PeP is a Pentecostal Ministry, Fails to File
Patriots for Economic Progress-PEP presidential candidate Eng. Chanda Katotobwe and his running mate Sean Tembo were shocked to discover that the political party is registered as pentecostal ministry.
Because of this the ticket failed to successfully file in their presidential nomination papers following alleged irregular changes made to the party’s records at the Registrar of Societies.
The opposition party says the changes, which were allegedly made on May 8 and May 21, 2026, resulted in PEP being reclassified from a political party to a church organization.
The party further says the position of Secretary General was also altered without authorization.
PEP Running Mate, Sean Tembo says the matter was discovered on Wednesday during the nomination filing process at Mulungushi International Conference Centre.
He says party officials later rushed to the Registrar of Societies offices to seek clarification and reversal of the alleged changes.
Mr. Tembo also claims that officials at the Registrar of Societies informed them that the changes were made from an internet café by an unknown person identified as Prince Care.
However, PEP says the records were not immediately restored despite the alleged irregularities being brought to the attention of authorities.
The party has further alleged that one of the individuals appearing as Secretary General in the party records is deceased, a situation the party says complicated the nomination process for both the presidential ticket and aspiring parliamentary and local government candidates.
Meanwhile, the party has appealed to President Hakainde Hichilema and the Electoral Commission of Zambia to intervene in the matter and extend the nomination filing period to allow its candidates to participate in the 2026 general elections.