Analysis Of Zambia’s Presidential Candidates And Running Mates

By Paul Shalala

On August 11, Zambia goes to the polls for a general election.

The country has 7.8 million registered voters who will have a wide choice among the nine presidential candidates.

Besides the presidency, the voters will also be electing Councillors, Mayors, Council Chairpersons and Members of Parliament.

Along side the general election, there will also be a referendum on the Bill of Rights.

But in this analysis, this blogger will restrict himself to the nine presidential candidates and their running mates.

The candidates, who are for the first time contesting alongside their respective running mates, are campaigning to win the election which is expected to be tightly contested.

The inclusion of the running mates follows the January 5 constitutional amendments which changed the country’s electoral laws.

Some of the candidates and running mates are seeking public office for the first time, some are little known while others have been in this race before.

To try and explain to the voters who these candidates are and what they are offering the Zambian people, this blogger will seek to bring out the information about each candidate in alphabetical order of their surnames.

Banda, Andyford Mayele – People’s Alliance for Change (PAC)

Andyford Daka is relatively new on the political scene.

According to his LinkedIn account, Mr Banda is a businessman who owns and serves as Chief Executive Officer of Mayele Investments.

He shot to prominence a few months ago when he launched the People’s Alliance for Change (PAC), a party on whose ticket he is contesting this year’s presidential election.

A youthful candidate, Mr Banda is focusing on youth empowerment as his campaign platform.

He is a 35 year old accountant who has spent most of his time and fortunes campaigning online where most young people spend their time.

With a huge chunk of youth voters who both registered and verified their details ahead of the August 11 polls, Mr Banda wants to tap in this lucrative pool of voters.

Enock Tonga

He recently said: “We have a clear plan for empowerment of entrepreneurs and employment of thousands of unemployed youths. We are the only party with tangible solutions to this country’s problems unlike all these other parties that have recycled politicians who have failed and people want to still give them a chance.”

RUNNING MATE: His running mate is 38 year old Enock Roosevelt Tonga, a Pentecostal church leader.

Mr Tonga, a Lusaka-based accountant, is President of the Third Revolution Party which he launched on June 4, 2014 but has never taken part in any election at any level.

Chishimba, Saviour – United Progressive Party (UPP)

Dr. Saviour Chishimba is not new to the Zambian political scene.

He has just made a come back in a different party and at a different level of political participation.

Dr. Chishimba promises to bring radical change to the country’s macro and fiscal policies to stimulate development.

“Now is the time to reclaim the glory of Zambia by returning to the pursuance of long term development objectives,” said Dr Chishimba in January when he announced his candidature for the presidency.

Before becoming the UPP President, Dr Chishimba was the Patriotic Front Kasama Central Member of Parliament.

He differed with the party and resigned before forming his own party.

Later, he became a strong proponent for good relations with Israel following years of Zambia being seen as a pro-Palestine ally.

Until recently, Dr Chishimba was Chairperson of the National Youth Development Council, a body under the Ministry of Youth and Sports which oversees several youth related programs and projects.

RUNNING MATE: Sinanzeni Chuma:

Not much is known about this running mate

Hichilema, Hakainde – United Party for National Development (UPND)

54 year old Hakainde Hichilema is the only ‘veteran’ for the presidential race among the nine candidates this year.

He is the only candidate who has been on the presidential ballot four times having contested and lost in 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2015.

This time he is trying for the fifth time.

The wealthy businessman and economist took over the reigns of the UPND in 2006 after the demise of the party's founder Anderson Mazoka and has been its President ever since.

His 2016 campaign message is anchored on reviving the economy through his 10 Point Plan which he hopes can reduce inflation, bring down cost of goods and create money for public expenditure.

Mr Hichilema is popularly known as HH and his campaign message is ‘HH Will Fix It’ meaning he will fix the economy.

The 10 Point Plan, as contained in the UPND Manifesto for 2016 - 2021, are:

Point One: We plan to start with job creation and employment. From the first day in office, our Government will help Zambian companies to create jobs, by ensuring we start manufacturing most of the things we import. Isn’t it an embarrassment that we are importing toothpicks? Are you telling me we can fail to make toothpicks? We will promote investment, trade and economic growth, diversifying the economy and investing in under-developed sectors with huge potential for job and wealth creation such as tourism.

Point Two: We will be an attack on poverty and inequality, with a strong focus on youth and women. On day one we will start addressing youth and women empowerment. The women folk present here today, can’t you sow uniforms. So why can’t Government give you contracts to supply uniforms in Government schools? Youths are found making furniture at Nakadoli market. Why is Government importing furniture for their offices and not buying furniture from Nakadoli market? This is what we mean by empowering women and the youth when you give us a vote.

