Dr. Nevers Sekwila Mumba’s response to Madam Chishala Kateka’s Statement

By Dr. Nevers Sekwila Mumba

I welcome debate. I have lived in it for more than four decades. What I do not welcome is the deliberate twisting of words in order to create outrage where none exists.

My original statement on Bill 7 had a clear and narrow intention. It was to explain that the failure to reach agreement is rooted mainly in deep and long-standing mistrust between political players, not simply in the content of the bill or the procedures around it. That mistrust has grown over time and now shapes how every national issue is received. Even reasonable proposals are rejected, not because they are wrong, but because of who presents them.

That was the argument. Nothing more.

Madam Chishala Kateka chose not to engage it. Instead, she rewrote it. In her version, my analysis suddenly became “arrogance”, my caution to the nation became “contempt”, and my call for realism became an attack on the people, and conveniently, an attack on women. This shift was not innocent. It was strategic.

FRIENDSHIP IS NOT DISQUALIFICATION

Much of her response rests on the claim that my voice is compromised because I am an ally or friend of the President. This is a weak and dangerous idea. My public life did not begin with this administration and it will not end with it. I have spoken freely under different governments, often at personal and political cost.

Friendship with a President does not cancel independent thought. If it did, then only the permanently angry would be allowed to speak. That is not democracy. That is exclusion by suspicion.

TURNING DISAGREEMENT INTO A GENDER BATTLE

Madam Kateka attempts to frame this disagreement as women being silenced or looked down upon. That framing avoids the real issue. Disagreeing with a woman is not attacking women. Questioning an argument is not silencing a voice.

Zambian women do not need to be shielded from debate. They need space, opportunity, and fair engagement. Turning every disagreement into a gender struggle may sound powerful, but it weakens serious discussion and cheapens real battles for equality.

THE IRONY OF BILL 7

There is also a striking contradiction that Madam Kateka avoids. Bill 7 seeks to expand representation, including creating more opportunities for women to enter Parliament and leadership positions. Opposing such reforms while claiming to champion women requires explanation, not slogans.

If we want more women in leadership, including women like Madam Kateka, then we must be willing to discuss practical reforms, even when they come from political rivals.

SOCIAL MEDIA, TARGETING, AND CALCULATED OUTRAGE

We must also speak honestly about the environment in which this response was written. Madam Kateka knows that my name attracts organised hostility online. There exists a loud and ready crowd that will insult, troll, and vilify anything associated with Nevers Mumba without reading or reflection.

By twisting my statement, she presented me as an easy target. She knew the reaction it would trigger. She knew the noise it would generate. That is why I say this was not misunderstanding. It was positioning.

This is how political debate is poisoned. Analysis is replaced by attack. Argument is replaced by profiling. Reason is drowned out by online mobs.

CONCLUSION

My intention was simple and honest. To warn that when mistrust becomes absolute, no explanation is ever believed and no reform, however sensible, can succeed. Madam Kateka has tried to portray that intention as something darker because doing so serves a political moment.

I reject that portrayal.

I remain committed to open debate, to wider representation, and to seeing more women and younger leaders enter public life. I welcome their voices. I challenge their arguments. I expect the same in return.

Zambia will not be built by distortion, prejudice, or social media bullying. It will be built when we argue honestly, read fairly, and refuse to turn every disagreement into an enemy.

That is the standard I stand by, and it is the standard our Republic deserves.

For those who wish to read her original statement, Please Check the comments here:👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

Dr. Nevers Sekwila Mumba served as 8th Vice-President of Zambia from 29 May 2003 till 4 October 2004, and was preceded by Enoch Percy Kavindele and Lupando Mwape.

On 6th November, 2025, the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) was renamed as the New Nation Party (NNP).

“NO ONE FORCED THEM” – THE ARROGANCE OF POWER AND THE BETRAYAL OF ZAMBIA’S HEALTH WORKERS

Friday, 12 December 2025

When history writes the obituary of failed leadership in Zambia’s health sector, one quote will stand out like a festering wound: “No one forced them to volunteer.” These were the words of Hon. Elijah Muchima, Minister of Health, in response to the mass withdrawal of services by unpaid and overworked health professionals. In a single sentence, the minister not only dismissed the lived reality of thousands of Zambian doctors and nurses but also exposed the moral rot at the heart of a government that has lost touch with its people.

This is not just a gaffe. It is a declaration of contempt for the very people who have kept Zambia’s fragile health system alive through sacrifice, sweat, and silent suffering.

The Myth of Benevolence: UPND’s Hollow Boasts
Since assuming office, the UPND has paraded its recruitment of over 11,000 health workers and 30,000 teachers as a badge of honor. President Hakainde Hichilema has repeatedly claimed that his administration is “creating jobs” and “investing in human capital.” But these numbers, like much of the UPND’s economic narrative, are a mirage.

In September 2023, the Ministry of Health announced it would not renew contracts for over 3,500 health workers employed under the MOH/CDC Cooperative Agreement. These were not just numbers on a spreadsheet, they were real people, many of whom had left stable jobs or relocated to serve in rural clinics. Their reward? Termination letters and silence.

Meanwhile, the government continues to trumpet its economic “successes”: the accumulation of gold reserves, a stabilizing kwacha, and GDP growth projections under the 8th National Development Plan (8NDP). But what is the value of gold in a vault when clinics have no gloves, no gauze, and no doctors? What does a strong kwacha mean to a mother who loses her child because the nearest health post has no oxygen?

