Nothing to Celebrate About Chingola’s Chaos

⬆️ EDITORIAL | Nothing to Celebrate About Chingola’s Chaos

By: The Editor-in-Chief

The disruption of President Hakainde Hichilema’s address in Chingola has been greeted with jubilation across segments of the opposition base, but there is nothing patriotic about celebrating disorder. Zambia has survived decades of political competition because we have kept certain civic lines intact. Violence at a presidential function, regardless of who occupies State House, crosses one of those lines. Today it is Hichilema. Tomorrow it could be another leader. Once citizens normalise violence as political expression, the entire nation pays the price.

Chingola’s political culture is complicated. The Copperbelt has long been shaped by small-scale mining networks, Jerabo influence, and informal power structures that treat state authority as negotiable. Every President from Mwanawasa to Lungu battled this chemistry. Illegal mining, territorial control, extortion rings and street-level intimidation have produced a shadow culture where some groups feel more Zambian than the institutions that govern the state. That inheritance did not appear under the current administration. It has roots that predate multiparty politics.

The behaviour seen in Chingola reflects this deep structural problem. The chants were coordinated. The stone-throwing was deliberate. The disruption was not simply frustration. It was a performance of territorial confidence by actors who know the state has historically tolerated their disorder because of political expedience. That culture corrodes public life and undermines the safety of ordinary citizens who just want stability, trade and predictable governance.

This is why opposition celebration of the incident is shortsighted. The same forces that were unleashed at Chiwempala do not belong to any political party. They shift allegiance based on opportunity and reward. Today they target a sitting President. Tomorrow they will target an opposition convoy, a trader at the market, or a mining investor. These are not democratic actors. They are power brokers who thrive in environments where institutions retreat. Zambia has seen this pattern before and knows its cost.

The incident also raises serious questions for authorities. A presidential event should never be breached by a coordinated disruptive cell carrying stones. Crowd profiling, perimeter control and intelligence pre-screening must all be reviewed. The country cannot afford complacency. Security lapses, if ignored, invite escalation. Investigations must track every participant, every organiser and every financier involved in the Chingola incident. The state has a duty to respond with firmness anchored in law, not emotion.

This is not a defence of any political leader. It is a defence of national order. Zambia’s stability has been built on a simple norm: leaders can be opposed, criticised and rejected at the ballot box, but physical disruption of presidential movements is a red line. The moment that line becomes negotiable, the entire architecture of our civil peace weakens. Young traders lose their livelihoods. Children lose safe spaces. Investors lose confidence. Citizens lose trust in institutions.

We urge every political actor to resist the temptation of short-term celebration. Hooliganism is not victory. Violence is not strategy. Zambia is bigger than all political parties and must remain that way.

The Chingola incident demands sober reflection, not partisan applause. The country must reaffirm a culture where disagreement remains peaceful, where security is respected, and where no group is allowed to impose disorder on the nation’s public life.

The People’s Brief | Editor-in-Chief