Point Three: We will be investing in our people through education. There is no nation in this world that has advanced without a population that has the right skills. The youths that will be making chairs and desks for Government schools will need education before they get skills to start making desks. Our women who will be supplying uniforms to Government schools need education first before they can learn knitting and tailoring. This is why we are saying education for all is a must. The waste we shall save from ending corruption in procurement of Government goods and services, by-elections and other areas will be invested in education. Now listen carefully here. In Zambia building a road costs 2 million dollars per kilometer, while in South Africa its 400,000 dollars. This means the money we pay for one kilometer, you can do 5 kilometers in South Africa. Why are our roads expensive? It’s because of corruption.

Point Four: The PF has failed to run the power sector resulting in load-shedding, limited and unreliable access and high costs of production. How are businesses supposed to operate under such conditions? Our plan is very simple, we are discussing with the private sector to build power stations from renewables. What do I mean colleagues? Zesco is broke that they cannot build new power stations, we will talk to our friends in the private sector to build power stations, and the power produced will be sold to ZESCO, that is how we will end load shedding.

Point Five: We will improve competitiveness so that our local businesses can grow and create jobs, and new ones can start up. We will tackle areas such as heavy regulation, the high costs of transport and trade, access to finance and power supply.

Point Six: We will focus on aggressively cutting Government waste. We are not going to have 71 ministers in our Government the way our friends did. We are going to reduce on the number of ministers and review their conditions of service. A minister gets 800 liters of fuel per month, that is about 500,000 kwacha for the entire cabinet. By the end of the 5 years of PF we will have spent over 29 billion old currency on fuel for ministers. This does not include the free phones, cars, housing and many other things we provide to them. We cannot continue making a few people rich at the expense of 14 million Zambians.

Point Seven: We will develop our agriculture sector. Our job once you put us in power is to reduce the price of mealie meal. How will we do this? We will increase farmer support in both input provision and reduce the unit cost of production. In this country a farmer produces about 40 bags of maize per hectare when it is possible to produce 100 bags with the same inputs. What farmers need is a robust extension service system so that they can produce more by improving their management of fields. Once this happens then the price of a 50kg bag of maize will come down and with it mealie meal. We will also help farmers diversify their crop to produce other foods and grow produce for neighbouring countries.

Point Eight: We will end the flip-flops and policy inconsistencies that are costing people jobs. In this place over 10,000 miners and their affiliates lost employment. And the PF Government looked on as our people were losing jobs. From the time the PF took over they have changed mining tax policy three times, scaring investors away. What we are doing immediately you give us the instruments of power is to instill confidence in the economy. As a responsible Government we will rather lose a bit of mineral royalty than see you lose your wages and your livelihood.

Point Nine: Building a healthy nation, cannot be compromised on. Colleagues, people are going to hospitals that have no medicines and doctors. We have a shortage of over 13,000 nurses and yet we have thousands of young people looking for jobs – another PF miscalculation. Meanwhile, the high maternal mortality rate remains a stain on the conscience of our nation. Immediately we take office we are reforming procurement of medicines in hospitals. The money we will save from a reduced cabinet and corruption will be used to hire nurses, doctors and buy medicines. We have already spoken to people that are willing to come and set up mini water plants in places like Chamboli so that you people can have access to piped water.

Point Ten: Good Governance. Zambians under PF are living in fear. If you say something against the Government or the President, then you are threatened with arrest. Police are being misused by the PF. People have to apply for permits to have church meetings. We are taking over Government to ensure that Zambians can enjoy their rights. We will immediately repeal the Public Order Act. We are also going to embark on reforming the Anti Corruption Commission and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) to make them independent bodies to pursue corrupt elements. There will be no sacred cows in a UPND-led Government. We need to fight corruption to the bitter end, it has made us poor and I am telling you now, anyone who is corrupt will face the law. Corruption is a cancer that needs to be aggressively tackled.

RUNNING MATE: Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba.

Mr Mwamba is also a wealthy businessman who is popularly known as GBM and has a lot of business interests in milling, transport and other sectors.

He is a former Defence Minister, former Patriotic Front Chairman for Elections and former Patriotic Front Member of Parliament for Kasama Central.

He currently serves as a Vice President for the UPND.

Kabimba, Wynter Munachaambwa – Rainbow Party (Rainbow)

Wynter Kabimba is a fomer Lusaka Town clerk, former Justice Minister and former Secretary General of the Patriotic Front.

He is currently the General Secretary of the Rainbow Party which he formed a few months after he was fired by late President Michael Sata in August 2014.

Since inception, the Rainbow Party has so far taken part in a number of by-elections and only managed to win Kapililonga ward in Isoka District in Muchinga Province which produced its first ever Councillor.

Mr Kabimba propagates a radical approach to socialism which seeks to close the gap between class in society.

A lawyer by profession, Mr Kabimba seeks to take Zambia back to the post colonial days when former President Kenneth Kaunda made socialism the norm in the country.

At the launch of the Rainbow Party manifesto last year, the opposition leader said socialism was the only right path for Zambia because capitalism had allegedly failed to liberate the country from poverty and inequality.

Prior to the 2011 general elections, Mr Kabimba was one of the architects behind the disintegration of the ill fated PF-UPND Pact which both Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema hoped to use to dislodge the then republican president Rupiah Banda.

