STOP THE SELF-PITY AND PREPARE TO LEAD

Mwiinde challenges youths and persons with disabilities to stop waiting for opportunities and prepare themselves for decision-making positions

By Francis Maingaila ♥️

Lusaka, Zambia24   -- 4-09-2026 -- The ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) has challenged young people and persons with disabilities to stop waiting for political leaders to hand them opportunities and instead prepare themselves to take charge of Zambia’s future.

Choma South Member of Parliament and UPND Deputy National Youth Chairperson Trevor Mwiinde said young people and persons with disabilities should not be satisfied with simply being invited to political meetings and workshops, but must develop the confidence, knowledge and competence to occupy decision-making positions and influence the direction of the country.

Mwiinde said this during an Enabling Inclusive Leadership workshop aimed at strengthening the participation of young people with disabilities in politics.

He said young people and persons with disabilities should not be satisfied with being present in rooms where decisions are made, but must prepare themselves to become the people making those decisions.

“Do not be satisfied simply because someone has invited you into the room. Ask yourself whether you are contributing, whether your ideas are influencing decisions and whether you are preparing yourself to lead,” Mwiinde said.

He said Zambia could not claim to have achieved meaningful democracy merely because citizens were allowed to vote, arguing that democracy must also create genuine opportunities for young people and persons with disabilities to participate in leadership and decision-making.

Mwiinde said young people must move beyond political mobilisation and become active participants in governance.

“Young people must progress beyond mobilisation into meaningful participation,” he said.

He warned that political mobilisation could become exploitative when young people lacked economic independence and personal conviction.

“If you are not resourceful and independent, you can be mobilised and placed in somebody’s pocket,” Mwiinde said.

Mwiinde therefore urged young people to develop economically, socially and intellectually instead of depending entirely on political positions or individuals for their livelihoods.

He said persons with disabilities must equally reject the perception that disability automatically excludes them from leadership.

“Disability should never be interpreted as inability to lead. Inclusion is about equal citizenship, dignity and opportunity,” he said.

Mwiinde challenged persons with disabilities to actively pursue leadership opportunities and demonstrate their capabilities instead of waiting to be nominated or treated as charity cases.

He said political parties had a responsibility to review their structures and processes and remove barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from participating fully.

However, Mwiinde said persons with disabilities must also take responsibility for positioning themselves for leadership.

“Do not only appeal or call for inclusion. Prepare yourselves fully. When opportunity comes, let your competence make the strongest argument for you,” he said.

He said inclusion must extend beyond elective politics, with qualified persons with disabilities being considered for boards, institutions and other positions where important national decisions are made.

Mwiinde said there was no reason persons with disabilities should only appear on television as commentators or reporters when they could also occupy positions where policies were formulated and decisions taken.

“We should see persons with disabilities not only appearing on television, but making decisions in influential positions,” he said.

He also criticised young people who attend empowerment workshops but fail to maintain contact, organise themselves or develop a common agenda after the meetings.

Mwiinde said it was unproductive for young people and persons with disabilities to attend repeated programmes while remaining disconnected from one another for years.

“We can have all the support from government, political parties and political will, but as long as we are not integrated as one, we will face many challenges,” he said.

He urged participants to organise themselves, speak with one voice and present their concerns in a coordinated and respectful manner.

Mwiinde said unity would strengthen their bargaining power and make it easier for government and other institutions to engage them on issues affecting their lives.

He further challenged aspiring councillors, MPs and future presidents to stop treating leadership as a distant ambition and begin taking practical steps towards achieving it.

“If you want to become a councillor, an MP or even President, what are you doing today to get there?” he asked.

Mwiinde said leadership should begin with conviction and personal discipline long before an individual assumes public office.

He warned aspiring leaders against jealousy, excuses and dependency, urging them to focus on how they intended to achieve their ambitions.

Mwiinde also called for greater accountability among young people, saying those seeking public office must first demonstrate responsible leadership in their communities.

“Accountability starts from me and ends with you. Vice versa,” Mwiinde said.

He questioned the conduct of people who attend workshops and leadership programmes but fail to return to their communities to share what they have learnt, yet later aspire to become councillors, MPs or national leaders.

Mwiinde said integrity could not suddenly emerge after someone won an election.

He urged young people to practise accountability, responsibility and honesty immediately if they genuinely intended to lead in the future.

