NCP INVITES MAKEBI ZULU TO BE ITS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
PETER CHANDA PRESS CONFERENCE
Held at the New Congress Party (NCP) Headquarters, New Kasama
28th January 2025 –
BA MAYO NA BA TATA NAIMWE MWEMISEPELA — DISTINGUISHED LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
1. Today, I stand before you not just as President of the New Congress Party, but as a servant of the people, a voice for unity, peace, and purpose. The New Congress Party, a party of choice of the late President Edgar Chagwa Lungu. We have heard the cries of Zambians across our great nation, the call for opposition unity has grown louder than ever. And because I have always kept faith with our late beloved President, His Excellency Edgar Chagwa Lungu, and with the leadership of the Patriotic Front under Hon. Given Lubinda, I say this with conviction: I have listened and I have heard.
2. My brothers and sisters, leadership is not about stubborn ambition. It is about discernment, about reading the signs of the times. As a young leader, grounded in faith and guided by the example of the sons of Issachar who understood the times, I believe that before every great harvest comes preparation. After prayer, reflection, and consultation across our nation, I can now boldly say: the ground is not yet ready for me to stand for the presidency in 2026.
3. But this is not a retreat; this is a call to rally. A call to express faith in unity and to endorse a candidate of preference. Today, I summon all well-meaning citizens of Zambia, men and women of faith, the youth, our mothers and fathers to stand behind a man of courage, faith, and conviction. A man who has defended our Constitution fearlessly, who has remained unshakably loyal to President Edgar Chagwa Lungu even in times of trial and mourning. A man whose law firm has stood in the gap for the Patriotic Front, its leaders, and the Lungu family without fear or favor. A man respected across the political divide. That man, whom we choose to endorse as a party, my fellow Zambians, is Counsel Makebi Zulu!
4. In today’s Zambia, where politics is often defined by vengeance and division, stepping forward for service takes courage. And Counsel Makebi Zulu has done just that. He stands for unity in diversity, justice without compromise, and leadership with humility. That, my friends, is the kind of leadership Zambia needs, leadership that unites, not divides; that builds, not destroys.
5. I have walked this road before, through the United Kwacha Alliance, through the Tonse Alliance and I have seen what happens when respect is lost, when arrogance overshadows unity. Let us not repeat those mistakes. I appeal to all Patriotic Front members and aspiring candidates: let us unite, with respect, maturity, and collective purpose, as we, as NCP rally behind and endorse Counsel Makebi Zulu for the good of our country.
6. This decision is not mine alone; it is the voice of the people and the will of the New Congress Party. At our General Conference held on 18th November 2025, the delegates spoke clearly and unanimously that we work with Counsel Makebi Zulu. And today, in the spirit of transparency and patriotism, I make that decision public. We trust that the Patriotic Front and Counsel Zulu’s team will receive this declaration, endorsement and invitation with the same democratic spirit in which it has been made.
Zambia needs unity. Zambia needs integrity. Zambia needs leadership that listens to the people, not leadership that listens to pride.
So let us rise together, under one banner of faith, democracy, and national renewal.
I thank you and may God richly bless our Republic.