Used, betrayed and forgotten

…UPND’s abandonment of its loyal foot soldiers and members who sacrificed their whole

By Daimone Siulapwa

In politics, few things sting like betrayal, and today, the UPND stands guilty of betraying its most loyal supporters. For over 20 years, these men and women sacrificed their time, resources, and livelihoods to bring the UPND into power.

Yet three years into this government, the very people who put it there remain abandoned, their hopes of financial stability and recognition shattered. This is more than a failure of governance; it is a betrayal that could spell the UPND’s catastrophe come 2026.
Across Zambia, it is now a common sight to find disgruntled UPND members lamenting openly about how their sacrifices have been rewarded with indifference. They are crying out, not just for material gains, but for the dignity and respect they expected their loyalty would earn.
For many of these supporters, the sense of betrayal has taken a painful toll, as they have become the laughing stock of their own families and communities. In households and neighborhoods, they endure jabs and ridicule for staking their hopes on a party that seems to have left them behind.
You can feel the anger of many UPND members in the air—men and women who continue defending their party even when it feels impossible to do so. They press on with fragile optimism, hoping for a turnaround that never comes, hoping that perhaps someone in the leadership will finally listen.

But where are the party’s strategists or political advisers to face the truth, to tell those in power that the time has come to make a change?
It is only during the UPND government that the administration has even failed to identify and distribute land among its members—using legal and transparent means, of course.
For Christ’s sake, UPND is in power! It has the political authority to empower its members within the law, yet all it lacks is the will. It’s baffling that a government with all the instruments of state at its disposal has not devised a legal, sustainable mechanism to give its members a fair stake in the prosperity of the land they govern and this we don’t mean empowering just a few province.
Where the PF showed mastery in mobilizing resources and legal opportunities for its ⁵loyalists, UPND remains hesitant, choosing instead to stand by as its support base languishes.
A closer look at the situation reveals and even grimmer picture. Many UPND councilors—who once believed they would lead by example, embodying the party’s promises of change and prosperity—have grown too disillusioned to carry on. In communities across the country, it’s not unusual to find councilors who have simply abandoned their roles, no longer engaging in local projects or community work.
Their reasoning? “It’s not worth it.” This sentiment has spread like wildfire, leaving a gaping void in communities and a profound sense of abandonment among supporters.
The UPND, despite having two decades to prepare, failed to anticipate or address the demands of its support base. Unlike the PF, which expertly cultivated loyalty by rewarding those who stood by it, the UPND appears paralyzed by its own moral high ground, unwilling or unable to develop a system to support its own without draining the national treasury.
In doing so, it has made a mockery of the sacrifices of its supporters, leaving many disgruntled and disillusioned.
What do you say to a man who lost his job, his business, and even put his family’s future on the line for UPND’s victory, only to be cast aside?
Today, many of these loyalists watch from the sidelines as a privileged few prosper, their pockets swelling while the faithful remain in poverty. The betrayal cuts deep, and the comparisons to the PF era are stark.
Whatever the PF’s faults, it looked after its own. The UPND, by contrast, has done little to nothing for its loyalists, standing aloof and indifferent to the struggles of those who helped bring it into power.
This abandonment will not go unanswered. Disillusioned supporters, ignored and mistreated, will not simply accept their fate; they will teach the UPND a lesson come 2026.
Whether through apathy, protest votes, or outright defection, these once-loyal soldiers stand ready to show the UPND that loyalty must be rewarded, not taken for granted.
The UPND’s time is running out. To survive, it must urgently recognize the depth of its failure and take immediate steps to redeem itself in the eyes of its supporters. This is not about bribery, corruption, or handouts; it’s about empowering its base in tangible, lasting ways.
Only then can it hope to avoid a political disaster in 2026. Anything less, and it will find itself on the wrong side of history – and on the wrong side of the ballot box.