As Justice Minister, Mr Kabimba took radical decisions like downplaying the 50 plus one presidential winning threshold and the need to enact a new constitution through a referendum.

He also denied being in possession of the final draft constitution despite it being handed over to his Permanent Secretary by the now defunct Technical Committee on Drafting the Republican Constitution.

His openness and frank talk is usually mistaken for arrogance as he usually speaks his mind.

Below is a summary of the Rainbow Party’s 2016 – 2021 manifesto:

PEASANT AGRICULTURE, EDUCATION AND HEALTH

The Rainbow Party considers peasant agriculture, education and health as priority sectors of its socialist economic programme and development. Consequently, the Rainbow Party in government shall allocate 50% of the national budget to these three sectors as follows: 15% to the agriculture sector, 20% to the education sector and 15% to the health sector.

Agriculture

The Rainbow Party shall:

Introduce comprehensive policies for crop diversification amongst peasant farmers so as to reduce dependence on maize and ensure household and national food security.

Introduce co-operatives to be managed by peasant farmers.

Promote value-addition through agribusiness and light manufacturing.

Promote livestock production so as to meet increasing domestic and regional demand.

Tertiary Education

The Rainbow Party in government shall:

Introduce an apprenticeship-led vocational training system which will provide skills training relevant to livelihoods and job creation.

Health Services

The Rainbow Party in government shall:

Define and provide an evidence based package of health services that will be universally accessible by the population by placing emphasis and focus on the sustainability of major public health interventions.

Rationalise the capacity building processes for health cadres.

ECONOMIC OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL BY THE ZAMBIAN PEOPLE

The Rainbow Party in government shall undertake the following:

Ensure the active participation of the State in the commanding heights of the economy through direct ownership and control, royalties, taxation of profits so as to create jobs, eradicate poverty and hence accelerate rural and national development.

Establish the National Bank for Infrastructure Development.

Introduce appropriate sectoral legislation to achieve the above.

Promote indigenous owned commercial banks.

SOCIALIST DEVELOPMENT PLANNING AND ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT

The Rainbow Party in government shall undertake the following:

Establish the National Economic Research and Advisory Council.

Develop policy and legislation to support economic planning.

Create the ministry of economic and development planning.

MINING

The Rainbow Party in government in the short and medium term shall undertake the following:

Introduce technical, marketing and financial monitoring arrangements for extractive industries aimed at sector transparency, taxation compliance and economic and work place protection of the workers.

Introduce a local content minimum requirement of 20% manufactured inputs for the extractive sectors.

In the long term, the Party will build State capacities in managing, processing and marketing mineral products.

LIGHT MANUFACTURING AND JOB CREATION

The Rainbow Party in government shall do the following:

Introduce comprehensive policies aimed at removing constraints in the sector through the provision of public goods such as finance, infrastructure, human capital and trade logistics.

Remove all existing policy distortions in the areas of textile, leather, wood and metal products and also agri-business.

Introduce anti-dumping regulations for imported goods.

Enhance the capacity of the Zambia Bureau of Standards

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

The Rainbow Party in government shall undertake the following:

Introduce ecological approaches which will encourage community and co-operative ownership in the sector and promote domestic tourism for the popular masses.

Design packages that enable extension of the tourists’ period of stay in the country.

Improve on the quality of tourism products.

Facilitate the development of tourist spots across the country through private sector investment.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

The Rainbow Party in government shall undertake the following:

Prepare and implement Zambia’s first comprehensive land-use-cum-transport plan which will be an integral part of its macro-economic planning model.

Introduce policies to direct and govern inner-city traffic development and management. Introduce institutional and legislative changes in order to improve routine maintenance of existing roads and related infrastructure in the sector.

HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FOR THE POOR

The Rainbow Party in government shall undertake the following:

Develop an integrated and sustainable approach to housing and settlement.

Assist the peasants to improve and live in environmental friendly human shelter.

Build rental housing for the low income earners.

Introduce policy to promote human shelter as as Human Right.

WATER AND SANITATION

The Rainbow Party in government will:

Develop an integrated management of water resources to meet the multiple water needs and competition for water resources.

Develop and promote a pro-poor water interface management which will focus on a holistic approach to improving the livelihoods of the rural and peri-urban households.

Strengthen the lines between sanitation and livelihoods.

SCIENCE, INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AND BIO-TECHNOLOGY.

The Rainbow Party shall:

Establish the National Science and Technology Research Council.

Build and develop appropriate technological backbone by placing priority on rural areas for ICT and bio-technology infrastructure development.

Build a robust mobile money platform in order to enhance financial inclusion of the rural poor in remote areas of the country.

Promote mobile phone application development.

ENERGY SECTOR

The Rainbow Party will:

Formulate and promote medium and long term planning for renewable and alternative energy generation and other options for hydropower across the country.

Expedite rural electrification by increasing budget allocations every year.

