OPINION | Politics of the Plate, Not the People

Every election season in Zambia brings with it a familiar script. New slogans are coined, campaign songs fill the airwaves, rallies attract enthusiastic crowds, and politicians promise that this time things will be different.

Yet when the dust settles and a new government takes office, many of the conversations remain exactly where they were five years earlier.

We are still debating the same issues. Social Cash Transfer. Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP). Youth empowerment. Constituency Development Fund (CDF). Fertiliser distribution. Mealie meal prices. Fuel costs. Unemployment.

These are undoubtedly important issues. Millions of Zambians depend on these programmes, and they deserve to be managed effectively. But one cannot help asking a difficult question: why do our elections revolve around the same promises every five years? If every government claims success, why do the same challenges dominate every campaign?

The problem may not simply be policy. It may be our politics.

Too often, politics in Zambia appears to have become a contest over who gets access to the national table rather than who has the best ideas for growing it. Winning office is frequently treated as the ultimate achievement, not the beginning of public service. Political competition can become less about transforming the country and more about controlling opportunities, appointments and resources.

This perception is reinforced whenever political defections are followed by appointments, when public debates focus more on personalities than policy, or when citizens see politicians living increasingly comfortable lives while ordinary people continue to struggle with rising living costs.

Of course, not every politician enters public office for personal gain. Zambia has many dedicated leaders who genuinely serve their communities. To paint everyone with the same brush would be unfair. But public confidence is shaped not by the intentions of a few, but by the conduct of the political class as a whole.

Perhaps this explains why voter apathy continues to grow among some citizens. Many no longer ask which party has the better vision. Instead, they ask whether anything will really change regardless of who wins.

As Zambia approaches another election, perhaps it is time to raise the standard of our political conversation. Instead of asking who will increase Social Cash Transfer or distribute more fertiliser, we should also be asking deeper questions.

How will the next government create enough jobs so fewer families depend on cash transfers in the first place? How will it improve the quality of education so young people compete in a changing global economy? What concrete plans exist to industrialise Zambia, diversify exports, strengthen local manufacturing and increase productivity? How will public institutions become more accountable and less dependent on the goodwill of individual leaders?

These are the conversations that shape prosperous nations.

Democracy is not simply about changing leaders every five years. It is about demanding better leadership every day. Elections should not merely determine who occupies State House or Parliament. They should determine the direction of the country for generations to come.

Ultimately, the responsibility does not rest with politicians alone. Citizens also have a role to play. When voters reward slogans over substance or personalities over performance, they reinforce a political culture that values short-term promises above long-term solutions.

Perhaps the greatest question before Zambia this election is not who deserves to govern. It is whether we, as voters, are prepared to demand a different kind of politics—one centred on service rather than privilege, on ideas rather than handouts, and on building a nation where success is measured not by how much those in power have gained, but by how much the lives of ordinary Zambians have improved.

Until that happens, we may continue to change governments without changing the country.