The Cost of Constitutional Vanity
While health workers protest and patients die preventable deaths, the UPND has found billions of Kwacha to fund a series of controversial and arguably unconstitutional constitutional amendments. These include public consultations, legal drafting, and parliamentary sessions—all designed to consolidate political power rather than enshrine rights.

The irony is bitter: in 2016, the UPND rejected a referendum that would have guaranteed the right to health in Zambia’s Constitution. Today, they preside over a system where health is still not a right, but a privilege, rationed by geography, wealth, and political expediency.

The Legacy of Volunteers: A History Forgotten
Zambia’s health sector has long relied on the patriotism of its professionals. In the 1990s and early 2000s, during structural adjustment and economic collapse, it was volunteer doctors and nurses who kept the system afloat. They worked without pay, often in dangerous conditions, driven by duty and love for their communities.
To now hear a minister sneer, “No one forced them,” is to desecrate that legacy. It is to spit on the graves of those who died in service. It is to tell every young doctor and nurse that their sacrifice is worthless.

A Minister Unfit for Office
Hon. Elijah Muchima’s statement is not just insensitive, it is disqualifying. A Minister of Health who cannot empathise with health workers, who trivialises their pain, and who weaponises their patriotism against them, has no business holding public office.

Leadership is not about numbers, it is about people, it is about knowing that behind every statistic is a story, a struggle and a soul. And it is about ensuring that those who serve are not punished for their service.

The Reckoning Is Coming
Zambia stands at a crossroads. We can continue down the path of propaganda, where gold reserves matter more than human lives, and where constitutional tinkering takes precedence over constitutional rights. Or we can choose a different path, one where health is a right, not a favor; where workers are honored, not humiliated; and where ministers are held accountable, not applauded for their cruelty.

The people are watching, especially the meticulous appointment of ministers under the UPND. The health workers are rising. And history will not be kind to those who chose power over people.

CHISHALA KATEKA
President – New Heritage Party

A member of the We’re One Zambia Alliance (WOZA)

Responses:

Harrison chanda: “There’s a warning , advice if you will, that beware of too sublime a sense of your own worth and consequences. The man who dreams of himself so great and of such weight that all around in all that’s done must move and act for him alone , will learn the folly of his expectations in the school of tribulations. One must also learn to have a sense of proportion in all they do. Put limits to how far foolishly one can go. Lizard carelessness is not good”.

Ruth Phiri: “They are not on work schedule they do leave the health facility anytime they feel like, may not come for work. So if they are no doctors in the facilities question those who are employed. A volunteer will not be responsible for any death or disability that will occur during his/her duty because she/he was not mandated to work. So let Them decide what to do on their own, the way they decided to volunteer. They should not arm twist the government”.

Sumukonda Isaac: “Ruth Phiri may one day meet that situation”.

Banji Zimba: “The problem I have with volunteers is threatening to go on strike. All they could have done is notify government they are withdrawing their services.

Then government would definitely figure how to fill in the gaps. The timing was tricky too”.

Christopher Sinyinza: “Good right up but full of venom towards the current government. No mention on how the past government did it and what “her government” would do. Let’s approach issues that way with solutions”.

Joe Mwangizo Mashebe: “Which Zambians are you representing”?.

Musonda Kapambwe: “The source of information is what is useless”.

Yoran Zulu, Cleophas Mupanga: “Which ones”?.

Amedrah Sialubala: “Did the govt forced them to volunteer. If not don’t blame them at all”?.

8.BALL:UPND facts: president HH says he is hated because of his tribal origins of birth, Jack Mwiimbu says we will abuse article 52 and cancel next year’s elections and stay on in power, Connelious Mweetwa says I will take PF to court for expelling erring MP’s, Elijah Julaki Mchima says we didn’t force volunteer doctors to work with government, Nelly Mutti dances in parliament, Kabesha says we will bury ECL without family participation, this is a true reflection of what Zambians are going through”.

Movement for Change & Equality (M4CE)

Mpanga Banthu: “This bitter soul is hollow. Does it even have an idea what Presidency is like? What is its manifesto kanshi? She spews bitterness like an Italian volcano unceasingly 🤣🤣🤣”.

Mkwiinza Lunda: “This lady is good at cooking nshima!”.

Muyakwa Muyakwa: “Who is president for UKA and Woza?”.

Rainbow Newspaper Zambia Limited: “Muyakwa Muyakwa WOZA is State Counsel (SC) Sakwiba Sikota, I suppose UKA is same as WOZA!

Rise Akebu: “No one forced them to volunteer, the minister should have reversed these words, these people work more than those on payroll, even the president himself knows that very well, shame on you minister”.

Sarah Shankwaya: “Rose Akebu twisting the arm of government. NO, NO. I do not support that. No one employs more than he can afford. In your homes, are uou able to employ 4 helpers with an income of K4000?”.

Miyanda Kunda: “The name says it all, what do you expect from a dump site?”.

Humphrey Sinkala: “An economy where the government is the biggest employer is a dead economy. All. Economies that have developed, private sector is the engine of the economy. A country going nowhere fast”.

Reagan Mwale: “No solution amayo ba kateka balelolesha pakusala atti ba kateka balelolesha pakusala”.

Sombo Jones: “Please tell people to go and grown food out there….. It’s raining….”.

Steven Kangwa: “Let her contest for councillor position for testing popularity”.

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