Hichilema: Absolute power corrupts absolutely

I could not believe what I was hearing. I tried to reassure myself that I was only dreaming. For the third time, I played the video and listened gravely. Again, the words fell like stones into the room filled with reporters, selected cabinet ministers, and State House staff. The voice of President Hichilema Hakainde was startling in its own carrying power.

"If the police fail to discharge their duties, I will use the military to restore law and order, he said. "That's my job. That's the constitutional rights [of] the head of state who is the commander in chief."

I was crestfallen. A shudder passed through me. I could vicariously hear gasps of surprise and murmurs of disbelief and disappointment from viewers around the country. In the conference room, some in the audience applauded as, arguably Zambia's most innovative president, struggled to disguise his frustration at the police's failure to contain former president Edgar Lungu who has become a thorn in his flesh.

I never heard a Zambian president invoke the word "military" and use it to threaten his own unarmed people. We are a people bonused with an idyllic earthly paradise called Zambia. God has spared us from the cruelty of tribal wars, civil wars, military coups, and apocalyptic disasters such as tsunamis, hurricanes, and earthquakes. We just survived COVID and a five-month drought.

For a moment I envisioned the Zambia Army under HH's presidency relegated to civil law enforcement duties. I could not fathom such gallant men and women who on three occasions have thwarted attempted military coups by their own officers for the love of country, patrolling the streets of Lusaka, apprehending opposition leaders, civil rights activists, and media practitioners and throwing them in jail.

I recollected the feeling of relief that engulfed the entire country on October 27, 1980, when Kaunda made a startling announcement at State House during a press conference, revealing that the Zambia military had successfully foiled an attempted coup d'état conducted by Lieutenant General Godfrey Miyanda, Zambian professionals and Congolese dissidents.

And who can forget, July 1 st, 1990 when we woke up to the voice of Lieutenant Mwamba Luchembe announcing on ZNBC Radio 4 that the army had taken over Kaunda's government and ordered the announcer to play military music. Again, the Zambian Army stood by us and thwarted the coup attempt within six hours.

How about the coup attempt of October 28, 1997? We heard Captain Solo (Steven Lungu) announce that a coup had taken place and that the then President Frederick Chiluba should step down. It was foiled by the Zambia Army within a span of three hours.
In all the three attempts the Zambian army fulfilled its purpose of fending off a war between coup plotters and the military. Since independence, HH's predecessors have made it clear that the military's primary objective is to defend the nation, while the Zambia Police's objective is to enforce the country's laws. Neither institution is specifically trained to cater to the
requirements of the other.

Before I proceed, I must inform readers that I remain HH's an unwavering endorser outside my profession and Zambian politics. Since he assumed power, I have refrained from expressing any negative opinions about him. I publicly endorsed him in my personal capacity because I yearned for the dynamism of his politics.

As an endorser, I will not sit back and watch him resort to "strongman" rule. When I launched my "Hunt for Successor" series during the Sata era, my aspiration was for a youthful president with exceptional abilities to emerge and wage the battle against the economy, foster national unity, curb corruption, eradicate poverty, and pave a new path to Zambia's prosperity.
In all fairness, HH has consistently opposed the widespread pessimism that portrays Zambians as a doomed people beyond redemption. After years of effort to unlock Zambia's potential, HH has effectively utilized his persuasive abilities to rally support from various quarters and convinced a skeptical world to come to Zambia's aid.

Upon taking oath as president, he wasted no time in initiating fundraising trips to the US, Europe and Asia, successfully raising millions of dollars. His negotiation with private creditors to restructure $3 billion in international bonds marked a significant step towards the country's prolonged debt. The enthusiastic reception he received from numerous Lusaka residents at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport serves as a clear indication of his impact. With this in mind, I can assert that the difference between Edgar Lungu and Hakainde Hichilema is night and day.

However, HH has faced significant domestic obstacles lately. He can be likened to an overzealous automotive mechanic who claims he can restore a mangled car that plummeted off the cliff and burst into flames. In spite of his campaign pledges to solve the nation's energy crisis, he is still encountering obstacles to widespread outages that are detrimentally impacting his presidency.

Furthermore, the spike in fuel, food, and fertilizer prices, have exacerbated the high cost of living. Moreover, the economic strategies introduced in 2021 to aid the Hichilema administration in taking over the mines have not yielded the desired results. Consequently, the country has returned to the Lungu headlines of corruption, hooliganism, unwarranted arrests
manipulation of state institutions, and promises filled with "false and braggart words."

The initial vitality, dynamism, and youthful spirit that defined HH's first two years in power have somewhat waned. Studies in political science note that by the third year, many presidents start exhibiting signs of wear and tear, and begin to resort to tyrannical stratagems.