Ensure national petroleum security by ensuring secure supplies of the commodity to attain at least 60 days of strategic reserves.

Ensure the development of new sugarcane plantations in provinces for bioelectricity and cellulosic ethanol.

NUTRITION.

The Rainbow Party shall undertake to do the following:

Embark on an intensive programme to train nutritionists and dieticians at certificate, diploma and degree levels.

Promote the consumption of Zambian local food products which are rich in nutritional content.

Introduce school feeding programmes in crèches, kindergartens, pre-schools and schools.

Restructure the National Food and Nutrition Commission to make it focus on regulation.

ENVIROMENTAL PROTECTION, MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

The Rainbow Party shall undertake the following:

Develop and promote environmental awareness programmes in local communities.

Ensure that there is public participation in environmental decision-making at all levels.

Enhance environmental protection and management in order to create jobs and eradicate poverty.  

Promote Zambia’s total commitment to international environmental agreements and conventions.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The Rainbow Party in government shall undertake the following:

Decentralise local government by introducing ward village councils, districts chiefs’ councils and provincial chiefs’ councils in order to promote the autonomy of districts and provinces in the discharge of delegated central government functions.

Allow local authorities to hire members of staff with priority to be given to residents of the district so as to promote employment.

Abolish the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

Restructure the Local Authorities Pension Scheme to ensure that it makes prompt payments to retirees and clear all outstanding payments.

ARTS AND CULTURE

The Rainbow Party in government shall:

Formulate a clear policy framework within which arts and culture shall extol dignity, nationalism and the human virtues of the popular masses.

Render support to artists, musicians and writers in advancing and recognising their individual and collective talents and achievements through presidential honours and awards.

Promote annual arts and cultural festivals at district, provincial and national levels.

Create the ministry of arts and culture.

GENDER EQUALITY

The Rainbow Party in government shall:

Introduce legislation to provide for equal pay and equal work for men and women.

Introduce legislation for equal responsibilities and vertical progression between men and women.

Introduce programmes to accelerate strides in making health, education and social services available to women.

Enhance compliance with the SADC Protocol on Gender.

CHIEFS AND TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY

The Rainbow Party in government shall:

Abolish the law which requires the Republican President to recognise a traditional leader of an area.  

Introduce legislation to prescribe the period for determination of chieftainship disputes by contending parties before the High Court and Supreme Court.

Formalise the chiefs’ advisory traditional councils and prescribe their functions.

NEWS MEDIA

The Rainbow Party believes that the Zambian news media needs greater freedom and openness and not more regulation and regimentation.

In view of the above, the Rainbow Party in government shall not pass or support the enactment of legislation or regulations or promote policy and practices which hinder the freedom of the news media.

THE CHURCH

The Rainbow Party in government shall:

Forge close links with the church and other religious groups to execute a common agenda which recognises the poor and under-privileged as central to social and economic development.

Collaborate with the church in the fight against corruption, inequality and other forms of social injustice.

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY AND CORRUPTION

The Rainbow Party in government shall undertake the following:

Introduce legislation to establish an ad hoc committee of Parliament to study the Auditor-General’s report after its adoption and make appropriate recommendations to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Establish the Fraud and Economic Crimes Unit.

Introduce legislation requiring strict compliance with rules for declaration of assets by the president, ministers, deputy ministers, permanent secretaries, senior judicial officers and other senior government officers.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION.

Dr. Cosmas Musumali

The Rainbow Party in government shall:

Promote trade with all countries on an equal footing and on the basis of mutual benefit.

Give active solidarity and support to the Saharawi people and the Palestinian people and forge close ties with their movements.

Continue through the AU and UN to be an active participant in the promotion of world peace.

Join hands with those advocating for reforms in the formal structures of the UN, World Bank and IMF.

Open more foreign missions on the Latin American continent.

RUNNING MATE: Dr. Cosmas Musumali

Dr. Musumali is the First Deputy Secretary General of the Rainbow Party. He is an economist.

Kaunda, Tilyenji Chanda – United National Independence Party (UNIP)

Tilyenji Kaunda

Tilyenji Kaunda is the son of Zambia’s founding President Dr. Kenneth Kaunda.

Popularly known as TJ or Obama by his supporters, Mr Kaunda is trying his luck for the third consecutive time having lost the contest in 2011 and 2015.

He is the President of Zambia’s independence party UNIP which governed the country for 27 years before it was booted out of office in 1991.

The party’s fortunes have over the past 25 years dwindled with its last MP Mkondo Lungu defecting to MMD in the 2011 elections, leaving the former ‘wamuyayaya’ party without representation at Manda Hill.

By May 2016, UNIP only had a handful of councillors countrywide including Zambia’s longest serving councillor Enos Hangoma of Lukolongo ward in Kafue who hds been serving since 1989.

Njekwa Anamela in the background

Mr Kaunda projects himself as a man who would restore Zambia to its past glory which he says was lost when MMD overwhelmingly won the first post one-party-state polls in 1991.

