Africa-Press – Zambia. Professor Jones Kasonso has become a case study in how political bitterness can consume even the most educated minds. Once a hard-core critic of Edgar Lungu and the Patriotic Front (PF), he positioned himself as a staunch supporter of the UPND in opposition.
Yet today, the very government he once defended has become the constant target of his venom, while he suddenly finds comfort in the same PF he once tore apart. The question then writes itself: is Kasonso destined to be a perpetual critic of whichever party is in power?
His recent condemnation of President Hakainde Hichilema’s meeting with traditional leaders reveals just how far his bitterness has gone. According to Kasonso, the President had “no right” to summon chiefs, describing the gathering as a parade of dignitaries too important to attend such a meeting. This argument not only reeks of contradiction but also exposes his selective reasoning. When previous administrations engaged chiefs for dialogue, he cheered. But when Hichilema does the same, it becomes an unforgivable crime.
Kasonso has also been relentless in attacking President Hichilema over diplomatic postings, accusing him of bias and tribal favoritism. He claims most beneficiaries of diplomatic appointments are the President’s tribesmates—an argument that has been widely dismissed as not only divisive but dangerous. Instead of recognizing Zambia’s need for professional representation abroad, Kasonso insists on reducing appointments to an ethnic equation, thereby undermining the very national unity he once claimed to defend.
The irony is glaring: Kasonso once railed against the PF’s culture of corruption, tribalism, and mismanagement. He championed the UPND as the alternative that could restore order. Today, he has conveniently forgotten his past words and has embraced the very PF he once denounced. His inconsistency makes it difficult to take him seriously—what guarantee is there that, should the PF return to power, he would not turn against them too?
What makes his current bitterness even more revealing is his open call for a change of government in 2026. Rather than providing balanced critique, he has now openly aligned himself with the PF’s desperate project to bounce back into power. For someone who once championed reform and renewal, this turnaround exposes not principled criticism but partisan bitterness masquerading as analysis.
What Zambia needs from intellectuals is not bitterness dressed as analysis, nor contradictions paraded as wisdom. We need voices that challenge with objectivity, that can hold leaders accountable without shifting goalposts depending on who occupies State House. Kasonso, sadly, has reduced himself to a political weather vane—forever spinning in the direction of opposition, regardless of the facts.
His attacks on President Hichilema, especially over engagements with chiefs, diplomatic postings, and his call for regime change, are not grounded in principle but in a compulsive desire to oppose. In the end, his commentary says less about the government’s shortcomings and more about his own loss of credibility.
Professor Jones Kasonso was once respected for his critical voice. But today, his bitterness, contradictions, and political flip-flopping have left him sounding less like an intellectual giant and more like a partisan heckler with a megaphone.
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