Mulenga booing fate of many UPND MPs
By Tony Nkhoma
IT IS not only the Kwacha member of Parliament who has been rejected but many United Party for National Development (UPND) MPs are facing the same fate, politician Sensio Banda has said.
On Sunday, United Church of Zambia (UCZ) Kwacha East congregants denied knowing their MP Charles Mulenga in the presence of President Hakainde Hichilema while attending a church service.
In an interview with The Mast, Banda, former Patriotic Front (PF) Kasenengwa member of Parliament, said the booing of an MP in public was an expression of frustration.
He said Hichilema should expect more such public embarrassment because of the failures of his government.
“It serves as a potent political barometer, measuring the public’s frustration with the party they represent. The assertion that it was the MP, not the party, who was booed reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of political dynamics. They are the visible embodiment of their party’s principles and promises in their constituency. Therefore, their perceived failure is a direct indictment of the party’s credibility and effectiveness,” Banda said.
He said tagging the public’s reaction as a “personal issue” was a politically naive and a miscalculation.
“It is a symptomatic expression of a broader discontent rooted in unfulfilled promises, a breakdown of trust and disconnect from the electorate,” Banda said.
Instead of being an isolated incident, the booing signalled a significant political liability that could ripple through the party’s strongholds, weakening its support base.
He said a strategic and mature political response would have acknowledged the dwindling support base and confronted the anger of the people head-on, rather than treating it as a non-urgent warning sign.
“The failure to acknowledge this deeper dissatisfaction risks trivialising a genuine crisis of confidence, with potentially severe political consequences. The UPND should realise that Zambians are frustrated and angry because of broken trust, betrayal, and arrogance by those in leadership,” Banda said.
Banda said the assertion by UPND spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa suggesting that the booing of their MP had no bearing on the party was not only dangerous and flawed but delusional in nature.