Not much has changed in the party’s socialist ideology and it uses the same old manifesto which promotes free education and an aggressive anti-poverty drive.

RUNNING MATE: Njekwa Ement Anamela

Njekwa Anamela is a long standing UNIP Vice President who has weathered the storm.

In the past five years, ‘the country’s riches party’ has gone through several stages of factionalism but Mr Anamela has stayed put in his position.

Lungu, Edgar Chagwa –Patriotic Front (PF)

Edgar Lungu is Zambia’s current President.

He became head of state after winning the tightly contested January 20, 2015 presidential election which was necessitated by the death of his predecessor Michael Sata in October 2014.

President Lungu, the former Minister of Justice, Defence and Home Affairs, is a lawyer who handled famous cases such as those involving Post Newspapers Editor in Chief Fred M’membe.

At the inception of the Patriotic Front in 2001, Mr Lungu was a relatively unknown figure but rose through the ranks to the powerful position of Secretary General and finally Party President.

Over the years, he applied to stand as a Member of Parliament in Lusaka’s Chawama Constituency but was not adopted.

In 2011, he was adopted and won the sit leading to his appointment to several ministerial positions.

His supporters call him ‘Mr Walk The Talk,’ the 'humble man' who will promote prosperity, unity and continuity.

The August 11 presidential poll will be his second.

In the last 17 months he has led the nation, Mr Lungu has used Christianity and the word of God as his guiding factor, a thing that has won his praises from the Christian community who have even come up with a loose organisation called ‘Christians for Edgar Lungu.’

At the launch of his campaign in May, President Lungu said he was a democrat who will ensure that the august poll is free and fair and that his opponents will have free will to campaign countrywide.

Below is the summarised PF Manifesto for 2016 to 2021:

Education

In order to enhance access to and improve the quality of Education, the Patriotic Front Government shall:

Establish community – based Early Childhood Education Centres in all provinces;

Train, recruit and deploy more Early Childhood Education teachers annually;

Give colleges a facelift and expand them in order to meet the demand for teachers in the country;

Increase grants to colleges;

Revise the National Education Policy and amend the 2011 Education Act.

Health

In order to enhance the well-being of all Zambians, the Patriotic Front Government shall in the period 2016-2021,

Ensure access to primary health services within a 5km radius by continuing to construct more health posts and hospitals;

By 2021, end preventable deaths of new-borns and children under 5 years of age;

By 2021, substantially reduce the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases;

Agriculture Development

The Patriotic Front government shall from 2016-2021 pursue the following investments and policies that are crucial in stimulating an agrarian revolution:

Sustainable rural development;

Agricultural Research and development;

Agricultural education;

Agricultural Extension and farmer support;

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

The Patriotic Front Government shall:

Improve service delivery in big cities such as Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe, Livingstone through decentralisation by establishing township management boards;

Improve service delivery in rural districts by establishing sub-centres;

Introduce Ward Village Councils, District Chiefs Councils and Provincial Chiefs Councils to establish a link in the public service governance system below the District Councils and promote active involvement of traditional authorities in the public governance system;

SOCIAL PROTECTION

In the period 2016-2021, the Patriotic Front Government shall continue to implement the National Social Protection Policy by:

Increasing budgetary allocation to the Social Cash Transfer Programme;

Providing literacy and nutrition programmes in low income communities;

Rehabilitating and providing community development infrastructure such as welfare centres, community libraries and recreational facilities;

Deploying qualified staff and upgrading skills of existing staff through in-service training.

WOMEN IN SOCIO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND GENDER

The Patriotic Front Government shall:

Continue domesticating international protocols relating to women and gender in development so as to enhance representation of women in decision making;

Eradicate all forms of discrimination against girls and women including the creation of equal employment opportunities for men and women;

Introduce appropriate legislation to achieve the above, such as the Child Code Bill, Marriage Bill, Sexual Abuse Bill, and Divorce Bill.

YOUTH IN SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The Patriotic Front Government shall in the next five years:

Promote the economic participation of the youth in national development through employment creation and entrepreneurship development;

Increase access to quality and equitable education and skills development relevant to the aspirations of the youth and society;

Mainstream youth issues in all government and private sector institutions for effective youth responsive programming;

ARTS AND CULTURE DEVELOPMENT

In the next five years, the Patriotic Front Government shall:

Construct a National Cultural Centre;

Complete construction of Provincial Arts and Culture Centres;

Promote investment in the creative industry through the Private Public Partnership model;

Enhance job creation in the sector through decentralisation;

SPORTS AND RECREATION

The Patriotic Front Government shall in the next five years:

Increase budgetary allocation for the construction, rehabilitation and upgrading of sports and recreation infrastructure, particularly in schools;

Introduce incentives for private investment in the development of sports and recreation infrastructure;

Promote the manufacture of sports equipment locally.