The lawmaker also warned participants against substance abuse and other vices that could undermine their potential.

He said young people must protect themselves and develop the discipline required to withstand the pressures associated with political competition.

Mwiinde said politics could be demanding, particularly for people who enter public life without the resilience to withstand criticism and personal attacks.

He said he had himself been called a “junkie” but had chosen not to allow the insult to define him.

Instead, Mwiinde said he decided to become an example for young people to follow.

He urged persons with disabilities and young people not to allow insults, discrimination or social stigma to discourage them from participating in politics.

“You need resilience in politics. You need wisdom, and you must be prepared to face criticism,” he said.

Mwiinde said citizens who remained silent and allowed politicians they considered incompetent to make decisions on their behalf lost the moral authority to complain about the consequences.

“If you allow ineffective politicians to make decisions because you refused to participate, you cannot later complain about the decisions they make,” he said.

He also described accessibility as a governance issue rather than merely a matter of constructing ramps and other physical infrastructure.

Mwiinde said genuine accessibility meant ensuring that persons with disabilities could participate in political structures, public institutions and decision-making processes on an equal basis.

Mwiinde praised President Hakainde Hichilema for creating what he described as greater space for persons with disabilities to participate in leadership and national decision-making.

He said Hichilema’s approach had demonstrated the importance of giving the “voice of the voiceless” a place at the leadership table.

However, he cautioned beneficiaries not to waste the opportunity.

He said the current environment should be used to develop a new generation of leaders capable of taking responsibility for their communities and the country.

Mwiinde said political parties were gateways to leadership but warned that people should not become entirely dependent on party affiliation.

He said political organisations must continue reviewing whether their processes were genuinely accessible and whether persons with disabilities were being given meaningful opportunities to compete.

He further called for greater clarity regarding political participation and electoral processes, including issues surrounding petitions and participation in elections.

Mwiinde said disadvantaged people could benefit from politics, but they must have the courage to defend themselves and those who supported their participation.

He also encouraged participants to compare Zambia’s democratic practices with those of other African countries, arguing that young people must understand how their counterparts elsewhere were participating in governance.

Mwiinde said the failure of young people and persons with disabilities to define their priorities and organise around them could undermine even the opportunities being created for them.

He warned that being invited to the leadership table without a clear agenda could leave people occupying seats without influencing decisions.

Mwiinde also stressed the importance of succession, saying leadership must not remain permanently in the hands of one individual.

He said younger people must be deliberately prepared to take over institutions, organisations and initiatives to ensure continuity.

“Leadership should not remain with one person. We must prepare the next generation to take over,” he said.

Drawing from his own political journey, Mwiinde said leadership required sacrifice, perseverance and conviction.

He said he joined the UPND in 2005 and worked through the party structures, eventually becoming a provincial coordinator.

He said his journey was not without setbacks and included a period of imprisonment between 2015 and 2016.

Mwiinde said those experiences strengthened his understanding of the importance of service and resilience.

He said his political career had taught him that leadership was not about personal satisfaction but about a conviction to serve others.

“The desire to serve is conviction. It goes beyond personal satisfaction,” he said.

Mwiinde urged participants to begin wherever they were and use whatever abilities they possessed instead of waiting for perfect circumstances.

He said persons with disabilities should also look beyond politics and explore professional, business and civic opportunities through which they could contribute to national development.

He challenged them to make themselves useful to society and identify practical actions they could take immediately.

Mwiinde said the country’s development agenda would succeed only if citizens, including persons with disabilities and young people, developed alongside the economy.

Looking ahead, he said the 2026–2031 period should be used to strengthen participation and ensure that persons with disabilities were not merely beneficiaries of government programmes but active contributors to national development.

He urged participants to use their God-given abilities and talents to complement government efforts rather than waiting for government to solve every problem.

Using a hunting analogy, Mwiinde warned that people pursuing the same objective could undermine one another when they failed to coordinate.

He said persons with disabilities must therefore avoid destructive competition and work together towards common goals.

Mwiinde further urged aspiring politicians to understand the policies and manifestos of their political parties and develop the ability to communicate their ideas clearly.

He said nomination or party support alone could not make someone an effective leader.

“Know what your political party stands for. Know its policies and its manifesto. Do not depend on nomination alone,” he said.

