The Zambian government has officially declared the “troublesome” United Kwacha Alliance (UKA) an illegal entity as the coalition was not legally registered and did not exist in the books of the Registrar of Society.
Home Affairs and Internal Security Minister, Jack Mwiimbu, who declared the coalition an illegal entity while addressing a press conference in Lusaka on Wednesday, said the Alliance was stopped from holding a planned rally in the Kafue District because it was not recognised by government despite an application for the rally having been made by the group.
Mwiimbu stated that allowing UKA to proceed with the rally was akin to allowing lawlessness in a country which is being governed by rules and laws.
He noted further that as at the time of the press conference, no formal application had been made by the group to be registered as a political party or pressure group at the Registrar of Societies.
“You may wish to recall that on February, 13, 2024, Mr. Sakwiba Sikota visited the Registrar of Societies office to conduct a name search and reservation for a society called United Kwacha Alliance (UKA) which he intended to register as a pressure group,” Mwiimbu said.
He explained that after the said application and initial search were conducted, the name UKA was accordingly reserved from February, 13 to March, 13, and Sikota was informed that he was free to apply for registration of the pressure group.
The ministry said Sikota, however, returned on February, 14, with a verbal request to change the reservation category from a pressure group to a political party of which he was advised to apply formally.
“Following the expiration of the reservation in March, 13, 2024, Mr. Sikota came through to request for an extension of the reservation period. By then, the Department had migrated the application processes to the e-government platform,” Mwiimbu said.
He added that Sikota was advised accordingly to make an online application, but that to date, no such application had been recieved.
Mwiimbu further said a person identified as Gibson Bwalya attempted to apply for registration of a society called Unified Kwacha Alliance using another person’s National Registration Card and on the second attempt, omitted to attach an NRC document.
“These events clearly indicate that the said United Kwacha Alliance does not exist legally and is, in as far as the Ministry is concerned, an illegal society.”
In conclusion, the minister said UKA would not be allowed on the ballot paper for any election since it is an illegal entity despite its office orders indicating their availability to participate in such elections.