By Thandiwe Ketis Ngoma

When I came across the recent statement attributed to Chilufya Tayali: “I know PF’s secrets. If UPND works with me as their consultant and allows me to come back home, I will make them win in 2026,” I was left completely baffled. Who in their right mind would take this man seriously?

For anyone familiar with his antics, this recent outburst is nothing more than a desperate cry for relevance.

Yet we must not ignore the irony of it all. The very government he now seeks to serve, the UPND under the heavy-handed leadership of President Hakainde Hichilema, is the same one currently pursuing him with politically motivated and trumped-up charges. That same government previously weaponized him, using him as a blunt instrument to attack the opposition. Now that the tables have turned, Tayali has the audacity to suggest he could help the UPND win elections in 2026.

Win what? With what constituency? With what credibility?

Chilufya Tayali is currently living in Malaysia, having applied for asylum after fleeing what he claimed was political persecution by the UPND regime. He alleged threats, harassment, and fabricated legal charges. One would think a man in exile, fighting what he once called a dictatorship, would remain committed to exposing that tyranny. But no, Tayali, ever the political chameleon, is now trying to sell himself to the same forces he once decried.

Let us be clear. This is not about strategy or patriotism. This is about desperation.

Tayali has no mass appeal. He has no base. He has no serious political record to speak of, only a long history of betrayal, character assassination, and shameless opportunism. Whether he was attacking former President Edgar Lungu and the PF or switching gears to assault HH and the UPND, Tayali has always operated with one objective: staying politically relevant just long enough to earn the next envelope.

Let us call this for what it is: a failed political actor begging for a new role in a play he has already ruined for everyone else.

Tayali has burned bridges in every direction. The PF knows him as a traitor. The UPND used him as a pawn and now brand him a criminal. The Zambian people, regardless of political affiliation, see him as a nuisance, not a national asset. His appeal to work as a consultant is laughable and should be treated as such.