🇿🇲 VIEWPOINT | Mundubile’s Vision: Repackaging Opposition or Redefining the State?
Brian Mundubile is not a political newcomer rehearsing theory from the sidelines. He is a former Provincial Minister under the Patriotic Front, a former Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, and now the Tonse Alliance presidential contender positioning himself as a reformist alternative to President Hakainde Hichilema in 2026.
His message is blunt. “The foundation of every nation is actually the youth,” he says, arguing that without deliberate empowerment Zambia risks hollowing out its future. He speaks of “political will” and a “big brother” leadership model to mentor young innovators. He proposes moving the Ministry of Youth and Sport under State House to accelerate implementation. He promises to integrate young leaders across sectors, beyond ceremonial youth committees.
The language is emotive. The structural question is whether it is transformative.
Zambia’s youth bulge is real. Over 60 percent of the population is under 25. Unemployment and underemployment remain stubborn. Yet institutional relocation alone does not create fiscal space. Moving a ministry to State House would not resolve the structural constraints of a debt-laden economy operating within tight macro-fiscal parameters.
On industrialization, Mundubile calls for a shift away from what he describes as overreliance on social protection toward large-scale production. He proposes allocating 15 percent of the national budget to agriculture and reviving farming blocks. He cites Ghana’s gold reforms as a model, arguing mineral revenues must yield a clearer “net benefit” for the national budget.
The ambition confronts arithmetic.
Zambia’s 2025 budget remains anchored in debt servicing obligations, social sector spending, and IMF-backed fiscal discipline. Redirecting 15 percent of expenditure to agriculture would require either deeper cuts elsewhere or expanded borrowing. Ghana’s gold reforms occurred within a different macroeconomic architecture, including distinct state equity frameworks and production profiles. Replication is not automatic.
Mundubile also attacks what he terms “selective accountability,” asserting that dismissals under the current administration reflect political calculations rather than ethical thresholds. “I’ve never known a president to fire people that are corrupt… it’s only corruption if it involves a leader or somebody from the opposition,” he argues. It is a sharp jab at President Hichilema’s anti-corruption narrative.
But the record cuts both ways. The PF administration under which Mundubile served faced its own corruption allegations and debt accumulation controversies. Public debt expanded sharply during that era, and governance weaknesses were cited in restructuring negotiations that followed. Any reformist posture must address that legacy.
He further criticizes digital regulation, suggesting online laws “gag citizens.” Civil liberties debates remain central to Zambia’s democratic identity. However, regulatory frameworks are not unique to Zambia. Globally, governments are recalibrating digital governance amid misinformation and cybercrime risks. The issue is balance, not abolition.
On mining, his proposal to reorganize the sector so proceeds are “banked locally” gestures toward resource nationalism. Zambia has oscillated historically between liberalized and state-heavy mining regimes. Excessive intervention risks investor flight; insufficient oversight risks revenue leakage. The equilibrium is delicate. The global copper market is currently driven by energy transition demand. Any restructuring must preserve competitiveness in a capital-intensive industry.
Where Mundubile’s rhetoric resonates most is in symbolic repositioning. He casts himself as the corrective to what he frames as complacency, dismissing official macroeconomic gains as “decorated figures.” He questions whether inflation improvements translate into lived experience. This taps into a political truth: macro stabilization does not automatically equal micro relief.
Still, Zambia in 2026 is not Zambia in 2015. Debt restructuring is underway. IMF engagement has restored certain external confidences. Copper output is climbing toward ambitious targets. Fiscal consolidation constrains grand spending pledges.
The critical test is implementation realism. Can a Tonse government expand agriculture allocations, reorganize mining revenue flows, accelerate youth leadership integration, and simultaneously maintain macro stability without reigniting debt distress? Can institutional restructuring occur without undermining investor sentiment in a fragile post-restructuring environment?
Mundubile’s past as Provincial Minister offers administrative experience. It also ties him to the previous governing architecture. The question voters may ask is not only what he proposes differently, but what he would have done differently when power was already in his coalition’s hands.
Election seasons reward clarity. His platform articulates energy, inclusion, and assertive economic nationalism. What remains to be detailed is the fiscal roadmap, the sequencing, and the safeguards against repeating past structural weaknesses.
Zambia stands between consolidation and disruption. Mundubile is offering disruption framed as renewal.
Come August, the electorate will decide whether it reads as correction or regression.
© The People’s Brief | Ollus R. Ndomu