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Despite the controversy trailing his emergence, Patriotic Front (PF) acclaimed president, Makebi Zulu, has accused the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) of lacking strong and visible intellectual leadership to address worsening conditions at higher learning institutions, including the University of Zambia (UNZA).
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Zulu was reacting to reports of blocked ablution facilities and deteriorating sanitation at UNZA—an issue that prompted President Hakainde Hichilema to convene an urgent meeting with relevant ministers.
“Whenever Zambia has faced serious national questions during the UPND regime, including matters such as Bill 7, Bill 13, the Mufumbwe and Senseli killings, as well as the Cyber Laws, the country has often lacked strong and visible intellectual leadership from higher learning institutions such as the University of Zambia. Yet it is young people, students, and the future of this nation who are among the most affected by bad laws, shrinking freedoms, poor governance, and weak national direction,” Zulu said.
He cautioned government against treating students as tools for political convenience, stating that they were “not cadres.”
“They are not extras for slogans, photo opportunities, and staged applause. They are citizens, thinkers, leaders, and a vital part of Zambia’s democratic and intellectual life,” he added.
Zulu said the government’s responsibility was to invest in students by expanding access to higher education, building more universities, and ensuring that existing institutions meet acceptable health, sanitation, safety and learning standards.
Read more: Disputed PF president, Makebi Zulu, Lubinda face contempt charges over defiant convention
He described the prevailing conditions at UNZA as unacceptable.
“It is unacceptable that the University of Zambia, one of the country’s most important institutions, should be allowed to deteriorate into conditions that offend human dignity. The hygiene and sanitation challenges at the university are not merely an infrastructure issue,” he said.
Zulu argued that the situation at UNZA represented a national shame and a direct indictment of an administration he said appeared more interested in student praise than in student welfare.
He pledged that under a PF administration, restoring UNZA’s dignity would be a priority.
“When we assume responsibility for the administration of this country, we will prioritise dignity, hygiene, rehabilitation, and proper maintenance at the University of Zambia and across public higher learning institutions,” Zulu said.
He further promised to restore the university’s role as “an independent watchdog, a centre of national thought, and an intellectual force in public life,” adding that a future PF government would respect student bodies as legitimate voices in national development, “not as instruments of party propaganda.”
Five days ago, a legal battle that exposed deep divisions within the Patriotic Front ended with the High Court affirming Miles Sampa’s rise to the party presidency, ruling that the controversial October 24, 2023 conference was lawful.
Delivering judgment, High Court Judge Conceptor Zulu held that the challengers—PF MPs Brian Mundubile, Mutotwe Kafwaya, Stephen Kampyongo, and others—failed to prove that the conference breached the party constitution, effectively validating the outcome of the disputed gathering, which led to the appointment of Robert Chabinga as Leader of Opposition in Parliament and Morgan Ng’ona as Secretary General of the party.
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