from ARNOLD MULENGA in Lusaka, Zambia
Zambia Bureau
LUSAKA, (CAJ News) – THOUSANDS of supporters of Zambia’s main opposition have reportedly defected to the ruling party as problems in the factionalised opposition mount ahead of elections in August.
The defections highlight the turmoil in the Patriotic Front (PF) which is in a race against time to challenge the United Party for National Development (UPND), led by President Hakainde Hichilema.
PF has been in mayhem in recent days amid infighting over factions positioning themselves to preside over the party, months after the death of its leader, Edgar Lungu.
This past weekend, UPND announced it had received more than 3 000 defectors from various opposition political parties, a majority of them from PF.
Former PF and Socialist Party (SP) strongman, Innocent Kalimanshi, led the defectors that were received leading to the Chawama parliamentary by-election on Thursday.
Kalimanshi described the decision as a “return home.”
“More (PF and SP) members expected to join UPND in the coming days,” he claimed.
He appealed for “forgiveness” and “acceptance” from the UPND leadership and members.
Batuke Imenda, the UPND Secretary General, Lusaka provincial chairman, Obvious Mwaliteta, and National Youth Chairman Gilbert Liswaniso, formally received the defectors.
UPND believes the defections demonstrate growing support for its development-driven and inclusive agenda.
At a separate event also at the weekend, Lusaka UPND youth chairperson, Anderson Banda, received more than 200 individuals said to have defected from the opposition.
In addition, UPND reported over 40 youths in Chawama defected from PF to the ruling party.
The Chawama election is seen as a rehearsal for the August general elections.
This vacancy occurred after the previous Member of Parliament, Tasila Lungu, was absent from the National Assembly and the constituency for an extended period (over six months).
She is the daughter of the former president and is among family members that have stayed in South Africa following his death there last June.
Lungu and PF suffered defeat to Hichilema and UNDP in 2021 and had all along been seen as standing a chance to regain power, before its current squabbles.
Other hopes lay in its membership as the main party in the Tonse Alliance, a merger of parties announced in 2024 to contest the UPND.
However, the alliance last week announced the expulsion of PF because of the latter’s internal battles scuttling the alliance.
This past weekend, PF proved again to be its own worst enemy after suspending Brian Mundubile, a leading presidential aspirant for the party.
He is accused of indiscipline, with charges include creating parallel party structures, spreading false information about leadership, and attending unauthorised meetings with the Tonse Alliance.
“These actions undermine party unity, disregard hierarchical authority, harm the PF’s integrity, and disrupt organisational order,” PF Acting Deputy Secretary General, Celsetine Mukandila, wrote to Mundubile.
This has further divided the party.
Emmanuel Mwamba, an ex-ambassador also tipped for the presidency described the suspension as “distressing and wrong.”
He has been quoted as questioning the legitimacy of Given Lubinda as interim president of PF.
Yet, recently, Mwamba had stood by Lubinda after the PF’s expulsion from Tonse.
“Both these actions are wrong looking at the fragility and state of the party and the opposition,” Mwamba said of the expulsions.
There is another PF faction led by Robert Chabinga, which is deemed a surrogate entity of Hichilema.
– CAJ News