Leaders who struggle with criticism due to their massive egoistical trait often lash out, seeking ways to protect themselves. Some become vindictive, going to extreme lengths to blame and punish their opponents, while others slide towards authoritarian rule.

Upon listening to the Press Conference of June 5, 2024, I was worried that HH, an exemplary president who was trying to champion democracy and foster innovative well-regulated markets, was going beyond fair discourse and veering into authoritative domain. I was not the only one. My sentiment was echoed by a multitude of individuals with social media accounts some who described HH as a liar, tyrant, dictator, authoritarian, autocrat, and despot.

There was widespread apprehension that HH was authoritatively infringing upon civil liberties, freedom of assembly, free speech, press freedoms, and other fundamental tenets of democracy. Many in the social media were concerned that the press conference was all about his political nemesis Edgar Lungu. Some accused HH of using Lungu as a scapegoat to evade blame
for the hooliganism committed by members of his own party during the funeral procession of their provincial Vice Treasurer.
The cardinal question is, has power gone to HH's head? Yes it has. Power tends to corrupt the minds of those in authoritative positions, such as the head of state. According to psychoanalysts, when a democratic country elevates one person as its ultimate leader and defender, the people naturally start to idolize and inflate his ego, resulting in neurological
alternations that make him feel the entire nation is under his command. When a leader reaches such a stage he, by decree of fate, assumes the "strongman" idiomatic mantra "me, myself, and I"

Has HH acquired the strongman status? Yes, he has. However, he does not exhibit the characteristics of a dictator, at least not at this point in time. But he surely sounded like one during the press conference. He showed that if pushed he is capable of entering the echo chamber in which most of the African dictators live. He carefully chose his words to subtly inject
his ideology in hidden fold. When he began to talk it was clear he was discontent with the state of affairs.

"Don't misunderstand my patience to mean I am not aware," he cautioned the nation in general, and UNPD hooligans and former president Edgar Lungu in particular. It was clear Lungu's strategy of courting churches to undermine HH's presidency was getting under his skin.

"I've some patience and quite some tolerance," he continued in a voice lacking the usual tenderness. He skillfully presented his soul of authoritarianism within the whole body of his speech by means of selected words. He did so with a threatening voice like a despot, all in an effort to caution Lungu and all those who may wish to cross his line.

"Levels of patience and tolerance are quite high," he told them. "Especially a guy like me who went through a lot to stand here as a head of state. I probably went through the worst discrimination any citizen can receive from his own citizens…"

I was worried HH was entrapped in his own self-pity, anger, and persecutory thoughts. Neurophysiologists, psychoanalysts, and therapists have found that self-pity is the defining characteristic of brutal regimes. It is a bio-psycho-social construct, which, if left unattended, assembles into tyranny. When HH urged the police to intervene into the rising hooliganism, and
quell Lungu and his cohorts' "unlawful assembly," authoritarianism hid in plain sight.

"The police do not need my reminder"; he said emphatically. "The police must not negotiate. No negotiation. Just enforce the law. If you fail to enforce the law, it will be an admittance of failure to perform your duties.

When a head of state issues directives such as the one above consequences can be dire. The enforcers are inclined to side with him and his party. Acting as loyalists they may target opposition members, resort to violence, use force, and imprison "for a long time" a significant number of individuals in "jails furnished with beds and mattresses," as cautioned by HH. If such
actions were to occur, it is probable that they would escalate into an insurgency.

What is disheartening is prior to assuming the presidency, HH vowed to be a defender of democracy. In March 2023, he penned an article titled "You Cannot Eat Democracy," in which he stated thus; "my government has returned our democracy to health, shoring up the civil liberties the people demanded; the right of assembly and end to defamation laws that challenged
free speech."

Given HH's tendency to easily break promises, the potential for a compromised democracy is not far-fetched. Numerous countries have experienced the breakdown of democracy because they did not see it coming. It would be naive to assume that Zambia is
entirely immune to such a threat. Safeguarding against the encroachment of authoritarianism by HH is crucial for upholding the principles of democracy. We must swiftly intervene if and when any signs of such shift emerge.

I have brazenly penned down this article out of my deep affection for my country. My utmost objective is to see HH succeed. I shall continue applauding him when he is right and reprimanding him when he is wrong. In a democracy no one is allowed to monopolize political power.

The rights to this article belong to ZDI (Zambia Development Institute), a proposed US-based Zambian think tank. On May 19, 2022, a comprehensive proposal was delivered to President Hichilema through Principal Private Secretary Bradford Machila.

Author Dr. Field Ruwe holds a Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership. He is affiliated with Northeastern University, Boston, MA., US.