Hunger, poverty to influence 2026 elections – Mwanza
By Mast reporter
HUNGER and the high levels of poverty in the country will influence the rural vote in Zambia, Sinda District Human Rights general secretary Michael Mwanza has said.
In an interview with the Mast, Mwanza said poverty and hunger levels in rural communities were rife and quite scary.
He said people living in rural areas were the most affected because of lack of jobs and economic opportunities.
Mwansa said it was not shocking anymore to find people living on an empty stomach, wondering why the situation had become normal.
“Poverty is high in rural areas. People go to sleep and wake up on an empty stomach. Sadly, even the government-sponsored cash for work programme, which is intended to help the poor, has been hijacked by some officers entrusted to run it. They are stealing from the poor by recruiting friends, children, and relatives at the expense of those truly in need,” he said.
Mwanza said corruption had killed the well-intended government programme, warning that failure to address various bottlenecks would affect the welfare of the people in the district.
“I can confidently say, corruption in Zambia is too much. It’s sad that it is being applied to the poor people who need to be assisted by those who have been entrusted to spearhead some programs. For example, cash for work is a good programme, but now it has been turned into a family thing where only one’s relatives, friends are recruited and share the money,” he said.
He has since urged the government to work towards putting strong monitoring mechanisms to ensure that targeted and needy people benefit.
Mwanza said programmes aimed at addressing poverty and other social ills were being frustrated while government officials were watching.
“What is the role of the District Commissioner if he cannot monitor such a poverty alleviating program in his district? Let the President examine how these DCs have been operating because in most cases, they don’t perform their roles,” he said.
He said hunger would contribute to the downfall of the United Party for National Development (UPND) next year, coupled with other failures, driving the rise in discontentment by the people of Zambia and Sinda in particular.
“The other thing is that poverty has grown up in communities just like a baby grows. People are suffering, things have become expensive, and people are failing to meals. Hunger is high, and it will be the downfall of the UPND next year. Water and sanitation is another crisis. How can people survive? Where is the leadership in these issues we keep talking about?” he said.
Mwanza said Zambians would largely vote based on the promises made and achieved so far, adding that poverty reduction and hunger were at their highest peak, threatening UPND victory next year in Sinda.
” We can’t know what will happen in 2026. But all we know is that Zambians themselves will decide, and they have seen what to do. They will vote wisely based on how much they are eating, they will vote based on where they get their water from, they will vote based on the roads they use, and they will vote based on job and business opportunities. They will not vote based on the relations or tribe but based on a person who can listen to their cries,” he said.
