There is no crisis or election dispute in Zambia: what is there is suspected criminal activities by some people

By Clayson Hamasaka
Wednesday 2nd September 2026

I rarely comment on the seemingly endless lamentations of Emmanuel Mwamba and some of his colleagues operating from the comfort of the diaspora. But there comes a point when political disappointment must give way to perspective.

I appreciate that electoral defeat can be painful. What is rather less admirable, however, is the courage conveniently discovered behind a keyboard, from the safety and comfort of a foreign country, while urging citizens at home towards confrontation and insurrection. It is remarkably easy to prescribe turmoil when somebody else is expected to occupy the streets and bear the consequences.

The inconvenient reality is that the Zambian people have spoken. One may dislike their verdict, dispute it through lawful channels or analyse it endlessly, but repeatedly trying to excite a citizenry that has clearly declined the invitation to revolt is neither statesmanship nor bravery.

Perhaps our colleagues could take a few lessons from those of us who have actually experienced painfully narrow electoral defeats. In 2015, the presidential margin was approximately 27,000 votes; in 2016, approximately 100,000. Those were extraordinarily difficult moments. Yet, eventually, we picked up the pieces and moved on.

The 2016 PF celebrations were particularly weird to witness live on ZNBC and other channels. At the stadium, PF supporters paraded coffins symbolising the supposed political death of the UPND and its leadership, while even dogs were dressed in UPND regalia for ridicule. It was a rather Macabre, voodoo-like, celebration of a very narrow victory.

I remember choosing a simpler response: I took my family to the farm, slaughtered a goat and shared a meal with our workers. Sometimes accepting what one cannot immediately change is considerably healthier than spending one’s days shouting at the political weather from a foreign country.

And in all our narrow losses, open humiliation, endless arrests and torment, at no time did we ever choose the path of escaping the country or seeking refuge from foreign jurisdictions and start inciting citizens from there. That’s being a coward!

Even at the height of numerous political persecution with more than 15 police summons and arrests by then opposition leader President Hakainde Hichilema, at no time did he ever try to escape the country in an attempt to dodge from the law. At the time of the fake treason offence from what was clearly a traffic offence, President Hichilema was teargassed right inside his house where he was eventually picked from.

Contrast that spectacle with yesterday’s celebrations. There were festivities, certainly, but also remarkable calm. There were no symbolic coffins predicting the death of political opponents, no grotesque theatre celebrating their misfortune and no organised campaign of vengeance. People celebrated an electoral victory rather than the imagined demise of their fellow citizens.

The same restraint was largely evident after the UPND victory in 2021. This stands in sharp contrast to earlier periods when political cadres occupied bus stations and markets, opposition supporters feared for their property and safety, and political triumph too often became an excuse for intimidation.

Indeed, we caught a brief glimpse of what might have happened this year when an immature opposition figure prematurely and unlawfully proclaimed victory. Almost immediately, billboards of a sitting Head of State were vandalised and attempts were made to forcibly reclaim markets and bus stations around the city. Thankfully, firm condemnation from the President, responsible citizens and the security services prevented matters from deteriorating further. When some UPND supporters subsequently appeared tempted to retaliate, the party leadership equally restrained them.

That is how democracy should work: win without vengeance and lose without attempting to burn down the house simply because somebody else has been given the keys.

Our colleagues have been mourning 2021 for five years and have now added 2026 to their catalogue of grievances. At this rate, they risk arriving at 2031 still arguing with 2021. Surely there must come a time when politics gives way to life.

And by the way, contrary to the propaganda that the inauguration was illegal, for the record, there is no active presidential election petition in any Zambian court and there is no crisis in the country at the moment. What is there is suspected acts of criminal activities by some people. Otherwise citizens are peaceful going on with their business.

Perpetual bitterness is not healthy for politicians, their families or their supporters. Democracy requires the maturity to understand that political power is neither hereditary nor an entitlement.

So, gentlemen, complain if you must. Petition where the law permits. Criticise robustly. Organise politically. Prepare for another election.

But please spare the country the spectacle of grumpy old adults endlessly quarrelling with the electorate because it declined to vote according to their instructions.