The Editor Zambia
The question of who is rocking the United Party for National Development (UPND) boat has become increasingly relevant following President Hakainde Hichilema’s victory in the August 2026 general elections.
Despite the electoral outcome that saw President Hichilema emerge as the seventh president of Zambia, sections of the political opposition, civil society, religious leadership and online media continue to challenge the President’s leadership and question the direction of the country. 
While criticism is an essential component of democracy, the pattern, intensity, and political origins of some of the voices opposing the President raise questions that deserve sober public discussion.
Is Zambia witnessing ordinary democratic contestation, or are there deeper political and historical grievances that have yet to be resolved?
President Hichilema secured another mandate at the ballot box, and that outcome should be respected by all political players.
One striking feature of the political debate is the prominence of critics associated with Zambia’s Northern and Eastern regions.
Politicians, bloggers, civic activists, and some religious voices from these regions have been particularly visible in challenging President Hichilema and his administration.
They include the same voices of people hailing from the Northern/Eastern bloc; Archbishop Alick Banda, Archbishop Ignatius Chama, Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda, Linda Kasonde, Emmanuel Mwamba, Chishala Kateka, Brebner Changala, Beauty Katebe, Augustine Mukoka, Kasonde Mwenda, Charles Kakula and many others.
Platforms such as Zambia Freedom News and Emmanuel Mwamba’s, presented as Emmanuel Mwamba Verified, have also become part of this contentious online environment.
This observation raises an uncomfortable question: Why does a substantial section of the loudest opposition to President Hichilema all hail from political networks historically associated with the Northern and Eastern blocs?
The question is worth examining, particularly given Zambia’s political history. For decades after independence, political power was largely exercised by leaders and parties whose strongest support came from regions in the north and east of the country.
That political order was eventually disrupted in 2021 when President Hichilema and the UPND won power after years in opposition.
When criticism increasingly targets a leader’s ethnic identity rather than his decisions, it risks undermining national unity and encouraging citizens to interpret every political disagreement through a tribal lens.
The trend of ‘critics’ only hailing from Northern and Eastern regions who all think they have a right to criticise President Hichilema is retrogressive.
The sickening trend is poisoning Zambia’s political debate, which is not being shaped by genuine disagreements over governance or by resentment over the redistribution of political power but by parochial penchant to judge Hichilema using tribal lenses.
President Hichilema’s mandate must be respected, legitimate criticism must remain protected, and tribal mobilisation must be rejected regardless of who practises it.
Zambia belongs to all its citizens. No region owns political power, and no leader should be judged by the language he speaks or the community from which he comes.
Those seeking to rock the UPND boat should therefore be challenged on their arguments, their evidence, and their intentions.
That is the standard a mature democracy demands.
