FRED M’MEMBE’S POLITICAL FORTUNES CRUMBLE
By George Mumba
Just a short while ago, we reported that a political tsunami was looming—one that would likely isolate Dr. Fred M’membe and derail his ambitions to lead the emerging United Opposition Front, spearheaded by George Chilumanda and Muhabi Lungu, both founders of the Zambia We Want Party.
Now, fresh developments suggest that M’membe’s political woes are deepening. Reliable sources within the Socialist Party (SP) have revealed that internal cracks are widening, with Kelvin Kaunda openly declaring his intention to challenge M’membe for the party presidency and become the SP’s 2026 presidential candidate.
From a democratic standpoint, this development could be viewed as a healthy competition within the SP. However, it also raises critical questions about the confidence the party’s structures have in M’membe’s leadership. Insiders describe him as increasingly authoritarian—a leader intolerant of dissent and resistant to alternative views.
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For someone who has often positioned himself as a political kingmaker, many expected M’membe to embody the democratic values he so often champions in his public discourse. Instead, his inability to accommodate differing opinions appears to be eroding his standing both within and outside the SP.
A key pitfall in M’membe’s leadership, observers note, is his failure to integrate defectors who bring new ideas and perspectives. Notable figures such as Frank Bwalya and Antonio Mwanza are among those who have struggled to work with him. Within the SP, M’membe is said to favour loyalists who act as “yes-men,” much like what insiders describe as the situation at The Mast newspaper, which he owns and influences heavily.
As the 2026 elections draw closer, the once formidable image of Fred M’membe as a unifying opposition voice appears to be fading fast. Whether he can rebuild trust within his party and among potential allies remains an open question—but for now, his political fortunes seem to be in free fall.
I pity the young men that flock to Mmembe’s SP. They never lived under unip’s economic collapse and shortages. With information on their fingertips they can research economic and living conditions in Venezuela, cuba and north Korea. SP is a family dynasty like that of Kim il sung of DPRK. Yes thing s are bad in Zambia. But who wants Zambia to end up like Venezuela?
The problem with some (if not most) Zambians think there is a silver bullet to solve economic challenges we are facing at the moment, not knowing that actually shortcuts make things worse. One thing people should know is that there’s always a need for sacrifice for one to move from a bad situation to better one. And yes, usually the process is painful, but if one perseveres, it pays off in the end. Yes, things may not be very good in the country at the moment, but all economic indicators are showing improvements, and heading towards a much better country in a few years to come, as long as we stay focused and keep this trajectory of economic development. Provided, we encourage production instead of consumption, fiscal discipline, instead of reckless expenditure, creation of more value addition industries, instead of selling raw materials which are far less profitable, these and many other measures will propel our country to greater heights.
Zambia has full of illiterates, people who just follow the wind of talking, very few people are critical thinkers in Zambia. It’s very much annoying when you listen to people sometimes.
Let’s take for example the issue of loadsheding, if we look at how many houses have been belt in the last 15years you may find that it’s the same or more than the number of houses that existed before and PF brought infrastructure development as they say. How do you expect the same Kariba (even at full capacity) to power these houses and infrastructure the whole day? But people are busy making noise instead of supporting Solar projects being undertaken and more.
If you can’t hold a small Political Party together and senior Party Officials are migrating from your Party every so often, how can you preside over the whole country as President?