NDC’S STERNEST TEST

THE National Democratic Congress (NDC) is faced with one of the sternest tests in its political lifecycle and needs to transcend an internal rift before selling its values and strong leadership. In the formative phase, the NDC was able to ride on Chishimba Kambwili who was hitherto pitched as a fearless speaker and crowd puller. However, every day that passed, members and the general citizenry started realising that, in fact, it was a joy ride as Mr Kambwili got caught up in a myriad of inconsistencies and atrocious stunts in public. His acid tongue did not help matters because the invectives unleashed on the Presidency at the time subtracted from the marks he had earned in the political arena. Even after toning down, he has not been short of drama in the course of interacting with people from different spheres of life. Internally, friction has been heating up until Secretary General Mwenya Musenge could not stomach it anymore. In fact, it was his wrong strategy of holding on to two positions that exposed his political miscalculation. It is clear that the NDC will struggle left-right-and- centre to calm the internal storm and to regain the strength with which to effectively provide checks and balances. Mr Kambwili will have to prove his political agility and charisma away from his largest platform – Parliament from where he received marching orders. The disaster for the NDC is that the feud has emerged when it is still in its infancy even before any mention of a national convention is made. If indeed the NDC wants to settle for Mr Kambwili as leader, the party ought to appreciate that his public disposition is not only a danger to himself, but also to the organisation. Consequently, a formula must be worked out to rebrand the man so that he is able participate in public discourse with due decorum. The NDC should ensure that Mr Kambwili is ready to embrace humility and be able to handle issues calmly. His rough disposition and complete failure to explore emotional intelligence are two sour ingredients that continue to contaminate his leadership qualities. A good leader should always have the capacity to quickly read the mood and tactfully resolve an emotive issue without stepping on anyone’s toes. Additionally, a leader worth his salt should not be too puffed up with his own importance, but should respect others regardless of their social status. A leader’s conduct or misconduct in public affects his standing in his own organisation. This means, therefore, that a leader who remains level-headed, polite and kind will most certainly command respect and inspire confidence in his followers. Lack of tact and crass insolence in a leader will most certainly cause revolt in his organisation and elsewhere. Thus no amount of public relations and window dressing in NDC will extinguish rebellious action from within. Mr Kambwili must climb down from his ivory tower and accept to adjust; he should start rebranding himself. It is a difficult undertaking given the heated political atmosphere, but gradually the man can do it. Time is running out. Some political organisations in Zambia, birthed from a fall out with the ruling party, have easily gone into oblivion after internal rifts. NDC should conduct research and avoid that route.