Lubinda’s Night of Long Knives Shakes PF Base

⬆️ MONITOR | Lubinda’s Night of Long Knives Shakes PF Base

The Patriotic Front has entered Saturday morning in open shock. At exactly 22:37 hours on Friday, Acting PF President Given Lubinda issued a late night video statement that landed like a political grenade inside a party already torn by distrust. In one breath he fired senior members of the Central Committee, provincial chairpersons and long-time party heavyweights. In another, he unveiled new names, including former Lands Minister Jean Kapata and presidential aspirant Miles Sampa.

The timing is the first red flag. Only days ago, Lubinda and Acting Secretary General Brenda Nyirenda told the public that they had never been served with the contentious Kabwe High Court injunction blocking the PF convention. They dismissed the circulating documents as “social media material.”

But Nyirenda still filed an urgent application before the same Kabwe Court, seeking to challenge an injunction she claims the party had never formally received. The contradictions are now ammunition for factional camps that already accuse Lubinda of running ahead of internal consensus.

Lubinda’s purge targeted figures linked to the Mundubile axis. Those dropped include Musonda Mpankata, Brenda Nyirenda (Acting Secretary General), Melesiana Phiri, Davies Mwila, Tombi Tombi and Abuild Kawangu. He also removed two provincial chairpersons, Northern’s Chomba Chipili and Lusaka’s Christopher Shakafuswa.

The Makebi base, which has long suspected internal sabotage, insists this shows that “something serious has been happening behind closed doors.” The Mundubile wing believes it is a deliberate strike to cripple their ground structures.

Replacements came swiftly. Jean Kapata was appointed Acting National Chairperson. Two Deputy Secretary Generals were announced, one for politics, Miles Sampa, and one for administration, Celestine Mukandila.

Lubinda also directed that deputy provincial chairpersons in Lusaka and Northern serve in acting positions “until substantive appointments are made.” The mix of appointments and dismissals is what has confused the ground, because aspirants linked to different factions were both removed and elevated.

Reactions from the base show two competing narratives. Critics like McPherson Chanda called Lubinda’s move “autocratic” and warned that it risks weakening internal democracy ahead of the convention. Others countered that his choices cannot be factional because he has appointed figures like Sampa and Mukandila, who have visible ties to other camps.

Supporters of Lubinda argue the changes were triggered by “misconduct” and insist that “discipline is not selective.”

But party insiders are reading the ground more carefully. Several members dropped from the Central Committee still hold positions as MPs or elected officials. They will attend the convention with full voting rights. This means Lubinda’s reshuffle does not neutralise factional blocs and may instead deepen mistrust at a time when PF speaks openly about unity but moves like a party in silent rupture.

https://youtu.be/Pt6Luk2lEoY?si=FyySEJj75G8_w9ez

The deeper crisis sits under the headlines. As our reader Haggai Muzeya reminded us days ago, PF has never held a true elective convention in its twenty four year history. From the Michael Sata era to the Edgar Lungu transition, leaders were confirmed by voice vote under heavy cadre presence. PF has no institutional memory of transparent, competitive internal elections.

The longer the convention delays, the more entrenched factional identities become. No losing faction is likely to accept defeat.

Last night’s purge confirms this trajectory. Factions now believe Lubinda has revealed his hand. The Mundubile camp sees a hidden agenda. The Makebi camp believes the old guard had been undermining Lubinda. The Sampa wing see fresh political oxygen.

Meanwhile, ordinary members are watching a party bury itself in layers of suspicion, legal battles and improvised appointments.

The uncertainty now places more pressure on the convention. Every affidavit filed, every contradictory statement, every sudden reshuffle deepens the sense that PF is drifting toward a congress where legitimacy will not be settled by ballots but by courtrooms and backdoor alliances. The only rational path remains dialogue with the Chabinga side. PF still commands deep social authority in the northern circuit. Chiefs and elders can convene both sides and settle this dispute in days.

Courts will not do it in time for 2026.

For now, PF sits on a knife’s edge. Lubinda has made the boldest move yet. Whether it stabilises the party or triggers a final fracture will depend on whether PF remembers how to talk to itself before it tears itself apart.

If you want us to track reactions from each faction in detail, send them to editor.peoplesbrief@gmail.com.

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