UPND has entrenched caderism – Kafwaya

Ösays the governing party has recruited its cadres into all public institutions, including the Anti-Corruption Commission and other institutions of good governance

By MUBITA KATETE

THE United Party for National Development (UPND) has worked hard to entrench caderism and the vice has just reach dangerous levels to the extent that it is now threatening public peace and the country’s governance, Mutotwe Kafwaya has said.
Mr Kafwaya says there is worsening caderism under the UPND, stating that party loyalists have been placed in key public service positions such as the ACC, Zambia Police, including the Judiciary.
He said the current ACC Director General was a staunch UPND cadre who should never have been given the opportunity of serving in such a critical institution mandated to fight corruption.
He said the deployment of cadres in public institutions and the civil service had reached frightening levels under the UPND as compared to previous administrations, warning that the presence of politically aligned officials in public institutions was undermining professionalism.
“When you have a cadre as a director at a public institution, that person will advance party programmes instead of serving the nation.
What we are seeing now is not about competence or qualifications, but about political alignment. This is not only tribalism, but caderism as well,” MrKafwaya said.
Mr. Kafwaya has accused President Hakainde Hichilema of failing to address governance concerns he once criticised while in opposition.
“The President (Hakainde Hichilema) is not solving the problems he spoke against; instead, he is extending them throughout his administration. The PF has faced sustained pressure since leaving office because the ruling party has deliberately sought to weaken the opposition,” he said.
He also expressed sympathy for Zambians and members of the PF, arguing that political parties should be allowed to reorganise freely after losing power.
“A political party that loses power should be allowed to decline or reorganise on its own, but what we have seen is deliberate efforts to squeeze us,” Mr. Kafwaya said. “We were warned about this ‘imingalato’ approach, and today we are simply living through those words.”