‘No unity without justice,’ Kateka insists Zambia must confront alleged abuses during polls

New Heritage Party President Chishala Kateka has rejected calls for national unity following the August elections, arguing that reconciliation is impossible without first addressing alleged state violence, vote theft and constitutional breaches.

Kateka said she had noted with some surprise the repeated appeals to unity, the need to move on and the “we only have one country,” slogan which ignore the realities on the ground.

In a statement issued in Lusaka, Kateka offered her own definition of the term, saying unity means more than coexistence, stressing that it requires deliberate effort from all sides and cannot be achieved in a vacuum.

Kateka recalled her party’s pre-election position, when she said NHP sacrificed its own growth to pursue opposition unity, arguing that many opposition actors did rally behind a common cause at that time.

“Prior to the elections, we so advocated for unity amongst the opposition, to the extent that NHP abandoned the pursuit of growth for our party and Presidential ambitions in order to pursue that unity,” she stated.

She said that common cause was centered on representing the interests of Zambians. According to her, the coalition that formed around Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu was not about personalities, but about responding to a public demand.

“It is important to note that the coming together of various political players around Mundubile and Makebi, had very little to do with Mundibile and Makebi themselves and everything to do with the fact that they, and no-one else, represented a rallying point to which most Zambians related to and gravitated towards,” Kateka said.

She claimed that voters rejected other opposition candidates who went ahead to contest, describing it as a message that was ignored.

Kateka referenced early results before what she called interference with the vote tallying process.

She also raised concerns about detentions and the judiciary, asking whether the closure of courts during the petition period was appropriate.

Kateka argued that ignoring these matters would amount to complicity.

“By choosing to unite with whosoever, without dealing with the various elephants in the room, is tantamount to burying our collective heads in the sand,” she stated.

Kateka said healing requires accountability first and stated that pressure should be placed on those in government to acknowledge divisions and address them, rather than expecting the opposition to concede.

“Mundubile, Makebi and others are unjustly incarcerated in filthy dungeons, a people’s vote has been stolen, lives have been lost and the constitution abrogated as a result of the closing of the courts. Can one then go ahead and ask the victims to congratulate and unite with the villains!” she said.

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