SPOTLIGHT | Chililambombwe Turns Red One Week After the Chingola Stoning
The pictures coming out of Chililabombwe today tell their own story. A tight, disciplined march. A sea of red. Raised hands. Party scarves. Drums. Children running toward the stage. Elderly women wrapped in chitenge. It is a political performance staged with purpose, only seven days after the most serious security breach of President Hakainde Hichilema’s tenure.
For Zambia’s ruling party, this was not just a solidarity march. It was a message. And it was aimed at the one place the UPND cannot afford to lose: the Copperbelt.
A Province on Edge After the Stoning
The Chingola stoning fiasco shook the province. A presidential tent burnt. A police Land Cruiser overturned and set ablaze. Shops looted. Warning shots fired. Twenty-seven youths now arrested. Investigators have isolated funders and identified political actors with links to the mobilisation.
Inside the party, frustration is boiling. Copperbelt Provincial Minister Elisha Matambo is under visible pressure. UPND ward leaders accuse him of losing control of local structures. Others whisper that the province is “slipping.” Some blame poor engagement. Some blame economic anxiety. All agree the Copperbelt has shifted into a dangerous zone for 2026.
The Chililabombwe Counter-Move
Today’s rally was engineered to calm those fears.
Area MP and Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe marched at the front, surrounded by cadres, elected officials and ward mobilisers. This was not a spontaneous crowd. It was a controlled show of strength from a party trying to reclaim its narrative.
Kabuswe condemned the Chingola violence. He re-affirmed loyalty to President Hichilema. He thanked structures for “standing firm.” But the bigger message was about power. The UPND wanted cameras to capture one thing: that the Copperbelt can still fill a field with red shirts, even after an attack that the opposition is branding as a “sign of revolt.”
Why the Turnout Matters
Lusaka and the Copperbelt remain Zambia’s most decisive voting blocs. They determine who enters State House. They swing the national mood. They carry the urban grievance vote. They shape the opposition’s confidence.
The stoning incident emboldened the PF base. They treated it as proof that the province was rejecting Hichilema. They flooded social media with biblical metaphors, mockery, and claims that the “urban belt is gone.”
Today’s march is the UPND’s second major counter-signal.
It says: not yet.
A Province Still Fragile
But a crowd cannot resolve deeper problems.
The Copperbelt is battling worsening load-shedding. Only three hours of power per day in some compounds. Small businesses are collapsing. Youth hooliganism is rising. Mining towns are uneasy. Social media sentiment analysis shows “energy” and “livelihoods” as the most explosive triggers in the province.
Even inside the UPND, anger is simmering. Some cadres blame the party leadership for “neglect.” Others believe the President is too clean, too restrained, and too unwilling to reward party loyalists. The arrest of a renowned UPND cadre linked to the stoning has created more anxiety. Some insiders say the President is “favouring” certain camps and starving others.
These fractures matter because every instability on the Copperbelt quickly becomes political fuel.
UPND Mustn’t Relax
Yes, the images from Chililabombwe show strength. Yes, the turnout demonstrates that the UPND still has influence. But sentiment reports point to a volatile ecosystem. There are dormant networks from the PF years. There are youth groups hungry for relevance. There are actors willing to finance chaos.
The Chililabombwe march is not a victory lap. It is a warning that the province now needs constant political management.
The 2026 Battlefield Has Already Opened
The Copperbelt is no longer passive. It is no longer predictable. It is no longer a blank slate waiting for rallies. The events of the past week show that the province will still define the 2026 election more sharply than any other region.
The UPND can still capture the narrative. But it must act fast.
Crowds show momentum. But stability will demand something deeper: Restored livelihoods. Reliable power. Clear communication. Stronger provincial leadership. A security presence that reassures, not provokes. And a political strategy that speaks to Copperbelt anxiety, not just Copperbelt loyalty.
Because after Chingola, the province has entered a new political season. And today’s sea of red is only the first chapter in a story that will continue to shape Zambia’s path to 2026.
© The People’s Brief | Spotlight | 15/11/25
Everything it is by force. What is wrong with dull UPND? Even PF were better behaved than these backward savages from the village.
HAKAINDE MUST GO!
REJECT TRIBALISM, CORRUPTION AND OPPRESSION.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2026.
In a time when everything has collapsed…You are in darkness, your Network is Down , You can’t watch TV… Your mental health is at breaking point, you suddenly see Adults walking in the Rain soaked to their ” Bamb@s” . What’s up my Brother!
Then a Voice like if it has been made in a Drum of Chibuku croaks…” We will get them. Whether in holes , in Cemeteries, in the sea , on Land , in hills , mountains … Wherever they are hiding, We will get them and deal with them”
What an amusement, finally something I can look at! Some entertainment.
And am sure it will play out in all towns in Zambia..
Those young boys have really turned people upside down, and their thinking too, and looking for shadows in holes, Seas, Oceans , Cemeteries or wherever.
Come on, those Jerabos are known…the life is in the pits. They have been plying their trade at dump sites for years. Just resolve their issues…and don’t bring in Innocent people. If you want to charge those kids with Treason, it’s up to you… Your Courts will decide.
But the Country will become a laughing stock .
This is the same problem RB’s MMD and Lungu’s PF made. Show of force, party regalia even for trees and frightening people instead of addressing people’s grievances. There is something seriously wrong with the way we conduct our politics. That is why decent hard working people have stayed away since Mwanawasa’s MMD