ECONOMIC Front leader Wynter Kabimba has expressed happiness with President Hakainde Hichilema’s performance in his first term.

And Kabimba has predicted that the August polls will be a two horse race between President Hichilema and Brian Mundubile.

Meanwhile, Kabimba says he chose Edgar Lungu over President Hichilema in 2021 because the late former president had more experience.

Kabimba further says burying Lungu in South Africa would be a blemish on his “legacy,” adding that the family should have allowed for him to be buried in Zambia.

Speaking when he appeared on Diamond TV’s This Day, Kabimba, asked why he endorsed Lungu over President Hichilema in 2021 despite believing he ran a corrupt government, said he still had sympathy for the PF.

“The first reason was that I was a former member of PF, I still had sympathy for PF. I didn’t want PF. The second reason, this which I still use today was that between HH and ECL, I felt that ECL had experience which HH didn’t have, therefore I didn’t want to take a risk to vote for somebody who had no experience at that time. I thought the country was safer with ECL if he could just address some problems. I say the same thing today that if you give me any of these guys in the opposition against HH who has had experience for the last four years, I can’t risk my life to entrust my vote in the hands of someone without experience,” he said.

“You have candidates now in the opposition, let me pick on two, Brian Mundubile was Northern Province minister, Makebi Zulu was provincial minister Eastern Province. Now, these two qualify to become President, the choice that I have is between these two and a man who has been President for four years. That’s my choice as a voter, they qualify, they ran a province, I don’t know how much they did in their respective provinces but here I’m dealing with another guy who has done four years 10 months”.

Asked whether if he was happy with what President Hichilema had done in the last four years and 10 months, Kabimba responded in the affirmative

“Yes, and maybe not 100 per cent happy, let’s not put it that way. But now you are giving me a choice, the other one where I have to start and this one that is already there with four years in office,” Kabimba said.

Further asked if he thought the August polls would be a two horse race, Kabimba again responded in the affirmative saying, “That’s correct, Brian Mundubile and HH are the main contenders”.

Kabimba, probed further on why he thought so, said, “I can see from the euphoria around which is building up as we navigate towards 13 August, I can tell”.

Meanwhile, when asked if thought Mundubile would give President Hichilema a run for his money, Kabimba responded in the negative.

“No, HH will win, he will not win with a landslide but he will win. My analysis is that the Tonse group will do well in Lusaka, Copperbelt and somewhere along the line of rail. It will be a replica of Michael Sata in 2006,” he said.

And asked if he didn’t think Makebi Zulu would have influence in Eastern having been minister there, Kabimba dismissed Zulu, arguing that he didn’t have the same “status” as Rupiah Banda had.

“Makebi Zulu is a colleague, I like the guy but let’s talk politics. He lost a constituency when he was provincial minister, so he doesn’t have the same status that Rupiah Banda had in Eastern Province, I don’t think he’s a political heavyweight,” Kabimba responded.

Kabimba was then asked if he thought it wasn’t a good call for Mundubile to pick Zulu as a running mate.

In response, he claimed he had information that the two only started working together after being persuaded by a foreign ambassador.

“I don’t know about that, the information that I have, if it’s correct is that in fact they had a meeting at one of the embassies and it was one of these foreign ambassadors that persuaded them to come together. Typical of Africans, you can’t do anything on your own unless a white man says ‘do it’ and I hope that information that I have is wrong,” Kabimba claimed.

Meanwhile, Kabimba asked to comment on Lungu’s “legacy” after the recent South African Supreme Court of Appeal judgement allowing the Lungu family to bury, said the judgment was a blemish on the legacy.

“I think this (Lungu judgment) will be a blemish on his legacy, I really think that the family should have allowed ECL to be buried here. I think it would have been good for his legacy and his family’s identity,” he responded.

And asked if the judgment had any political implications in the run up to the August polls, Kabimba said it did.

“What this judgement has done is actually to divide the nation. This judgment is received with mixed feelings by those that wanted Edgar to be buried here and those that are siding with the family, that the position of the family is correct. I think that divide of these two sides of the aisle will remain for a long time to come and will affect our politics somewhat. I may not be very clear how it’s going to happen but certainly there will be some political implications,” Kabimba said.

Further asked if he thought Lungu’s death would have an implication on the votes and whether people would vote in favour of those who stood with him, Kabimba responded with skepticism, adding, only if the elections were held immediately after his death.

“I doubt it, because the issue of ECL and the prolonged lack of burial of ECL has fatigued and divided Zambians. And there is no evidence to show that those that are sympathetic to the family are in larger numbers than otherwise, there is no survey. So, I really do not think it will have such an impact that’s more favourable in the majority to those that stood with the family, I doubt it. There are many ordinary people that say Nkani yaba Lungu talema nayo (we are tired of the Lungu issue),” said Kabimba.

“If the elections were held immediately after ECL’s death, definitely, because then the mood was still growing, the ground swell of the sympathy, but not now”.