He challenged participants to become versatile, start small and accept the sacrifices associated with leadership.

Mwiinde reminded them that political movements, including the UPND, had endured long periods of opposition and sacrifice before eventually gaining power.

He said people aspiring to leadership must therefore understand that success did not come overnight.

He urged participants to focus on substance rather than appearances and ensure that their actions matched their ambitions.

Mwiinde said the workshop should not end with speeches and photographs but should produce people ready to return to their communities and create change.

“You have come to this meeting not to return as people defined by self-pity. You must return as pioneers of change,” he said.

He urged participants to embrace the biblical principle of loving one’s neighbour as oneself and to use leadership as a tool for improving the lives of others.

Mwiinde said the ultimate test of inclusion would be whether persons with disabilities and young people eventually occupied positions where they could make decisions, shape policy and influence Zambia’s future.

He challenged participants to seize the opportunities available under the current political environment and prepare themselves to lead.

“You are a generation of leaders being discovered. Be a bold generation,” Mwiinde said.

Governance facilitator Olivia Mwanza has demanded that political parties stop treating persons with disabilities (PWDs) as mere voters and give them meaningful opportunities to participate in leadership, policy-making and candidate selection.

Mwanza said political participation for persons with disabilities should go far beyond casting a ballot, arguing that excluding them from decision-making structures amounted to denying them their rights.

“Political participation requires more than the right to vote. It includes membership, leadership, policy influence and candidacy,” Mwanza said.

She said good governance was about more than how decisions were made, implemented and reviewed, but also about who had a voice, who exercised authority and how leaders were held accountable.

Mwanza said the principles of participation, accountability, transparency, rule of law, responsiveness and inclusion must apply not only to government but also to political parties, communities, organisations and other institutions.

She said participation was at the heart of good governance because people should be able to influence decisions that affect their lives.

But Mwanza warned that formal rights were meaningless if systems remained inaccessible to people with disabilities.

She pointed to inaccessible voting arrangements as one example, saying persons with disabilities were often expected to rely on other people for assistance instead of electoral systems being designed to accommodate their needs.

Mwanza said accessibility should not be treated as a favour or an afterthought.

“Accessibility is a governance issue, not an option for favourites,” she said.

She said political parties and other institutions must provide reasonable accommodation and information in accessible formats so that persons with disabilities could participate on an equal footing.

Mwanza further challenged political parties to ensure their candidate selection processes were genuinely inclusive.

She said publishing clear selection criteria was not enough if those criteria effectively excluded persons with disabilities.

Participants during the discussion noted that political parties should explicitly make their selection requirements inclusive rather than leaving room for practices that could discriminate against people with disabilities.

The issue of access to political information was also raised, with participants questioning whether party manifestos and other important documents were available in formats accessible to people who are blind or have other difficulties accessing conventional information.

Mwanza said inaccessible information could prevent persons with disabilities from taking part in political processes, particularly when key political material was available only in formats they could not use.

She said parties should consider formats such as Braille, accessible digital documents and other appropriate forms of communication.

Mwanza also challenged political parties to stop viewing disability inclusion as symbolic representation.

She said persons with disabilities should be allowed to participate at every level of a political organisation, including branches, constituencies and national structures.

“They are supposed to participate everywhere. There is nothing like, ‘No, they cannot participate here.’ They are supposed to participate everywhere to show democracy,” Mwanza said.

She identified policy and manifesto development, advocacy, media and communication, mobilisation, civic education, leadership, candidate selection, election observation and community engagement as areas where persons with disabilities should be actively involved.

Mwanza said governance must therefore begin inside political parties before parties could claim to offer good governance to the country.

She said parties needed clear rules and procedures, fair and transparent leadership and candidate selection processes, accessible meetings and communication, as well as strong internal accountability mechanisms.

She also called for meaningful participation of young people, women and persons with disabilities, warning against inclusion that existed only on paper.

Mwanza said stigma remained another major barrier preventing persons with disabilities from taking up political roles.

She said negative attitudes and assumptions about the abilities of persons with disabilities often discouraged them from participating, even when they had the skills and capacity to contribute.

A participant said the problem was partly caused by the way society viewed persons with disabilities.

“Most people with disabilities do not participate because of stigma and the way people without disabilities look at persons with disabilities,” the participant said.

