Kapiri Mposhi Rejects UPND and Backs Mundubile for Change- Professor Namukolo Miyanda

Kapiri Mposhi Rejects UPND and Backs Mundubile for Change

By Professor Namukolo Miyanda, Pan-Africanist and Governance Expert 

21st July, 2026

Politics in Zambia has always had its turning points. On 20th July, 2026, Kapiri Mposhi wrote its name into that history again. The town stood still as thousands of ordinary citizens turned out in mass to welcome aspiring presidential candidate Brian Mundubile and his running mate Makebi Zulu, both standing on the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity, ahead of the 13th August, 2026 general elections.

Let us be candid. The people of Kapiri Mposhi and Central Province in general have spoken clearly through their huge turnout during the political campaign rallies for NRPUP. Their presence was not hired. Their voices were not rented. It was the unscripted roar of citizens who have been ignored for too long and have now found leaders who listen. When Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu walked the streets of Kapiri Mposhi, the town responded as one body. That is not a campaign event. That is a verdict.

Unquestionably, Kapiri Mposhi town is not only of historical significance to Zambia as it defines the relationship between China and Zambia dating back to the 1970s, but also plays as a pivotal economic transit town that links Lusaka City and Copperbelt Province. It is the artery of commerce, the bridge between production and markets, between rural Zambia and urban Zambia. Yet in the last five years, the UPND government neglected Kapiri Mposhi and Central Province in general. Instead, it mainly focused on impressing the rich farmers around Mkushi Farming Block.

As usual, the UPND has an insatiable appetite for pleasing the rich or foreign investors at the expense of majority poor Zambians who actually hold the key to power through their cherished votes. In the last five years, the UPND forgot that the bosses are the Zambian citizens and not the foreign investors as they arrogantly assumed so. To act arrogantly means to act with overbearing pride and to dismiss the importance of ordinary people, as if the party knew better than the citizens who elected it. This reality will be confirmed on 13th August, 2026 and the UPND will learn the most painful lesson ever in the party’s political life span since 1998.

The governance style of the UPND has been characterized by procrastination, weaponized state institutions, pleasing foreign investors, and neglecting the poor and vulnerable citizens living in shanty compounds across the country. The party also lacked empathy for the majority suffering Zambians and this induced unprecedented high poverty levels across the country. The UPND’s governance era has significantly transformed the livelihoods of many Zambians to unbearable levels and today they have resolved never to give them a second chance to run the affairs of the country.

The upcoming August, 2026 general elections are synonymous with the brave revolution of the 1991 elections which was anchored on a strong demand for outright change in order to wipe out the United National Independence Party and ushered in the Movement for Multiparty Democracy. Today, 35 years after this inspiring and brave political governance revolution, the great citizens of Zambia will repeat this phenomenal act by not voting for the UPND. The change people want is to never see UPND again near power because it has taught them a painful and unimaginable suffering across the country.

The message from Kapiri Mposhi is simple. The people are determined to vote for Brian Mundubile as President for the Republic of Zambia. But determination without action is futile. The people should be encouraged to turnout in large numbers and vote for Brian Mundubile. After voting, the people should remain vigilant to protect their cherished votes. And from today they should start downloading a virtual private network, or VPN, internet and mobile application service in order to remain connected during the week of voting. Information is power, and in this election, information will guard the vote.

Kapiri Mposhi has spoken. Central Province has spoken. On 13th August, Zambia will speak. And when it does, the echo will be heard from every shanty compound to every farming block: the people are the bosses, and they hold the power through their vote.