Socialist Party leader Fred M’membe says as the new season is around the corner, it is time to cleanse internal politics.
He says it is his hope that in the coming year, the party grows stronger, become better organized, take care of its weaknesses, rectify weaknesses, and weed out bad habits, bad practices.
“Weeds have to be taken out. If you don’t take out weeds, the good crop will not grow. The same way we weed our fields, that’s the same way we should weed our politics.
“And it’s not only weeding the human beings, also weeding our minds, the thinking. Cobwebs have to be removed so that our minds are clean, the same way we clean the houses. We need the purity of our thoughts.
“We need the purity of our feelings. We need more love for our fellow human beings because without enough love for your fellow human beings, no matter how wonderful the political ideas you have, those ideas will not be based on noble sentiments. And if they are not based on noble sentiments, they become worthless.
“But also, when they are based on noble sentiments, they also should be based on correct practices, correct theories, and correct foundations. So we have work to do.
“We need to lift ourselves as human beings to another plateau, higher plateau of compassion, higher plateau of positive thinking, especially towards our fellow human beings, especially those who are very poor, who are downtrodden, those who, even on days like these, cannot put up a smile, because they are overburdened by problems,” he said.
Read his full statement below:
The year 2025 has been a year of pain, a year of sorrow in some people, and a year of anger for others, writes Socialist Party leader Fred M’membe.
When people start throwing stones at their leaders, it’s not a sign of happiness. It’s a sign of anger. I hope this year that is coming will bring us more happiness, more joy, and we’ll have a better choice between the good and the bad.
On the 13th of August, vote out the bad, vote in the good. Try to change the way our country is governed.
As we have continued to say, “Tekuchinjafye ichipena ichileteka na Kateka ulipo, ku chinja imitekele”.
Democracy is about people governing themselves, people getting involved in the governance of their country. Not pa election day fye chapwa.
You want to speak after that, bakukama pa mukoshi. We have to participate in a more meaningful way.
We have said a politician alone cannot manage to change imikalile yesu. Politician te tungulushi yaka iya chalo, kwaliba intungulushi nashimbi, ba mwenemushi, ifumu shesu, bashi mapepo, our religious leaders, ama trade union leaders, abama business nabena nitungulushi, ama intellectuals, aba sabilila saana abachita research noku chita analyze ifintu, nashena ni tungulushi.
Abena Dr Sishuwa, nabena tulebafwaya.
So we need more of those people to generate ideas, to analyze what is happening and give direction. In short, we need every leader to participate. I also hope that in the coming year, our party grows stronger, we become better organized, we take care of our weaknesses, we rectify weaknesses, we weed out bad habits, bad practices.
Weeds have to be taken out. If you don’t take out weeds, the good crop will not grow. The same way we weed our fields, that’s the same way we should weed our politics.
And it’s not only weeding the human beings, also weeding our minds, the thinking. Cobwebs have to be removed so that our minds are clean, the same way we clean the houses. We need the purity of our thoughts.
We need the purity of our feelings. We need more love for our fellow human beings because without enough love for your fellow human beings, no matter how wonderful the political ideas you have, those ideas will not be based on noble sentiments. And if they are not based on noble sentiments, they become worthless.
But also, when they are based on noble sentiments, they also should be based on correct practices, correct theories, and correct foundations. So we have work to do. We need to lift ourselves as human beings to another plateau, higher plateau of compassion, higher plateau of positive thinking, especially towards our fellow human beings, especially those who are very poor, who are downtrodden, those who, even on days like these, cannot put up a smile, because they are overburdened by problems. And those are the ones the Redeemer has come for, mainly. Yes, he has come for everybody, but much more so for those.
And who are we not to pay attention to those Christ paid the most attention? Those who live where we are here, not those who live in Ku, but those who live in Kwa. Those are the ones Christ cared much more for, and they are the ones our party should pay much more attention to. Our policies should be tailored for those, and then they can benefit those others, as a by the way, but the primary should be Kwa. If Kwa thrives, even Ku benefits. But when Ku benefits, it’s not automatic that Kwa will benefit.
Trickle down, doesn’t happen.
Let it trickle up now instead of trickling down.
Fred M’membe
President of Socialist Party Zambia