In a TikTok-style video that has stirred debate online, rising political influencer Michael Mulusa asked the question that many Zambians are quietly thinking but few dare to say out loud: “Is free education really a kwenyu?”

His words cut through the noise. At a time when President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND are parading free education as their crowning achievement, Mulusa is daring Zambians to look deeper. Is this really a success story, or just a reckless populist gamble that risks bankrupting the country while diluting the very quality of education it claims to defend?

KK’S VISION VS UPND’S POPULISM
Free education is not a UPND invention. It was first introduced in 1965 by Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, who saw education as a tool for national unity and liberation from colonial inequality. Under UNIP, it was not just “free,” it was backed by investment. Uniforms, books, meals, and infrastructure were part of the package. The system built citizens, not just statistics.

Contrast that with UPND’s approach today: swollen classrooms, teachers stretched to breaking point, children sitting on floors without desks, and parents wondering whether this is education or childcare. Where KK invested, UPND has merely proclaimed.

THE PF BALANCE
Mulusa’s commentary reminds us of the PF era from 2011 to 2021. The Patriotic Front may not have declared “free education,” but it built schools, recruited thousands of teachers, and expanded infrastructure. PF’s approach was sober: balance access with sustainability, and avoid political gimmicks that collapse under their own weight.

The UPND inherited that foundation but instead of building on it, they rushed to score political points. The result is chaos in classrooms and a treasury struggling to keep up with the false promise of “free” education.

WHO IS PAYING?
Mulusa’s question echoes loudly: who is really paying for this so-called free education? The truth is, Zambian taxpayers. At a time when the cost of living is soaring, mealie meal prices are crushing households, and load-shedding is back, the government has chosen to finance a populist project at the expense of national stability.

It is no wonder Mulusa suggests that perhaps Zambia should have taken a more consultative path, like South Africa, where education is enshrined as a human right but not used as a reckless political slogan.

A RECKLESS DECLARATION
President Hichilema has gone as far as to declare that no successive government should ever be allowed to abolish free education. Such a pronouncement is not only arrogant, it is dangerous. It attempts to bind the hands of future administrations to UPND’s failed populism, regardless of economic realities.

THE REALITY CHECK
Free education sounds sweet, but as Mulusa’s viral video reminds us, numbers alone do not equal success. What Zambia needs is quality, sustainability, and accountability — not slogans. PF may not have called it “free education,” but its record of schools, teachers, and infrastructure stands taller than UPND’s empty rhetoric.

Free education under UPND is not a kwenyu. It is a ticking time bomb, and Michael Mulusa is right to challenge Zambians to see through the illusion before it is too late.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER AND STAY IN THE KNOW AHEAD OF 2026 GENERAL ELECTIONS – https://www.zambiavotes.com/newsletter/