🇿🇲 BRIEFING | Mundubile Targets Youth Vote with Black Mountain Promise
Tonse Alliance presidential hopeful Brian Mundubile has moved to position himself as a pro-youth economic candidate, promising to reserve mining dumpsites such as the Black Mountain for local youths instead of large-scale investors if elected in August.
Speaking Saturday at a press briefing, Mundubile said young people involved in informal mining would not face force or displacement under his leadership.
“To the youths mining gold, we will not come with guns. Instead, we will deal with those troubling you,” he declared, drawing applause from supporters.
The former Leader of the Opposition said dumpsites such as Black Mountain should remain economic spaces for vulnerable youths seeking survival opportunities, while larger investors should instead be redirected toward undeveloped mining areas, commonly referred to as greenfield sites.
“We will not bring in an investor to mine at Black Mountain. The dumpsites are for our youths. Investors will be given greenfield sites,” Mundubile said.
The remarks tap into a politically sensitive issue that has increasingly shaped debate around unemployment, informal mining, and state control over mineral resources.
Across parts of the Copperbelt and gold-rich zones, illegal and artisanal mining activities have become both an economic lifeline and a governance challenge, often drawing security crackdowns, fatalities, and political controversy.
Mundubile also escalated campaign rhetoric, claiming public sentiment had already turned decisively against the ruling United Party for National Development.
“The Zambian people have already decided to remove the UPND from power this August,” he said.
Meanwhile, outspoken lawyer Makebi Zulu used the same briefing to signal that opposition forces are still recalibrating their ballot strategy ahead of nominations. Zulu assured supporters that either he or Mundubile would eventually appear on the presidential ballot.
“We are going to play smart,” Zulu said. “We will be on the ballot through one of us. If you see my face, you have seen Mundubile and vice versa.”
The statement is likely to intensify speculation around ongoing negotiations within opposition circles, where legal battles, factional divisions, and alliance politics continue to shape candidate positioning ahead of the formal campaign season.
For now, the Tonse Alliance appears to be pursuing a dual strategy: mobilising youths through resource-nationalist messaging while keeping its final presidential configuration strategically flexible.
The People’s Briefef | Ollus R. Ndomu