🇿🇲 EXCLUSIVE | Mundubile Courts Copperbelt with Jobs, Mines; Promise of “Second Independence”
Brian Mundubile chose the Copperbelt for a reason. Standing before a packed KPF Grounds in Kitwe on Saturday, the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP) presidential candidate launched his campaign in Zambia’s historic mining heartland with a message crafted for a province battling unemployment, shrinking opportunities and growing frustration over access to mineral wealth.
The rally, held under the banner of the Tonse Alliance, drew supporters from across the Copperbelt and carried the atmosphere of a campaign determined to position itself as the political heir to former president Edgar Lungu’s support base in the region.
Before addressing the crowd, Mundubile knelt before the podium and asked his running mate, Makebi Zulu, to pray. A moment of silence followed in remembrance of former president Edgar Lungu, whose body remains unburied more than a year after his death, an issue the alliance continues to frame as a national and political grievance.
When Mundubile finally took the microphone, he spoke directly to the province’s economic anxieties.
His strongest applause came when he turned to small-scale miners, commonly known as Jerabos, a constituency that is increasingly influential in Copperbelt politics.
“Without beating about the bush, when we are elected, we’ll give you back Senseli Mine, Kikonge and all the dumpsites,” Mundubile declared.
The promise touched one of the most sensitive debates in Zambia’s mining sector: who should benefit from mineral resources and whether local communities are receiving a fair share of opportunities created by the industry.
Seeking to deepen that message, Mundubile promised a major restructuring of local participation in mining supply chains. He pledged that a Tonse Alliance government would increase local content requirements from the current threshold to 50 percent, arguing that more mining contracts should remain in the hands of Zambian businesses.
“Fifty percent of all mining businesses and contracts will be given to local people,” he told supporters.
The Copperbelt has long served as a political barometer for economic sentiment. While successive governments have promised jobs and industrial growth, many residents continue to measure economic success against their ability to secure employment, participate in mining value chains and access opportunities generated by the country’s mineral wealth.
Mundubile sought to broaden his appeal beyond miners. Addressing students, he promised to increase monthly meal allowances to K5,000.
Civil servants were promised debt relief measures through what he described as a debt-swap programme, while marketeers, street vendors, contractors and retirees were assured that economic reforms under his administration would be designed to ease the pressures of daily life.
The Tonse Alliance candidate also returned to one of the opposition’s central political themes — civil liberties. He accused the UPND government of using cyber legislation to suppress freedom of expression and pledged to review existing cybercrime laws if elected.
“We shall ensure citizens can express themselves freely without fear,” he said.
Earlier, Makebi Zulu framed the decision to launch the campaign from the Copperbelt as symbolic. He argued that Zambia’s economic story was built on the province’s mines and workers and said many communities remained excluded from the prosperity generated by the country’s natural resources.
“The partnership of light,” Zulu said, referring to the alliance’s lantern symbol, “is meant to bring development to miners, contractors, youths and small-scale miners.”
The rally marked one of the largest opposition gatherings seen on the Copperbelt since the official campaign period began and offered an early indication of the themes likely to dominate the Tonse Alliance campaign: economic inclusion, mining ownership, youth unemployment, civil liberties and the legacy of Edgar Lungu.
Whether those promises translate into votes remains to be seen.
What was clear in Kitwe is that Mundubile has identified the Copperbelt as the battleground where his campaign hopes to build momentum. And in a province where politics and mining have always moved together, he arrived with a simple message: Zambia’s mineral wealth must work harder for ordinary Zambians.
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