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

The Patriotic Front Government shall in the period 2016-2021:

Continue to rehabilitate and upgrade the road network to three star status including feeder roads in all districts to prescribed standards;

Continue to construct additional inter district roads to open up the country to facilitate accelerated development and improve trade;

Replace existing pontoons with bridges in order to promote connectivity both internally and externally and hence social and economic activities in the country;

Construct and upgrade airports an airstrips in districts;

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

The Patriotic Front Government shall in the next five years:

Promote private sector investment and local community participation in the development of tourism and tourism related services;

Promote well targeted infrastructure development in order to open up new tourist sites in Promote cultural and ethno-tourism in all provinces in order to create job opportunities in rural areas;

LAND DEVELOPMENT

The Patriotic Front Government shall in the next five years:

Work with traditional authorities to promote security of tenure for customary land in rural areas;

Prevent displacement of local communities by the urban elite or foreign investors in rural areas;

Promote good governance, decentralisation and transparency in land administration;

Curb illegal allocation of land in Zambia.         

ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES

In the next five years the Patriotic Front Government shall:

Promote decentralisation and local community participation in collaboration with the private sector to underpin sustainable management of natural resource;

Amend and harmonise all pieces of legislation governing environmental policy to reduce inter-sectoral conflicts in environmental management;

Employ Forest Rangers in order to control deforestation;

LABOUR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

In the next five years the Patriotic Front Government shall:

Formulate implementation guidelines to enforce provisions of the amended Employment Act No.15 of 2015;

Finalise the Occupational Safety Health (OHS) Policy and consequently review the outdated Factories Act;

Enact the Social Protection Bill and relevant regulation;

FINANCE AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

PF recognises that planning is a pre-requisite to achieving and executing an integrated social and economic development and transformation agenda. This will be achieved through the following:

Restructuring of Ministries to ensure only key related activities which are clearly measurable are retained with each Ministry. For instance separation of Ministry of Energy from the Ministry of Mines;

Creation of the Ministry of Development Planning;

Formulation of the 7th National Development Plan through extensive stakeholder engagement (5 year plan);

ENERGY DEVELOPMENT

In the next five years the PF government shall:

Accelerate and scale up public-private partnership investment in hydro power generation to raise the installed capacity in order to meet national demand and generate surplus for export;

Attain cost reflective tariffs by 2019, thereby promoting IPPs to invest in power generation.

Promote investment in alternative energy sources such as thermos electricity generation from coal and nuclear reactors;

Standardise the price of petroleum products countrywide so as to remove distortions in the fuel cost;

MINES AND MINERALS DEVELOPMENT

In order to enhance the development of the mining sector the PF government shall:

Diversify mining minerals from base metals (e.g. Copper) to other minerals such as Industrial and energy minerals;

Rump up copper production to 2 million tons per annum by the year 2017;

Establish a centre for the marketing of minerals from small scale mines so as to assist small scale miners realise value for their products;

COMMERCE, TRADE AND INDUSTRY

In the next five years, the Patriotic Front Government shall:

Provide incentives for value addition in order to expand the manufacturing base and create employment;

Establish micro credit financing for small scale enterprises;

Promote the establishment of small and medium scale enterprises and prescribe supporting curricula to enhance entrepreneurial skills;

Establish special Economic Zones - industrial parks, logistics parks, industrial estates and innovation hubs;

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The Patriotic Front Government shall:

Give priority to the teaching of science subjects in educational institutions at all levels;

Improve and expand facilities for teaching science and technical subjects;

Create exclusively science and technical schools, colleges and universities;

Enhance capacity by expanding training programmes for scientists;

GOVERNANCE AND THE ADMINSTRATION OF THE STATE

In the next five years, the Patriotic Front Government shall:

Enact consequential legislation to give effect to the provisions of the amended Constitution;

Decentralise the operations of the National Prosecutions Authority by opening provincial offices;

Enhance the capacity of the Law Development Commission in order enhance law reforms;

ELECTORAL REFORMS

In order to address the above, the Patriotic Front Government shall:

Enhance consultation with all stakeholders to arrive at consensus in order to review and amend the law relating to the system of administering elections so as to achieve maximum confidence in the electoral system;

Introduce regulations to enable Zambians living in the diaspora to exercise their entitlement to be registered as voters and vote in an election;

In consultation with all stakeholders to review and amend the Public Order Act;

JUDICIAL REFORMS

In order to ensure an efficient and accessible justice delivery system, the Patriotic Front Government shall in the next five years:

Establish a High Court in each provincial capital;

Progressively establish Magistrates Court at all District Headquarters;

Ensure adequate budgetary allocation;

THE CHURCH AND CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

In order to enhance the role of the Church and its relationship with the State, the Patriotic Front Government shall:

Work hand in hand with the Church to enhance the social and economic development of the country;

Ensure that the Church provides spiritual guidance in State affairs;

Harmonise the relationship between the Church and the State;

MEDIA REFORMS

In order to enhance the role of the media in its critical role of informing, educating and entertaining, the Patriotic Front Government shall:

Implement the provisions of the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation Amendment Act of 2002 so as to allow ZNBC operate as a public service broadcaster;

Review and implement the provisions of the Independence Broadcasting Authority Act of 2002;

Review and reconcile the provisions of the Official Secrets Act and the Freedom of Information Bill of 2002 in order to enact the Freedom of Information Bill of 2002 into law;

Support self-regulation of the media in Zambia; and

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION

In order to maintain and enhance international relations and cooperation, the Patriotic Front Government shall:

Retain Zambia’s membership to these international organisations and agencies;

Promote friendly and cordial relations with Zambia’s neighbours, all African States and other foreign countries;

Pursue a foreign policy based on the mutuality of common interest and respect;

RUNNING MATE: Inonge Mutukwa Wina

Inonge Wina is an American-educated politician who doubles as Zambia’s Vice President and Minister of National Planning.

Mrs Wina is also the Vice President of the Patriotic Front.

At the launch of President Lungu’s 2016 campaign, the head of state said: “Mrs Wina has been a good Vice President and I cannot abandon her. She will be my running mate.”

Mrs Wina, the widow of Zambia’s former Cabinet Minister Arthur Wina, was a women’s rights activist who led the Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council and later became the Member of Parliament for Nalolo on UPND in 2001.

She later joined the PF and won back the Nalolo seat in 2011.

Before becoming Vice President last year, Mrs Wina served as Gender Minister and PF National Chairperson.

Popularly known as ‘Bo Inonge,’ the Vice President was not a surprise candidate for running mate as her loyalty to President Lungu is unquestionable.

She was one of the architects of President Lungu’s ascendance to the PF Presidency during the leadership wrangles that rocked the ruling party after the demise of its founder in 2014.

Mwamba, Maxwell – Democratic Assembly (DA)

Maxwell Mwamba is a Zambian politician who is not very much known.

He however became prominent in the media in mid 2014 when he called for then President Michael Sata to resign for allegedly being sick and for Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda to also resign for allegedly 'wrecking' the economy.

RUNNING MATE: Rosemary Kabungo.

Not much is known about her.

Nawakwi, Edith Zewelani – Forum for Development and Democracy (FDD)

Edith Nawakwi is a female politician who has consistently contested presidential elections and lost.

The 2016 contest is her forth attempt having lost in 2008, 2011 and 2015.

Ms Nawakwi was a firebrand female Cabinet Minister in the Frederick Chiluba-led MMD government.

She joined politics in the early 1990s and was usually the only female among male politicians when they were plotting the downfall of the Kaunda regime.

In 2001, she was among 22 ministers who were fired for opposing then President Chiluba who wanted to change the constitution and run for a third term.

She then joined former Vice President Christon Tembo to form the Forum for Democracy and Development, a party she currently leads.

Her outspokenness and lack of fear on matters of national interest has won her several friends especially in the media where she enjoys good coverage.

Since 2013, her party has been doing well in Luapula Province where her parliamentary candidates have been coming out second during by-elections in Samfya and Mansa.

She is a firm believer in door to door campaigns and has been spotted doing solitary campaigns from house to house in search of votes.

RUNNING MATE: Rev Clement Mwanza.

Reverend Clement Mwanza was a minister in the Reformed Church in Zambia before he was co-opted as Ms Nawakwi’s running mate.

He resigned his religious position in order to be on the presidential ballot.

Nothing much is known about him beyond the church and recently, The Post newspapers described him as a ‘strange running mate’ who allegedly shocked FDD officials who did not recognise him when Ms Nawakwi was filing her nomination.

Sinkamba, Peter Chazya – Green Party (Greens)

Peter Sinkamba is an environmental activist and politician who has lived in almost all provinces of Zambia.

He was born in Southern Province and is based in Kitwe where he runs an environmental organisation and the Green Party.

Mr Sinkamba contested and lost last year’s presidential elections.

In the area of governance, the party wants to abolish the system of having Lusaka as the national capital.

The party wants the seat of government to be rotating from one provincial capital to the other.

The other focus of the Green Party 2016 manifesto is the legalisation of marijuana and making it a viable business.

Mr Sinkamba argues that marijuana is a revenue earner which would give Zambia billions of kwacha in revenue if legalised.

His argument is that legalising and selling marijuana will create national revenue needed for developmental projects such as the construction of roads, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure.

His party’s slogan is ‘Legalise! Legalise! Legalise.’

During the 2015 elections, he planned to launch his presidential bid in Chibolya, a drug den in Lusaka but the plan did not materialise.

In Kitwe, Mr Sinkamba has won hearts of some youths who hope the legalisation of ‘ganja’ will help in creating jobs.

