🇿🇲 WEEKEND DIGEST | Sampa Crosses the Line
Wrapped in a Patriotic Front scarf, standing before cameras and supporters, Miles Sampa delivered Friday what may prove to be one of the most politically interesting endorsements of Zambia’s 2026 election campaign.
The former Lusaka mayor, PF faction leader, and self-styled “Mbappe” of Zambian politics formally threw his weight behind President Hakainde Hichilema, declaring that the incumbent remains the best candidate to lead Zambia for another five years.
“The enemy we know is better than the angel we don’t know. We know President HH. That is why we are endorsing him,” Sampa said.
The endorsement immediately detonated across social media.
Many PF loyalists reacted with fury. Others accused him of betrayal. However, Sampa appeared entirely unfazed. Speaking with unusual bluntness, he made it clear that neither political pressure nor financial considerations would alter his position.
“Money or no money, food or no food, we shall go flat out campaigning for President Hichilema throughout the country,” he declared.
The symbolism was impossible to miss.
Around his neck hung PF colours. Behind him stood figures associated with a party that spent years portraying Hichilema as its principal political adversary. Yet the man speaking was praising the very government many former PF leaders are campaigning to remove.
His justification was equally striking.
Rather than attacking rivals, Sampa presented what amounted to a scorecard. He cited free education, a stronger Kwacha, increased foreign direct investment, lower inflation, pension reforms, improved foreign reserves and reduced political violence as reasons behind his decision.
“Cadreism and violence are better now than when I was mayor and when we were in power,” he admitted.
Coming from a senior PF figure who occupied positions of influence during some of the party’s most turbulent years, the remark carried unusual political weight.
Perhaps the sharpest comments were reserved for the unresolved burial of former President Edgar Lungu.
Without mentioning names, Sampa appeared to take aim at individuals he believes are turning the late president’s remains into a political tool.
“Those that are using ECL’s body for political advantage should stop it. Let’s bury President Edgar Lungu. It’s unZambian to keep a body for one year no matter the reason,” he said.
The comments come amid ongoing tensions surrounding Lungu’s burial, an issue that has increasingly become entangled with opposition politics for a year now.
Sampa reinforced the point by drawing a comparison with the death of Paramount Chief Mpezeni IV.
“Here is Mpezeni. We are burying him on Tuesday and he is a Paramount Chief. Let us make sure President Edgar Lungu is buried,” he said.
The remarks represented one of the strongest public interventions yet from a senior PF figure on the matter.
Sampa also used the briefing to defend his own political decisions, revealing that he chose to abandon his parliamentary bid for Lima Constituency rather than resign from the PF in order to qualify as an independent candidate.
“I could have easily won that seat. That is how much I love the PF,” he said.
But even as he professed loyalty to the party, his political compass was clearly pointing elsewhere.
“In politics there are no permanent friends or enemies,” he reminded reporters.
Then came the prediction.
“I can predict that President HH will win the 2026 elections. For MPs I can’t predict.”
Whether one agrees with Sampa or not, the significance of his endorsement lies less in the votes he personally commands and more in what it says about the state of the opposition.
Five years after the PF lost power, some of its former leaders are still fighting old battles. Others are searching for new vehicles. Others have quietly crossed the aisle.
Miles Sampa has now done so publicly. And he did it wearing PF colours.
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