MORNING WIRE | Chawama Chooses Memory Over Machinery as FDD Clinches Shock By-Election Win
It is a wet Friday morning in Chawama. The rain that fell through the night quieted the streets, but it did not wash away the political signal delivered at the ballot box.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia has declared Bright Nundwe of the Forum for Democracy and Development FDD as the winner of the Chawama parliamentary by-election. Nundwe secured 8,085 votes, defeating Morgan Muunda of the ruling United Party for National Development UPND, who polled 6,542 votes. A total of 18,096 votes were cast, with 290 ballots rejected.
The result hands the opposition a symbolic victory in a constituency that has been politically and emotionally charged since the death of former president Edgar Chagwa Lungu, whose legacy loomed large throughout the campaign.
This contest was never only about party machinery or local development promises. It evolved into a referendum on grief politics. The Tonse Alliance and Patriotic Front aligned behind the FDD ticket, framing the race as an act of remembrance and resistance in a community closely associated with Lungu’s final political home. This message resonated with enough voters to tilt the outcome.
UPND entered the race with a visible, disciplined campaign. It leaned on social protection gains, a calm security environment, and a strong ground operation that included high-profile defections from the opposition. The party also pushed back firmly against pre-election claims of rigging, repeatedly endorsed by the Electoral Commission and observers as unfounded.
Still, the numbers show that organisation alone could not fully neutralise emotion.
Celebrations by Tonse Alliance and PF supporters began soon after polls closed on Thursday evening, even before official tallies were announced. By midnight, steady rainfall dispersed crowds and dampened what might have become a prolonged street moment.
By morning, the declaration formalised what supporters had already assumed.
For the UPND, the loss is contained but instructive. It does not alter parliamentary arithmetic in a decisive way, but it exposes the limits of policy messaging when confronted with unresolved political grief. For the opposition, the win offers momentum and narrative leverage, though it also revives questions about coherence, leadership, and whether emotion can be converted into a sustainable national strategy ahead of 2026.
The by-election itself was peaceful. Voting opened and closed on time across all polling stations. Security presence was high but restrained.
Observers and the Electoral Commission described the process as orderly, dismissing social media claims of midnight voting and manipulation.
Chawama has spoken. Not in anger. Not in chaos. But in a quiet, rain-soaked verdict shaped as much by memory as by the present.
The road to 2026 continues.
© The People’s Brief | Ollus R. Ndomu