It’s really astonishing—and admittedly, fairly pathetic—that the UPND management can’t cease obsessing over Edgar Chagwa Lungu (ECL), a person they declare is “finished.” They defeated him in 2021 by over 1.8 million votes, but his title nonetheless dominates their conversations, speeches, and press releases. If he’s so politically irrelevant, why can’t they let go?
Let’s take care of the information. In 2016, ECL received by a slender margin of twenty-two,000 votes, and but, practically eight years later, UPND’s chief guide, Mark Simuuwe, together with President Hichilema himself, nonetheless appear fixated on him. If they honestly consider he’s now not an element, why does he stay central to their political rhetoric? Isn’t it time they moved on?
It turns into much more absurd when you think about that the loudest voices preserving ECL’s title alive are failed politicians—individuals with no actual political weight left, who at the moment are dragging UPND backward right into a debate that ought to have led to 2021. Many of those figures had been as soon as a part of the PF administration however failed to guide with the conviction and decisiveness that ECL demonstrated in workplace. Now, they invoke his title to masks their very own irrelevance.
Take Mark Simuuwe, as an example—posting at 03:40 within the morning about ECL, a person he insists is now not an element. Why the obsession? Could it’s that UPND is so insecure that even a supposedly “finished” ECL continues to be giving them sleepless nights? The actuality is evident: regardless of all their bravado, ECL stays an invisible pressure looming over their each transfer. Their relentless references to him reek of worry, not confidence.
The reality is, the individuals have spoken. The UPND’s incapability to cease speaking about ECL suggests they’re determined to deflect from their very own failures. Instead of governing, they’re caught previously, utilizing ECL as a handy scapegoat. If their so-called “new dawn” authorities is actually charting a greater course for Zambia, why do they maintain dredging up an outdated title?
Could it’s that their guarantees of financial revival, job creation, and higher governance have already fallen flat? That they’ve little to indicate for his or her time in workplace? The irony is that whereas they battle to ship, they discover consolation in blaming ECL—a frontrunner beneath whom Zambia noticed historic infrastructure growth, poverty discount, and job creation.
If UPND had been severe about progress, they might abandon this drained narrative and deal with fixing the nation’s urgent points. But they will’t, as a result of deep down, they know they’re failing. Their continued deal with ECL isn’t simply an admission of insecurity—it’s an indictment of their very own incompetence.
Zambians didn’t vote for UPND to maintain speaking about Lungu. They voted for change. They voted for management. They voted for a greater future. Yet, all they’ve gotten is a authorities fixated on the previous, propped up by figures like Kabimba and Dora who contribute nothing however noise.
It’s time for UPND to cease utilizing ECL’s title as a crutch. The period of distractions is over. If they’ve any imaginative and prescient for Zambia, they need to show it with motion—not excuses. The individuals deserve higher.
Ephraim Shakafuswa
Member – Tonse Alliance Council of Leaders
