Hichilema’s women
By Osward Bwali
HAKAINDE Hichilema’s failure as President of Zambia has been epic. Such is his failure that, by comparison, Edgar Lungu, his predecessor, was very successful to the point evoking nostalgia for the Patriotic Front. Hichilema’s failure is simply beyond the wildest imagination of even his most hateful haters. Some are happy for a variety of reasons that Hichilema has failed.
Hichilema’s self-absorbed pomposity is one reason for some people to wish him to fail. His innuendos that some tribes are lazy, thieves, and inept at governance is another reason. Of course, for some people, his failure is their political gain. Today, I will speak about one specific weakness of Hichilema – women. My choice of this subject is motivated by Hichilema’s misguided morbid efforts to prostitute our country’s constitution. I will show that, in fact, Hichilema is a misogynist whose actions come from a sexist traditionalist.
The first act of Hichilema upon ascending to power was to get rid of the Ministry of Gender. In his view, the ministry designed to ensure gender equality was irrelevant and a waste of resources. Zambia is a conservative country whose ethos is informed by patriarchal norms from the Bible and African traditions. Women are weak vessels, second class citizens, God’s afterthought.
Barely pubescent girls can be married off to older men in exchange for cattle or other material forms for the girl’s parents or guardians. Structural and domestic circumstances result in a low school progression rate for girls. The country is faced with unacceptable levels of teen pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and HIV infections. Cases of gender-based violence against women and girls are alarming. Girl’s sexual and reproductive health rights remain a serious problem.
Sustainable Development Goal number five vies to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls. Several African countries have women parliamentary representation above 40 per cent. Zambia is at a paltry 15 per cent. It is worse in other areas like local government. Numbers do lie, but in this case, they are telling an important truth. Zambian women are badly worse off than males. This is not only in politics but in every aspect of human endeavour such as the economy. There are way fewer females in higher income brackets. Mizinga Melu is so famous because she’s a statistical outlier. So many men at her level are enjoying their anonymity.
The Ministry of Gender is supposed to spearhead the promotion of gender equality, protection and empowerment of women. Hichilema thinks that’s not so important. The ministry should not only have been maintained but made more robust to fast-track gender issues and put Zambia on the gender map continentally and globally.
By snuffing out the ministry, Hichilema not only initiated the erosion of gains made under previous regimes, but he also signalled to the country and the world that women’s issues were not a top priority issue for his government. This is the man who now wants to stand at the roof top claiming to be number one proponent of gender equality. Aikona man! Sit down. In one single act of thoughtlessness, you have derailed the momentum towards gender equality.
Having a female vice president is progressive. A female running mate is a wonderful symbolic gesture that every political party needs to adopt. Women’s NGO’s need to press this matter in their advocacy to ensure all opposition parties have at least a woman as president or potential running mate. But there’s a catch to this. It’s not just having someone with XX chromosomes there. She should not just be a pawn in a political stratagem.
Hichilema’s Mutale Nalumango’s qualifying traits are her ethnicity, loyalty, and gender. This is the bare minimum. Unfortunately, Nalumango does not go an inch beyond this mere minimum. The country needs a fully functional vice presidency worthy of taking over the presidency should death visit us as a misfortune or advocate of democracy. Her fashion sense is only comparable with the peacock, making Silvia Masebo look so outdated and out of touch.
But watch Dr Nalumango in parliament and behold the mediocrity. She will run faster than the ostrich away from real issues raised by members of parliament. When she runs out breath with her awkward laughter, she buries her head in the sand. She’s not adding value to the deliberations in parliament and therefore she is a huge disservice to our fledgling democracy.
The president is a married man. He likes to present the picture of an ideal husband and father. Obviously, the wife he married whilst she worked as secretarial staff is now the most powerful woman in the country. She’s the First Lady. Note the capitalisation. She is no longer a wife but an institution. She’s a beautiful, well-mannered lady who exudes class. But beneath her class we can see her timidity. She cannot be her own woman who rises and shines alongside or more than her husband. She’s no Michelle. More like Melania Trump.
Mutinta Hichilema is like an angel with clipped wings. Whenever Hichilema senses her rise, he puts her in her place, a woman’s place. She’s a housewife of the 1970’s totally under the control of her husband. It’s unclear who to pity more, Mrs Hichilema or Mrs Trump. Her office is the quietest in the history of the country. Her Wikipedia entry touts her as “committed to humanitarian causes and her active involvement in community development programs across Zambia”. On the ground, she’s grounded.
Hichilema is the sort of man who stops a wife from pursuing her independent goals. Provided he has provided her with food, clothing, and makeup, he believes she should be content and only smile sheepishly alongside him for political optics. Clearly, he does not want her to use the office of the First Lady to shine on her own and provide a powerful role model to the women and girls of Zambia. He does not see Mutinta as an equal human being because she’s female.
Chipokota Mwanawasa is perhaps a good case of Hichilema promoting youthful inclusion in top government positions? Why not? She serves in two roles: as Policy Advisor to the President and as Deputy Head of the Presidential Delivery Unit, whatever that is! However, some suspected a below-the-belt vested interest. This conspiracy theory came to the fore a few months ago when rumour went around that Ms Mwanawasa was carrying a child suspect to be a result of ‘oval office’ shenanigans.
Inept Clayson Hamasaka and the entire president team handled the rumour very poorly. Every effort to quash the rumour only added fire or evidence to the theory. But nobody mishandled the matter more poorly than Hichilema himself. He undressed her publicly, ordering her to stand up like a truant eight-year-old niece. Not like a respected colleague. He paraded her for the whole world to see she was not pregnant.
Is that how you resolve matters in Hichilema’s corporate background? Was Mwanawasa forced or persuaded to do a pregnancy test and show the results to the president? Can the world make a visual verdict on a first-trimester pregnancy? This shocking episode in Zambia’s gender issues tells us who Hichilema is on women equality and respect. He is a traditional macho man dripping with sexism.
It is therefore very shocking and shameless for Hichilema to stand on the podium and use women as a pretext for making constitutional amendments for his own political survival in 2026. Women must take stock of the man and for once refuse to be prostituted in Hichilema’s ill-fated political scheme. They should stand together and oppose the attempts to amend the constitution using the very constituency that he has downplayed and downgraded throughout his presidency.
