Chawama has delivered a result that deserves respect, not spin. It is not merely a victory for Bright Nundwe. It stands as a blunt rebuke to the illusion that political loyalty can be bought, borrowed, or brokered like a commodity.
When the ballot boxes opened, the noise fell silent. The much-vaunted army of defectors did not materialise at the polls. Where was Innocent Kalimanshi, the celebrated “born-again” political convert, when votes were cast?
Where were the vocal campaigners who promised to deliver the township like a packaged gift? Their absence on election day spoke louder than any rally ever could. Chawama has laid bare a fundamental truth: movement is not mandate.
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You can orchestrate a defection, but you cannot engineer conviction. A crowd can be hired for an afternoon, but a conscience walks alone into the voting booth. The voter’s heart is not a transactional receipt.
It is a ledger of memory, pain, and trust earned over time, not purchased in moments of desperation or inducement. This outcome carries another sobering message. It happened without the machinery of big-name kingmakers.
Given Lubinda’s well-oiled political apparatus was not the decisive force here. Instead, ordinary residents, quiet, watchful, and weary of empty theatrics, stepped forward and spoke through their ballots. Their choice was not swayed by celebrity endorsements or viral hashtags, but by who listened, who showed up consistently, and who understood that politics is not performance, it is presence.
The UPND would do well to internalise this lesson. Defections are not votes. A rally is not a referendum.
A photo opportunity is not a mandate. Zambia is not a passive audience awaiting direction. It is a nation of discerning citizens who reserve the final say for the privacy of the polling station.
There is an old African saying: a goat may follow you for salt, but it returns home for grass. Many switch parties not out of belief, but because of pressure, hunger, fear, or short-term gain. When alone behind the screen, they remember who stood with them during hardship, and who only appeared when victory seemed assured.
Chawama reminds us that politics, at its core, is spiritual. It is about belief. Belief cannot be bought like fertiliser or rented like sound systems.
It is cultivated through humility, consistency, and truth. Those who celebrate too early often weep in silence later. Governments can recruit faces, but only the people can give a heart.
No amount of orchestrated defections can substitute for the quiet, unshakeable loyalty that comes when leaders earn, rather than extract, trust. The ballot has spoken. The lie has been exposed. The question now is whether those in power will listen, or keep counting ghosts.
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