Africa-Press – Zambia. Is Keith Mweemba a Pawn or Sponsored Candidate of State House?
The Election of Keith Mweemba as FAZ President and its Political Implications
We must recognise that President Hakainde Hichilema has demonstrated that he is fixated at a sole and long-term goal to get reelected in 2025.
To this effect, he has embarked on a bullish path to control every aspect of government, quasi, and outside government institutions.
He has demonstrated this by removing, with utmost personal obsession, all semblance of people he suspects are members of the opposition or may not support him, from public institution and replaced them with persons from his tribe or region of influence or loyalists.
He has removed every senior official from the public service, and those he couldn’t fire, he has packed them at the Public Service Management Division (PSMD) and Cabinet Office.
He has done the same to Parliament, the Judiciary, and supposedly independent institutions such as the Electoral Commission of Zambia.
He has extended this to civil society and trade unions. including student representatives’ bodies.
Similar attempts have been made to institutions such as the Law Association of Zambia.
As exposed by Andrew Kamanga’s letter of complaint to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association(FIFA), Keith Mweemba was a candidate sponsored or supported by President Hichilema and no stone was left unturned to ensure his election.
This is not to excuse Kamanga’s fall or hail Mweemba’s win.
Kamanga had made numerous mistakes.
He rose to power in similar circumstances. He was supported in 2011 by Rupiah Banda’s government. He didn’t succeed.
But he returned in March 2016 and defeated Zambian football legend Kalusha Bwalya in the election for president.
Kamanga registered a narrow win with 163 votes to Bwalya’s 156.
This election result was seen as a significant upset, as Bwalya was widely respected and had been president previously.
He embarked on systematic ostracisation of Kalusha Bwalya and his supporters and attempted to alienate him from football activities in Zambia and CAF.
Numerous attempts to reconcile the two were repeatedly rebuffed by Kamanga.
It is no wonder that, in this 2025 election, some of Kalusha’s previous supporters used the opportunity to exact revenge by supporting either Kashala or the underdog Keith Mweemba.
The run-up to this race was highly mishandled with Kamanga attempting to exclude all opponents and later relying heavily on the support and direction of FIFA while Mweemba’s group relied on court processes and the nudging of the State through National Sports Council.
Although Kamanga was seen as a better candidate, strong and mature, his downfall was aided by his own silly mistakes and failure to focus on the bigger picture – the interest of football in Zambia.
Anyway, back to President Hichilema.
He has set his sights on 2026 and has invested heavily in the prospects to get re-elected.
He is either prosecuting or persecuting all perceived opponents.
He is enacting represive and punitive laws to engender a blanket of silence against criticism and divergent views of his government.
He is sponsoring confusion in the Opposition through infiltration and buying personalities and subsequently embedding them as tools to disrupt unity of purpose and their working together.
He is keen to manufacture perception of public acceptance or popularity through the tight control of both traditional and social media.
He has built echo chambers that purposely and deliberately support every word, utterances, and policy pursuits of his government and are given plenty of airtime on ZNBC and acres of space in their print and social media.
For example, if the Catholic leadership issues a statement against his government, he will find a Catholic echo chambers to respond, including members of the Catholic Church, or among his own cabinet ministers to counter the statement!
We have seen bemba cabinet ministers rise and paraded to defend Hichilema from attacks that he his practicing tribalism and excluding persons on account of their ethnic orientation.
Even in the current voter registration or NRC issuance exercises, he has engaged in voter suppression mechanisms and methods in areas that support the opposition while heightening the accumulation of numbers for the voter register in his strongholds.
CONCLUSION
It is clear that President Hakainde Hichilema has failed to run the country.
It is clear that he has failed to fulfill his earlier campaign promises.
While many believe that Aleya, Aleya! it may be not be so or automatic until;
● The Opposition come together.
● Work together.
● Present a strong candidate with the widest and biggest opportunity to challenge and beat President Hichilema.
● Abandon selfish interest and denominate their personal pursuits and surrender themselves to a higher and national goal.
●Focus on rallying the base.
● Unify forces and social formations that have recognised President Hichilema as a big hindrance to the cause of national development and national unity.
Otherwise, the Opposition eill help foster an environment where a very weak candidate such as Keith Mweemba becomes President of the association of the most popular sport in the country!
For More News And Analysis About Zambia Follow Africa-Press
