20/08/2026
😢WHAT DOES GOING FORWARD LOOK LIKE?
- By Abel Chungu-
My stance on politics for many years has been, “Stay as far away from it as possible.” Perhaps I’m a pacifist, often mistaken for someone afraid to speak out. I’ve always believed that, with so many voices already speaking, mine had no need to add to the noise.
However, I’ve realised that perhaps it is best for me to write this.
I have no political affiliation or hidden agenda—only a genuine love for my people and my country.
I grew up in a home with a man who served under two Presidents. He served his country diligently and, despite eventually being awarded a state funeral, died without ever receiving the benefits he was entitled to.
Perhaps this is why I stayed away from politics, choosing instead to cheer on those who pursued it from the sidelines.
But now, we have crossed into a new dawn.
This is not simply about a second term. It is about the term that will define the purpose behind why this quest was pursued in the first place. What is left behind for the people will matter now more than ever.
The free education. The infrastructure. The universities.
Long after time has passed, these are the places upon which we may build statues to honour a legacy.
But legacy is not built only on tangible things. It is also built on the intangible.
A young Martin Luther King Jr. once gave a speech titled “I Have a Dream.” It was a dream he never lived long enough to see fully realised. Yet the streets, institutions, and monuments built in his honour continue to remind generations of the legacy he left behind.
He was a flawed man, as we all are. But perhaps that only demonstrated that people are not looking for perfect leaders. They are looking for men and women who will do what is right when the moment calls for it.
Moments make heroes.
And this moment calls for one.
The slogan Forward has never been more needed than it is now.
This is a time when citizens need answers, clarity, and direction. This is when our leader is needed most—not simply to lead us forward, but to guide us toward the promised direction of Forward.
Forward with transparency, in the arms of justice.
Forward with compassion, even toward those who may be considered our enemies.
Forward in teaching the next generation what the best version of themselves can look like.
Forward with self-reflection, humility, and a passion to do more.
We are not asking for laws to be changed, nor are we challenging the laws that exist. We are asking that they be upheld with integrity and with the intention for which they were created: to protect the people and provide justice for all.
Those in leadership will always be privileged to know more than the masses. But that is precisely why they must also be the voice that brings understanding, clarity, and truth.
This country needs to move forward together—not as a party, but as a people.
Moving forward together means that even those who disagree with us must have a place at the table. They too must become part of the greater good.
Because grace, by its very nature, is undeserved favour.
And when grace is extended to us, we must be the first to extend it to others.
Let us invite one another to the table of peace and grace.
Let us heal together.
Let us grow together.
And above all, let us move forward together—in truth.
John 13:34-35
[34] I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. [35] By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”
2 Timothy 1:7 AMP
[7] For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].