Below is a summary of the Green Party’s Vision 2030 which is being used to woo voters for the August 11 elections:

Ecological Wisdom

In line with the ecological wisdom principle, when elected into power, our Green Government will:

Provide adequate resources to guarantee sustenance of the integrity of ecosystems. In this regard, our Green Government will on annual basis allocate not less than 10% of the national budget for this purpose

Build capacity of institutions delegated to protect natural elements of our very survival: earth, water, air and sun for these sustain animal and plant life, and our own life. To this end, effectiveness of enforcement agencies will be reviewed within two years of the Green Government and elevated to constitutional office level. This will include but not limited to the Zambia Environmental Agency (ZEMA), Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA), Forestry Department, Fisheries Department, and Water Board be, to ensure adequate resource allocation, efficiency, autonomy as well as security of tenure of office bearers

Social Justice

In line with the social justice principle, when elected into power, our Green Government will:

Develop and implement policies, laws and frameworks aimed at eradicating poverty not only as an imperative, but as an ethical issue to ensure social, economic, and ecological sustainability. To this end, a poverty reduction strategy will be developed and resourced within two years of the Green Government. Not less than 20% of the budget will be allocated for implementation of the poverty reduction strategy.

Ensure all justice, police and prison systems are transparent, fair, just, and democratic in the enforcement of the law. In this regard, the Green Government will, within two years of first election into government review the justice, police and prison systems, including the penal code and prison systems so as to address the issue police and prison facilities, circumstantial children in prisons, juvenile offenders, pregnant women in prisons, and establish fast-track court systems to deal specifically with special cases, including election-related offences and malpractices

Government be relocated from Lusaka to provinces and operate on proportional-representation basis

Participatory Democracy

In line with the participatory democracy principle, our Green Government will, when elected into power:

Develop and implement policies, laws and strategies that guarantee privacy of individuals and ensure individual empowerment through access to all the relevant information required for any decision and access to education to enable all to participate. To achieve this, the Green Government will within the first six months of election into power, enact the freedom of access to information legislation.

Develop and implement policies, laws and strategies that break down inequalities of wealth and power, as well as barriers of participation. To achieve this, the Green Government will within two years of election into government review the electoral legislation to ensure age and fees are not inhibiting factors to participatory democracy. The legislation will also be reviewed to bar serving government officials, including but not limited the President, Vice President, ministers, deputies, or civil servants to use public resources for partisan election interest or campaigns

Build grassroots institutions that enable decisions to be made directly at the appropriate grass-root levels by those affected, based on systems which encourage civic vitality, voluntary action and community responsibility. To achieve this, the Green Government will within two years in Government review decentralization legislation and policies and implementation frameworks that promote sustainable participatory democracy. The Green Government will, under the auspices of the decentralisation legislation, review and implement the Barotseland Agreement of 1964 or any other agreements in other chiefdoms, with a view to entrench commitments therein

Non-violence

In line with the non-violence principle, when elected into power, our Green Government will:

Fully support a comprehensive greens concept of national, regional and global security, which gives priority to social, economic, ecological, psychological and cultural aspects of conflict, instead of a concept based primarily on military balances of power. In this regard, the Green Government will, within two years of first election into government, review the Defence and Security Acts to re-orient the role of the army and security personnel from primarily combat to social, economic, ecological, psychological and cultural aspects.

Support initiatives aimed at strengthening the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU) and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) on conflict management, peacekeeping, and ending terrorism at global, regional and sub-regional levels. In this regard, the Green Government will support introduction of levies on air travel and hospitality industry to support sustainable conflict-resolution efforts by these institutions

Sustainability

In line with the sustainability principle, when elected into power, our Green Government will develop and implement policies, laws and strategies aimed at achieving greater resource and energy efficiency. This includes introducing a “Feed-in Tariffs Policy”. The large majority of solar power in the country will be installed under feed-in tariff (FiT) programmes.

Very simply, a feed-in tariff programme ensures that people who install solar power systems can then sell the electricity generated from that system back to the grid for a set price over a designated period of time. The goal of such a policy is quite simply to increase solar power investments and growth, and therefore help drive down the cost of solar power systems. In this regard, the Green Party will enact the “Feeding Electricity into the Grid Act”.

We also plan to enact the “Priority to Renewable Energy Sources Act”. The aim of the Act is to scale-up investments in solar power so that solar energy overtakes hydropower and biomass-based power generation. We plan to make solar energy Zambia’s largest renewable energy technology in terms of installed capacity

The Green Party’s New & Renewable Energy Policy is to bring solar power installed capacity to stand at 4,000 MW by December 2017

Respect for Diversity

In line with the respect for diversity principle, when elected into power, our Green Government will:

Develop and implement policies, laws and strategies that recognise the rights of indigenous peoples to the basic means of their survival, both economic and cultural, including rights to land and to self determination

Develop and implement policies, laws and strategies that acknowledge indigenous peoples’ contribution to the common heritage of national and global culture

RUNNING MATE: Clement Francis Tafeni.

Mr Tafeni is a lawyer. 

He was born in Mufulira but educated in Lusaka. 

His political activities started at the University of Zambia where he served in the students law association and after his graduation, he served as Treasurer of the Law Association of Zambia. 

Mr Tafeni is a Seventh-Day Adventist and is currently the Vice President of the Green Party.