Mwanza said political parties needed to change this mindset by recognising persons with disabilities as equal political actors capable of contesting positions, developing policies, communicating with voters and providing leadership.

She said good governance ultimately required institutions to ask a simple but critical question: Who is missing, why are they missing and what must change?

For persons with disabilities, Mwanza said, the answer should no longer be exclusion from political power, but deliberate and meaningful inclusion in the decisions that shape the country.

UPND Programme for Young Politicians in Africa (PYPA) Chairperson Lombe Musole has urged young political leaders to understand that winning elections does not give them unlimited authority, warning that leadership remains subject to public scrutiny and institutional checks.

Musole said political leaders often become overly excited after winning elections and begin to associate electoral victory with absolute authority, forgetting that their responsibility begins after the excitement of the election has passed.

“We are high on the excitement, the euphoria is still running, but what next?” Musole asked.

He said political leadership should not be measured simply by the positions people occupy after winning elections, but by how they use those positions to serve the people.

“In political leadership, we associate authority with positions because we have won, so we want to put that as a step of authority. But what we forget is that leadership is subject to public scrutiny, shifting coalitions as well as institutional checks,” he said.

Musole said young politicians must therefore prepare themselves to operate within systems where their decisions can be questioned, reviewed and challenged by the people and institutions they serve.

He drew from his own experience as a student representative for students with disabilities, saying the position taught him that political leadership involves representing people and negotiating between different stakeholders.

Musole said one of the challenges he encountered was the inadequate representation of students with disabilities in decision-making structures.

He said he committed himself to pushing for the representation of students who had been left out, including those who had received lower percentages of representation.

“One of the things that I promised them is that those who were left out, I am going to push for them so that all of them are represented,” he said.

Musole said the experience demonstrated that leadership is not about holding a position for personal benefit, but using that position to ensure that the concerns of the people being represented are heard.

He further cautioned young politicians against treating political promises as rigid commitments that cannot change, saying leaders must be prepared to respond to changing needs among the people.

“Leadership, or political leadership, is about the people,” he said.

Musole said leaders could make a commitment based on what people want at one point, but must be willing to adjust when circumstances and public needs change.

“Today we can have 100 per cent, but then the people change and say, ‘I want 50 per cent.’ Do you still give them 100 per cent? You shift according to the people’s needs,” he said.

He said there was therefore no political promise or principle that should be placed above the interests of the people.

“There is no solid promise and principle that you can commit to if not for the people,” Musole said.

He challenged young politicians to shape their political careers around service rather than personal ambition, saying every decision they make should be guided by the needs of the people they seek to serve.

“When we say leadership is all about the people, that is what we need to understand from here, so that we can begin to shape our political journeys with the thought and inclination that whatever we do is because of the people that we are trying to serve,” he said.

UPND Programme for Young Politicians in Africa (PYPA) Project Coordinator Karen Twambo Mufuzi says political participation for young persons with disabilities must go beyond simply being present in political spaces to having the knowledge, confidence and opportunities to influence decisions and eventually take up leadership positions.

Ms Mufuzi said meaningful inclusion requires young people and persons with disabilities to be actively involved in discussions and decision-making processes that affect their lives.

Speaking during a programme on strengthening the political participation of young persons with disabilities, Ms Mufuzi said the initiative was built on the conviction that political participation should give people the opportunity to contribute, influence decisions and ultimately lead.

“As project coordinator, I am particularly pleased to see this initiative come to life. Our project, which is themed Strengthening the Political Participation of Young Persons with Disabilities, was born from a very simple conviction: political participation must mean more than simply being present,” she said.

Ms Mufuzi said participation must also give people the knowledge, confidence, opportunity and space to contribute to political processes.

“It also means that we should be able to influence the decisions and ultimately be able to lead,” she said.

She said the programme should not only focus on discussing inclusion but should also encourage participants to think practically about what meaningful inclusion looks like within political structures.

Ms Mufuzi also welcomed efforts to ensure that persons with disabilities are directly involved in decisions concerning their representation, rather than having others make such decisions on their behalf.

She said political structures must ensure that people with disabilities have a voice in determining who represents their interests and that such representatives understand their lived experiences.

“For the young people and persons with disabilities participating here, I hope this programme will give you the confidence and knowledge to participate meaningfully, to influence decisions and to begin seeing yourselves not just as participants, but as leaders,” she said.