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The HH/Nawakwi fallout  #Thread

Ahead of the 2006 election, UPND, FDD and UNIP formed the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Andy Mazoka was billed as the alliance's candidate.
The basis for choosing Mazoka was the numbers. UPND came second in 2001, had a larger footprint and more MPs. The other unstated one was that Mazoka and UPND had the financial muscle too.
Unfortunately, Mazoka died in May 2006, four months to the election. UPND was rocked by a succession battle that eventually saw the election of HH as its new leader in July.
Post-Mazoka, UPND believed the basis for choosing the alliance's candidate had not changed. But Nawakwi and FDD contended otherwise and pushed for her candidature, arguing she was more experienced and stood a better chance. HH was straight out of a boardroom and was not known.
Nawakwi lost the battle and stayed out of the campaign, accusing HH of being arrogant, boastful and squandering the unity and respect Mazoka had built around the alliance. At this stage, there were no stories of who sold what.
The UDA came out third, after MMD and PF.  We knew it, Nawakwi said and wasted no time in blaming HH and UPND for the loss, bashing them for a know-it-all attitude.
In the 2008 election after Mwanawasa's death, Nawakwi and Sakwiba Sikota (who lost to HH for the UPND mantle) backed RB. Sata is a thug and will bring chaos, they said. HH is aloof and self-centered, don't vote for him. We need stable and mature leadership, vote RB, they said.
In 2011, Sata won the election. Ideally, Nawakwi should have been keeping Sata in check, given how much she had warned Zambia of the dangers of giving him power. But no, she directed her arsenals to HH, who also increasingly got irritated and shot back.
This sparked a war of words played out mainly in The Post, who also took an acerbic tone against HH.  Fred M'membe had his own qualms with HH and he happily welcomed the firepower Nawakwi supplied.
Nawakwi seemingly made up with Sata and was given warm treatment, earning herself Sata's invitation to Brazil for a UN summit. She praised him for embracing 'the opposition'. It was exactly what Sata needed to isolate HH and UPND as the troublesome lot. Fred cheered.
Normally, the opposition band together however incongruent they maybe. That's the joint solidarity that keeps them united against the ruling party. But not HH and Nawakwi. Over the years, Nawakwi has kept preaching how unsuitable HH is for president. Privatisation has weighed in.
PF need many voices against HH and see his supposed role in privatisation as a potent weapon. They apparently believe it's a narrative that deflects and shields them from their incompetence. But  it has no bearing on the economic problems of, say, the last five or ten years.
PF believe it's what they need to discredit HH. Nawakwi is lending a hand and will get front-page for it.
So, the bad blood between HH and Nawakwi continues. The wounds of 2006 have not healed and seemingly never will.
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