UNIP’s secret formula for longevity

By NORMA SIAME –
THE continuous dismal performance of UNIP in successive general elections has given rise to speculation that the party which front-lined Zambia’s liberation struggle is finished.
While it is certain that UNIP is no longer the party of choice for many, it is premature to say it is dead.
Of great interest to the inquisitive, is how despite a steady decline in membership, UNIP has managed to outlive dozens of political parties.
Like the proverbial bad penny, it gets lost but always materialises come election time.
When UNIP was ousted from power by the MMD in 1991, it found itself in unfamiliar territory.
After 27 years in Government, it morphed from being the party in power into an opposition political party.

KAUNDA

The political behemoth may have lost the elections but its supporters and founding President Kenneth Kaunda believed its stay in the backbenches of Parliament would be short and it would bounce back.
Many factors conspired to derail the party’s dream of regaining lost territory.
Political pundits say it suffered incessant attacks and was a victim of sponsored factions aimed at weakening the once all powerful party.
The cookie begun to crumble when Dr Kaunda found himself ineligible to contest the 1996 general elections due to changes in an amended Constitution.
The future of UNIP became more uncertain when Dr Kaunda’s son and political heir apparent, Wezi, died from gunshot wounds in a suspected assassination.
But in spite of all the trials and tribulations it went through, it rebounded from a five-year hiatus, to contest the 2001 elections with Dr Kaunda’s son Tilyenji at the helm.
With the exception of the 1996 and 2008 presidential elections, UNIP has contested each and every general election Zambia has had following the reintroduction of multiparty politics in 1991.
The highest percentage in votes Mr Kaunda has ever received in an election is 10.
In the rest, he has only managed to get one per cent and below of the presidential vote.
While the party has failed to win a seat in any of the subsequent National Assembly or local government elections, it has been consistent in fielding candidates.
Running a political party is an expensive venture. There are campaigns to fund, members of staff to pay and fixed overheads to think of. The list of costs is extensive.
Because of the huge cost involved, many parties like Dean Mungomba’s Zambia Democratic Conference (ZADECO), Benjamin Mwila’s Zambia Republican Party (ZRP), and Gwendolyn Konie’s Social Democratic Party have had to fold.
Former Vice-president and business executive Enoch Kavindele, who formed the now defunct United Democratic Party (UDP), is on record attesting the huge cost involved in running an opposition party and the huge toll it can have on personal funds.
A Former Defence minister and business executive, Mr Mwila founded ZRP which he later ditched and rejoined the MMD.
National Restoration Party’s Elias Chipimo and Heritage Party’s Godfrey Miyanda were not on the ballot in last year’s presidential elections.
While they advanced different reasons for not contesting, word on the street is that finances were a problem.
The majority of owner-funded parties have failed to grow and often times go into oblivion.
Ninety per cent of the current parties have struggled to field candidates in parliamentary and local government elections.
UNIP, in contrast, has consistently managed to field candidates.
Despite the steep nomination fees for presidential candidates in the 2016 general elections, Kaunda who chose Njekwa Anamela as running mate, said UNIP had no trouble footing the K60,000 bill the Electoral Commission of Zambia demanded.
During the same election, the party had announced its intention to pay nomination fees for women adopted as parliamentary candidates on its ticket. It also provided campaign funds for all candidates and had quality campaign material.
For the astute, UNIP might not be as popular as it used to be but its expenditure during elections is an indicator that its finances are in the blue.
It has consistently managed to do what other parties, including some of the bigger ones, have failed to.
In this respect, UNIP is in a class of its own. It does not depend on the benevolence of a few wealthy donors.
It has tentacles in almost all the corners of Zambia with functional offices that operate from premises owned by the party.
This has kept what is seemingly an unpopular party alive, that and the fact it has a steady inflow of cash.
UNIP has a political side and a business arm. A number of local firms have at one time been owned or associated with UNIP.
Some of them are Sopelac Fishing Company, Duly Motors Zambia, Codeco, Record Engineering and EW Tarry Zambia.
The party’s business interests, or what remains of them, are managed by a holding company called Zambia National Holdings (ZNH) Limited which has a managing director and a board of directors.
It is clear that without this arm of the party, UNIP would have become extinct.
Future planning by its founders and prudent investment of party funds ensured that UNIP would live long  past its sell-by-date.
Information on just how vast UNIP’s investments are or how big the annual returns could be is however not in public domain.
But because of the money that still trickles in from Zambian National Holdings, it remains a well-oiled functioning party with dozens of employees.
Funny as it might sound, the longevity of UNIP is in the interest of democracy.
“As the opposition our duty is to help the Government do right things. And for us to be effective, we should be strong inside, this means we should recruit new members. This will help us sustain the party and its relevance to national development,” party president Kaunda said.
Staunch UNIP members are mostly made up of the old guard that vowed to die UNIP members.
If Dr Kaunda’s dream of seeing the party he founded bounce in power back are to be realised, UNIP needs to become appealing to the millennial generation.
Reverend Banda said in an interview the party was looking to attract new members and if it is going to succeed, then it must continue with incorporating youthful members like it’s Lusaka Province youth chairperson Alan Malawo.
The parties’ political strength is derived not from loyal membership, but its secure financial base.
UNIP may be down, but it’s not yet out. In fact, it is here stay!