⬆️ BUILD UP | Nakacinda Blocks Tonse Leadership Vote, Threatens Action
The Tonse Alliance is cracking at the seams. What was billed as a decisive meeting to elect a new chairman and presidential candidate on September 30 may never happen. PF Secretary General Raphael Nakacinda has thrown down the gauntlet, calling the plan irregular and warning that any attempt to proceed is an affront to the will of the people.
Dr. Chris Zumani, the Alliance’s lead consultant, had issued the notice with fanfare. His agenda was clear: choose a new leader, select a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to carry the Alliance into 2026, and adopt a campaign strategy. It was meant to be the reset button after Edgar Lungu’s sudden death in June left the coalition rudderless. Instead, the very idea has detonated a political storm.
Nakacinda’s stance is as blunt as it is revealing. To him, any meeting without PF control is illegitimate. For months, PF figures have pushed the line that the next Tonse candidate must be one of their own, even suggesting that Lungu’s “mantle” cannot be passed outside the party. In their view, Tonse exists to propel PF back into power.
Sean Tembo and others in the Alliance have resisted that narrative, arguing Tonse is not a PF vehicle but a coalition. Zumani’s announcement looked like a chance to test that argument. Nakacinda’s swift rejection has instead turned the stage into a battlefield
The timing makes the drama sharper. PF leaders are still invoking Malawi’s “wind of change,” insisting Zambia will follow with a repeat of Mutharika’s comeback. Yet at home, they cannot agree on who will lead them. The contradiction is glaring: a party that brands itself a “winning machine” is struggling to agree on its own driver.
The secrecy around Edgar Lungu’s death and burial adds another layer. PF leaders have openly opposed electing a new party president before his body is buried. Now, Nakacinda is moving to stall Tonse’s attempt at renewal as well. The unspoken message is clear: as long as the Lungu question remains unresolved, no new leadership will be allowed to emerge.
Tonse is being pulled in two directions. One camp wants to formalize, reorganize, and fight 2026 with a clear strategy. Another camp, led by PF, wants to hold everything in limbo until it regains undisputed control. The risk is paralysis. And in politics, paralysis is poison.
This drama may rightly ask: if Tonse cannot organize itself in opposition, how can it claim to reorganize the nation in government? For now, the alliance is a house divided, waiting to see whether Zumani’s meeting will survive Nakacinda’s veto.
Share your thoughts with us at editor.peoplesbrief@gmail.com.
© The People’s Brief | Build Up