Of ‘alendo’ in our political dispensation

After the reintroduction of multi-party democracy in our country early 1990s, we’ve witnessed ‘alendo’ of different shades and hues occupying our political space. Such characters do not stand for or believe in anything at all! Niba muselela kwakaba……political nomads!

Who exactly are these ‘alendo’ ?

They don’t subscribe to any political ideology per se…..their main preoccupation is to “chew” and chew big time for that matter!

‘Alendo’ have got no permanent political habitat…..Today, you’ll see them holding the clock aloft and shouting, “the hour has come” to the heavens above! Tomorrow, you’ll find them besieging the boat, boisterously chanting, “pamaka” like those possessed by evil spirits. And before you know it, they’d have abruptly switched to red worksuits, energetically marching the streets reminding everyone it’s, “Zambia, forward!”

Are they opportunists, these ‘alendo’ ? Of course, they are, 100%. They’re like bees flocking to where the honeycomb is! They harbour no semblance of any shame at all. Did you see what transpired August 2021?

No sooner they realised there would be change of government, the later ‘alendo’ abandoned the sinking ship and joined the frenzy! They aren’t the ones to be left-out of the epoch-making event in our political history where the incumbent was to be ‘whitewashed’ by 1million votes!

“We were part of those that brought about change in this country…..” you’ll hear them brag once in a while ignoring the Ostrich egg of their faces.

Today, ‘alendo’ are scaling mountaintops professing their outpouring love for Kachema. The legendary Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe has a perfect description of their actions, “crying more than the owners of the funeral….” as he puts it in his book, Things Fall Apart.

But is their genuineness in what they do, these ‘alendo’ ?

Negative! Like the August whirlwinds, ‘alendo’ aren’t stable. They’d pretend to owe their allegiance to you when everything is nice and all rosy, but should the coin flip……oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, they’ll make a 360 degrees about-turn and burn the mid-night candle scouring the Oxford English Dictionary for the worst adjectives to apportion you in order to please their new masters.

What motivates ‘alendo’ to conduct themselves in the manner they do, one may wonder.

Well……most of these ‘alendo’ choose to deeply entrench themselves into politics to either cover-up their tracks (they may be involved in some dubious activities) or indeed to simply prop-up their businesses.

This brings us to one politician who is currently trending on Social media, Kelvin Sampa. For those that may not be in the loop, Sampa is former PF National Youth Chairman and immediate past Kasama central member of parliament under the same ticket.

Before ‘ba buju’ closed in on him and two of his accomplices, and arrested them for defrauding a Japanese national US$80, 000 in a gold deal that has since gone sour, there was a video doing the rounds on Social media whereby some elderly brave women are challenging Sampa over a portion of land which is under dispute in court as he brandishes a firearm. This doesn’t look good at all.

Typical of the aggressive PF propaganda machinery, they’ve totally disowned one of their own and have gone in overdrive reminding the public Sampa is a UPND party official just to tarnish the good image of the ruling party.

All in all, it’s quite gratifying that party spokesman, Cornelius Mweetwa who also doubles as government spokesman has clarified that if anybody associated with the party comes into conflict with the law for whatever the reason, they’re on their own. Stop doing illegalities in the name of the party or President Hichilema; you’re on your own!

Prince Bill M Kaping’a
Political/Social Analyst