CITIZENS First president Harry Kalaba says the United Party for National Development (UPND) has failed to deliver on its promises since taking over the reins of power in 2021.
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In an interview, Kalaba could not point at anything tangible to commend saying that the ruling party has only succeeded in failing.
The UPND will on 24th August, 2025 mark its fifth anniversary in government.
Kalaba said he could not even attempt to rate the party’s performance because, in his view, it had achieved nothing worth assessing.
“I can’t rate the performance of the UPND. It’s difficult for me to rate their performance because the UPND has literally done nothing from the time that they got elected. They talk too much,” he said.
“For me to even begin rating is very unfair to the process of rating. They have failed the people of Zambia.”
Kalaba noted agricultural challenges as one of the clearest examples of government’s failure, citing the plight of farmers who have been unable to sell their maize at fair prices.
“People are struggling to sell their maize, every sector of the economy is bleeding,” he said.
“Even those who invented the process of rating would be upset with me if I placed the UPND anywhere on the scale. The only thing these people have succeeded in doing is failing.”
Despite the revamping of bigger mines such as Konkola Copper Mines and Mopani, the opposition leader said that under the UPND, had seen no meaningful improvement and that the cost of living continued to weigh heavily on households.
The UPND rose to power in August 2021 after defeating the Patriotic Front in a landslide victory, riding on a wave of public expectation for economic reform, job creation, and lower living costs.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, August 13, 2025
